Mick Schumacher Q&A: Belgian Grand Prix

Welcome back from holidays! What did you get up to during the summer break and what are your feelings coming into the second leg of the season?

“I’m happy to be back. It’s been a good three weeks now out of the car and it felt weird at first and obviously pretty soon into the holidays I was itching to get back, so happy it’s finally here and we’re driving soon. I stayed on an island for the most part with friends and family and got to enjoy some time on a boat, enjoyed some time in the water and had some great dinners combined with some work – I’d say I haven’t gained too much weight which I’m happy about.

“What can we expect for the second part of the season, hopefully more points. We have some tracks ahead which should be good for us, and we have some tracks that will probably be difficult. Nevertheless, it’s Formula 1 and there’s a high chance of a crazy event where hopefully we’re not in the crazy part of it and we have the chance to score some big points, so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a full grind back into it and we’ll give it our best at every event and hopefully reap the rewards. I’m fully recharged and ready to rumble!”

 

For Round 14, we head to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix. It’s a track with great heritage, producing memorable sporting moments throughout the decades and is home to the legendary Eau Rouge. What do you like about this track and what memories does it hold for you – from both watching as a child to racing around it yourself?

“Spa itself is just so historical but also on top of it, it’s a very special place for us as a family and for me as well because I’ve had some really good races there, like back in 2018, but on the other hand also one of our worst races. Spa has a lot of up and downs but it will always be the most historical and special race for all of us.”

New for this season, run-off sections have been changed at Eau Rouge and Raidillon as well as new gravel traps being incorporated at other corners, all to improve safety. Do you welcome these modifications, and do you expect any of the updates to change your approach to the track or impact racing on Sunday? 

“In terms of safety I think we always welcome any changes for the greater good. I’m looking forward to seeing how they are and what they bring. I don’t imagine it changing too much while driving because it’s quite a quick track and the approaches are usually quite similar so I think there’s not going to be a huge change in the approach.”

 

A new technical directive will come into place from this race, measuring the vertical forces acting upon cars following feedback from drivers around porpoising. How is the VF-22 currently handling, is it a challenge that you’re getting used to or are you still noticing it and where do you think Haas ranks among teams with the issue?

“I think we’ve all been quite surprised by the issue that we found at the beginning of the year and our car has improved a lot since then. The worst occurrence of the porpoising we’ve found so far was in Baku, and I think that was the same for every other team as well but since then actually it’s been quite good. We’ve been on tracks that are smooth and there is no longer physical pain involved with the porpoising but obviously there’s a limit to it and we’re at the limit which I think every team is. I think we’re among the teams that have the least bouncing, there are teams that are suffering from it a lot more than us.”