Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel defended rookie Mick Schumacher crashing many times in 2021, saying that it was only his first season in F1.
Schumacher joined Haas for his rookie season. He impressed many with his hard racing and his class behaviour off the track. The son of Michael Schumacher seems just like his illustrious father, and won many fans over in 2021.
However, he was still in the worst car on the grid, and his inexperience showed as he caused damage to his car on quite a few occasions. Even though he overachieved in the Haas, there were still a lot of bills Haas received courtesy of the German.
Despite that, Vettel defended Schumacher crashing many times, and attributed it to his inexperience and lack of top-flight learning.
“He did well in the worst car in the field,” the four-time world champion told Blick.
“And his main task, to leave his teammate (Nikita) Mazepin behind him, he also solved with aplomb. But Mick also broke seven cars, more than any other driver.
“In the first year you still have to learn a lot. And when you are no longer allowed to do this process, it becomes difficult.”
“I wish him a better car in 2022 that lives up to his talent,” he concluded.
In the Mick of time
Despite Schumacher failing to score a point in 2021, he still showed flashes of brilliance. He extracted every last drop of performance from a weak car, which is the hallmark of a great driver.
His performances in Hungary, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi showed his potential, and he ended the season on a high. Throughout 2021, he comprehensively trounced his teammate as well.
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