Mick Schumacher Q&A: British Grand Prix

We’re back racing after a week away, following your first triple-header in Formula 1. Can you share how that’s affected you mentally and physically - if at all - and if there were any surprises to what you were expecting as well as what your main takeaways have been?

“Mentally and physically I feel great. I was really happy about the triple-header – it’s been great getting to spend so much time with the team. We’ve played football, gone cycling and had a BBQ together. We’ve been getting to do all the things which I would usually be able to do if we hadn’t had COVID. With the pandemic, it’s very restricted how I can get to England, so I’ve got to spend the time I would usually do, here, and that’s been great for us.”

 

We head to Silverstone, a track you have won at previously in 2018 with Formula 3, and narrowly missed out winning at last year in the sprint race to fellow F1 rookie, Yuki Tsunoda. What do you like about this circuit and how does it feel racing around a track with such motorsport heritage?

“Silverstone in general is a very interesting track. There’s lots of high-speed places but also it’s a very technical track with the last chicane, so racing is very difficult. We have long corners which makes it difficult to follow, but I’ve always enjoyed going to Silverstone. The fans are great but also the track and the history of it is amazing, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

It has been confirmed that a full capacity crowd will be in attendance for the British Grand Prix – with up to 140,000 fans in the grandstands each day. You haven’t raced in front of such a large audience before in your Formula 1 career to date. What do fans bring to live events – and do you think it will add to the atmosphere and provide an added boost or increase expectations?

“It's going to be great to race in front of so many fans. It will be the first time for me to be in the main event, so to speak. I remember the first time I drove in front of such a big crowd, it was at Spa in 2017 - when I drove a lap in the Benetton B194 - and that was quite crazy so I can’t imagine how it’s going to be, but I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

 

The British Grand Prix will also debut the Sprint Qualifying format - a 100km race to the checkered flag which will determine the grid for Sunday’s race. Will you approach the weekend differently and do you expect it to shake the grid up? 

“I think that with the new qualifying format, we will definitely need to approach the weekend differently. We only have one free practice session to set-up the car how we want it to be for the whole weekend. In FP2 we will try and learn something for the main event, but it will definitely be very different, it’s going to be interesting.”

 

You’re coming off a string of solid races – your highest race finish of 13th in Baku, a Q2 appearance at Paul Ricard, and showing strong race pace in Austria. Is this the result of steady learning and working with the team, or has something clicked between car and driver?  

“We’ve had a few very good qualifying sessions and races at the past few events. I think it’s down to us working as a team really well together and understanding the car better. It’s really the work we’ve put in these last weeks and months that has brought us to this place, and also a bit of luck in some places like Baku.”