Why Schumacher is relishing the prospect of being in F1’s spotlight
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Schumacher’s career has been surrounded by huge excitement and anticipation, which only increased when the 2020 Formula 2 champion graduated to F1 last year to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father, seven-time world champion Michael. But with Haas electing not to develop its 2021 car so that it could pile all of its resources into the regulation overhaul for the upcoming campaign, Schumacher rarely made the headlines.Despite finding himself in uncompetitive machinery, Schumacher still impressed and was able to show glimpses of his potential, most prominently when he dragged his Haas into Q2 and qualified 14th at the Turkish Grand Prix. While avoiding the limelight and facing less pressure would be considered a luxury by some F1 rookies, Schumacher told that he would have chosen to be thrown in at the deep end if he could have had his own way. Related What would Mercedes do if Lewis Hamilton quit F1? Alpine faces ‘most important winter since Renault came back to F1’1018847030-LAT-20211009-GP2116_091131_ONY3847-889.jpeg “I would say, no,” Schumacher replied when asked if not being in the spotlight had helped him. “I would rather be in the points and be there fighting for it. “Maybe it’s more pressure, maybe it’s more difficult but I for sure would prefer being thrown into the cold water at times and trying to prove myself in that way. “It’s more out there because you’ll be more in the pictures, you’ll be more on TV and people will talk more about you. Related FIA inquiry into F1 title finale set to conclude in early February Which F1 team has the best driver line-up for 2022?“In the position that we’re in right now, unfortunately we have to get onto the TV in other ways. That’s by usually completely out-performing our car, or unfortunately sometimes when bad things happen.” Schumacher insists he did not find it frustrating that he was unable to fully show what he is capable of because he had accepted the situation at a very early stage. “We accepted that quite early on and we knew what was expected of the car,” he said. “And we basically all worked in the direction to try and prepare ourselves as good as we can for [2022], where hopefully we’ll be in that position where we can fight for points every weekend.” “41018954283-LAT-20211211-GP2122_120602_ONZ1660-352.jpeg The 22-year-old received glowing praise for his work ethic throughout 2021 but stressed it was not something he learned from his father, who famously applied the same trait during his own career.“I wouldn’t say that I’ve learned that, it’s something that’s just been there naturally,” Schumacher explained. “I enjoy working as a team and I enjoy doing it as a team. I think that’s the important part. I wouldn’t be able to race without these guys, so that’s frankly the attitude I have towards it.” Schumacher said the early signs for Haas’ 2022 car were promising and is hopeful that regular development throughout the season can enable the American outfit to lift itself off the foot of the pecking order and move further up the grid.”5“I think from what I see and from being involved in this, I do have the feeling that we are in a good position,” he added. “How good we will only know in Bahrain at the first race. But we have this attitude next year that we know we’ll have updates coming our way, we will be developing the car and all of those things that we haven’t had this year. “So we know that if there is a problem, we can fix it next year.”
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