Mick Schumacher is raring to go with the second half of the Formula 1 season, as the Belgian Grand Prix kickstarts a triple-header. It’s a challenging period for Schumacher, as the young German remains without a contract for 2023.
The Haas F1 Team are undecided on whether to retain the German, with other options, including, Antonio Giovinazzi entering the picture. It appears that Schumacher hasn’t thought to much about his contract situation over the summer break, as the German revealed all that he got up to during the much-needed summer break.
“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!”
This weekend might possibly be the last Belgian Grand Prix for the foreseeable future, with a deal yet to be agreed between Formula 1 and the Spa-Francorchamps bosses. This would be heartbreaking for Schumacher, with the venue being “so historical”. The venue has been a “very special place” for him and his family, but it’s not been without its “ups and downs”.
“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.”
This weekend is also hugely important in regards to the porpoising phenomena, with an FIA technical directive set to be introduced. This will see all teams have to stay within a set range, with the FIA having designed a metric to measure what volume of porpoising is deemed as a health risk.
Schumacher has been surprised by the issues caused through the new regulations, but is glad that his side haven’t faced too much of the bouncing problem.
“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.”
“I don’t feel that porpoising is an issue anymore” – Kevin Magnussen
Kevin Magnussen enjoyed a strong first half of the season on his return to the championship, and has somewhat cemented his place as the team’s number one driver.
The Dane has readjusted to life as a Formula 1 driver incredibly well; however, it was met with a well spent summer break with his family.
“I went sailing with my family and some friends in Denmark and enjoyed not travelling for a few weeks and now I’ve got fully charged batteries ready to push for the second half of the season. I’m very excited for the second part – more work with the car and the upgrade – hoping to get more out of it and make more progress which hopefully will get us some more points.”
Magnussen also gave his thoughts on the porpoising problem, something the FIA stepped-in on due to the risk it presented to drivers health. The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team produced data which showed that excessive bouncing can actually cause brain damage.
The Danish driver doesn’t see bouncing as an “issue anymore”, and that it is now down to the teams themselves to solve it, no matter the cost “performance-wise”.
“I don’t feel that porpoising is an issue anymore. It was certainly an issue at the beginning of the season but very quickly we made changes to the car to address this issue. We had to sacrifice a bit of performance to get the porpoising sorted but then gradually we’ve been able to build back that performance without the porpoising returning.
“I do think it’s something that teams can solve if they really want to, but it does come at a cost performance-wise but we’ve done that and many other teams have done it, so the teams who haven’t done it yet will have to.”
Credit: Haas F1 Team