“He did an incredible job with a poor car”: Sebastian Vettel lauds Mick Schumacher for a promising rookie year in Formula 1

Sebastian Vettel feels that Haas driver Mick Schumacher has had a good rookie year in F1 in spite of driving a ‘poor’ car. 

Mick Schumacher’s debut season in F1 has nothing to show on paper. The Haas driver did not finish in the top 10 in any of the 22 races this year. However, Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel thinks he did fairly well given the mechanical package he was provided with.

Vettel has been a huge fan of Mick’s father Michael Schumacher his whole life. The latter is a 7-time World Champion and was his childhood hero. Vettel, now a 4-time Champion himself, acts as a mentor for his idol’s son, Mick.

Mick convincingly outperformed teammate Nikita Mazepin on all aspects in 2021. He even managed a P12 finish in Hungary, his best result in F1 to date.

Vettel, who didn’t have the best of years in the sport either was full of praise for the young German. “Well I think it’s difficult to judge because the car has been so far off.” said the former Red Bull driver.

“But for those who were looking and looking closely – obviously I’ve been following – I think he did an incredible job with such a poor car to reach qualifying segment two a couple of times. To have strong showings in the race, fight some of the other cars that are much faster, stick with the cars ahead that are supposed to be much faster.”

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Sebastian Vettel hopes Schumacher gets a better car in 2022

Haas have arguably had the worst car on the grid in 2021. Since the first race in Bahrain back in March, the American team have been seen as perennial back markers. Vettel hopes that Mick Schumacher gets to driver a better car to demonstrate the talent he possesses.

However, Seb revealed that Mick was one of the most positive people on the paddock. Despite being out of the points and contention, he was eager to learn as much as possible to get better.

“If you look throughout the year, Mick’s been very happy and enthusiastic and happy to put work in.” Vettel added.

“He’s been one of the first ones, if not the first one, every single day to come to the paddock and one of the latest ones to leave. He’s shown great interest in trying to push the team along.” the 34 year old continued.

“So apart from the job on track that he did, apart from some small mistakes that happen in your first year, I think he’s done a great job. “So I really wish he gets a much better car next year to show what he’s able to do.”

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