Lewis Hamilton and Mick Schumacher both drive for the Mercedes Team. Hamilton has been driving for the team since 2013, while Mick Schumacher joined the team before the 2023 season as their reserve driver. But what is their relationship like? Will Hamilton help Schumacher become a World Champion?
Hamilton and Schumacher are the greatest names in the sport of Formula 1. Mick Schumacher, son of 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, joined the Formula 1 grid in 2021. He found a spot in the Haas F1 team. In 2023, Mick failed to impress Haas boss, Gunther Steiner. This eventually led to him losing his seat for the 2023 season. Fortunately, he found a role with the Mercedes team where his father once drove.
Back in 2010, when the Mercedes team made its comeback to Formula 1, Ross Brawn, who was the Team Principal at the time, convinced Michael Schumacher to come out of retirement and join the Mercedes team. Michael drove for the team for the next 3 years until he retired once again. Now the team has found another Schumacher along with Hamilton.
Mick Schumacher on Mercedes
Mick Schumacher joined the Mercedes family hoping that he could learn a lot here and make an impressive comeback in 2024 or later. The German driver is targeting a seat at Audi Motorsport for the 2026 season. In order for this to happen, Mick will have to find a seat in F1 over the next 2 years to get some more experience.
Audi announced that they will make their entry into the sport from 2026 onwards. With Audi being a German team, they have taken an interest in Mick Schumacher. With the resources and financial backing that they could potentially have, we could see them close to the front of the grid in the opening season.
Audi has also announced that they will be manufacturing the Power Units as well. So it will be exciting to see where they place on the grid in 2026 and the drivers they will have.
Schumacher finally opened up for the first time after signing with Mercedes. In an interview with F1, he said: “I’ve learned a lot about what’s important in terms of approaching race weekends; I feel like I’ve already gained so much knowledge to add to my skill set,”
“I didn’t think I would have learned and gained so much so early into my role.” “As a driver, you usually do not get to hear what is going on between all the engineers while you are out on the track, so listening in during the sessions has been extremely interesting. I was quite shocked at the season opener in Bahrain, I did not expect the sheer amount of exchange that happens.”
By the above statements, Schumacher was shocked by the approach Mercedes had towards a race weekend. Schumacher was previously a Ferrari academy driver and had been in a reserve role with Ferrari as well. This could mean that Schumacher felt that Mercedes’ approach was much different than Ferrari’s and more effective.
Lewis Hamilton on Mick Schumacher
While Mick is fighting for a seat in Formula 1, Hamilton has been very open about extending his contract with Mercedes following the 2023 season. Mick Schumacher who is a sophomore in the sport, could learn a lot from Lewis Hamilton, who has been in the sport for 15 years.
In an interview, Hamilton said this about Mick Schumacher: “You don’t work so closely with the third driver anymore,” “It’s a lot of simulator work and not like it used to be, even though we’ll still be teammates.” “Mick is a great talent. He is an asset to Mercedes. He is a German driver.” “His father Michael and Mercedes were already closely connected.”
Back when Hamilton joined the sport in 2008, the simulators were not so advanced. It would not be able to recreate the exact impact on track.
What was the relationship between Hamilton and Michael Schumacher?
Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher shared the grid from 2010 to 2012 until Hamilton replaced Schumacher on the Mercedes Team. At this time, Schumacher had already won 7 World Championships with Ferrari.
After Lewis Hamilton broke Schumacher’s record for most wins, Hamilton said this in the interview after the race: “You know when you grow up watching someone, you generally idolize them, really just in terms of the quality of the driver they are, but what they are able to continuously do year on year and race on race and week on week with their team.” “I remember playing Michael in a game called Grand Prix 2 I think it was.”
“Just seeing his dominance for so long, I don’t think anyone, and especially me didn’t imagine that I’d be anywhere near Michael in terms of records.”
Lewis had the utmost respect for Michael Schumacher. He is currently trying to beat his record for most Championships by winning his 8th.
Lewis and Mick Schumacher have more of a mentor-mentee role at the moment. Mick was very close to Sebastian Vettel who retired last year. Could Lewis Hamilton be a friend and mentor for Mick to help him succeed in the sport? Only time will tell.
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