Mick Schumacher thinks it’s “arrogant” to say that Mercedes drivers only win because of the car they drive or that anyone in a Mercedes can win.
Mercedes were the field of choice for seven years up until Max Verstappen’s championship success last season, which was only decided in the final round of the season, dominating the sport.
Back in 2014, Formula 1 introduced 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines, with Mercedes beating its competitors in terms of their powertrain.
That, combined with their chassis, seemed unstoppable as Mercedes won seven consecutive championship doubles, a streak Verstappen ended last year when he beat Lewis Hamilton to the drivers’ title.
Such was the performance of Mercedes F1 cars that the rhetoric “It’s the car, not the driver” became the norm, along with “Anyone can win in a Mercedes”.
Schumacher says that’s not fair to the Mercedes drivers as only three – Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Rosberg – can honestly say what it means to win in a Mercedes.
“Everyone deserves their place in Formula 1 and everyone can drive here,” he told Corriere dello Sport.
“But you can only say that you can win a race with Mercedes if you sit in it.
“Conversely, it’s an arrogant consideration.”
Schumacher will remain a Haas driver for the 2022 season, the German has been confirmed as Nikita Mazepin’s teammate for a second season.
Last year, the two teammates spent much of the championship driving at the bottom of the field, with Haas admitting their focus was on the drivers, not the car.
Schumacher had a chance to rub shoulders with a few other drivers, most notably his brief battle with Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix when the Red Bull driver fought his way through the field after an incident on lap 1.
However, his main rivals were his own teammate and the two Williams drivers, with Schumacher hoping for more wheel-to-wheel action this season.
“We weren’t as far away as Williams was in 2019, so we actually had some struggles on the track,” he said. “Of course I want some.
“I really hope to grow next year. That’s my focus.
“Anything after that is too far away at the moment. The main goal is to do well in 2022, if I actually succeed, yeah, we’ll see.”
