Mick Schumacher Q&A: Hungarian Grand Prix

Round 13 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship takes the pinnacle of motorsport to Hungary. The track – close to Budapest city center – is sweltering in July, it’s notoriously difficult to overtake on and the cars run a high downforce aero set-up. How do you expect the VF-22 to manage in such conditions? 

“I expect us to be actually pretty strong here. We were strong last year to an extent, and I feel comfortable going there, it’s always nice and warm, and I think it will be pretty good for our car.”

 

The Hungarian Grand Prix is where you achieved your best finish of the year last season, is there something specific about the track that you like and does it having many of the same features as a karting track help those muscle reflexes from years gone by?

“It’s pretty short, there’s a lot of laps and a lot of corners so there’s little opportunity to rest, which means concentration levels have to be pretty high. I always enjoy going there, I enjoyed it throughout F2 and F3, so I’m looking forward to going back and hopefully getting a strong result this year.” 

How would you sum up the first half of the season for yourself and the team? Is this where you expected to be at the beginning of the season and can you share your favorite and least fond memory from this half of the season?

“I think after the first race we were expecting to be a lot further up in the rankings than what we are at the moment but we’re slowly catching up and I think having a strong end to the season is just as valuable as having a strong start. Unfortunately, we missed out on the start but now we can redeem ourselves and have a good end to the season. 

"My favorite moment so far would be Austria. Obviously, it was a lot of fun being so competitive and fighting with so many great drivers out there and sometimes coming out on top. I would say there’s no such thing as least favorite moment, most of them I would call learning moments instead, so you just go through the experience and all of them make you a better driver, so I value them.”

 

It’s the final event before the summer break where the paddock gets some well-deserved rest before the second leg of the season. What’s the first thing you’re going to do after the race and what have you got planned for your break?

“I’m going to chill. Enjoy not having a schedule, see some friends and just recharge the batteries as much as I can.”