This year, we will finally see a Schumacher compete through the course of a Formula 1 season after a long gap. A successor to the great Michael Schumacher, Mick will spend the season at Haas as a regular driver.
However, the German is wary of the challenges at this level, saying it is very different to what he is used to.
In a conversation with Auto, Motor und Sport, Schumacher spoke about his new experience.
“It will be the first time I drive a car that has power steering. That is already a very big difference,” he said.
“It creates a completely different feeling in the car. You feel it very differently as a driver. You wait for different inputs from the car, which you then have to analyse quickly. It just takes a bit of time to get used to it.”
Schumacher said that his preparation is pretty old-school.
“I like to write things down and take notes”, he said.
“In general, it’s about the process in a race and on a race weekend.
“I’ve done a lot of races in my career, but nothing comes close to the situation that a Formula 1 weekend brings.
“It becomes very special. I had a lot of zoom calls with my team to prepare. But a race is going to be an event that you have to be there to understand.
“I also like to write things down and take notes. All in all, it’s learning by doing.”
Schumacher is not best impressed by the fact that test days have been reduced to 3 this year.
“We only have three test days as a team instead of six or eight as in previous years. That means I only get one and a half test days before my first race – and then one hour less training.
“No, I don’t like to hear that. But those are the rules. I’m sure we’ll get around the rounds with that too. But of course my biggest goal is to drive as much as possible,” he said.