The German driver, after passing through Haas, acts as a reserve and test driver for Mercedes.
The Mercedes team was the surprise of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, where the German team placed its two cars in the first three positions of the race, just behind Max Verstappen. This great result seemed unlikely at the start of the weekend, when Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were both struggling with the balance of the car.
In the first free practice, Hamilton and Russell finished in twelfth and tenth position respectively, while in the second test session Russell was eighth and Hamilton eleventh.
The explanation for these poor results could have been the team’s lack of experience with the new package of improvements introduced in Monaco and that it had not been able to be put to the test on a more traditional track like Barcelona. Given these results, Mercedes got down to business and sent its test and reserve driver, Mick Schumacher, to the simulator.
Together with the team at the Brackley factory, the former Haas driver worked through the night and early morning on a virtual reproduction of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the aim of finding a better set-up that would solve the problems on the Mercedes W14. His effort paid off, as we saw from Saturday morning.
In Free Practice 3, Hamilton and Russell were already in the middle of the table (third and sixth), and in qualifying, although one of them fell in Q2, they set a good starting point for Sunday: Hamilton qualified fifth, but he started fourth due to a penalty on Gasly, and Russell was twelfth.
The race, as we would see later, was the strong point of the renewed Mercedes W14. Hamilton and Russell came back with great pace, beating cars like Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari or Stroll and Alonso’s Aston Martins to finish in second and third position. They also surpassed ‘Checo’ Pérez.
“On Friday we had a lot of problems with the set-up,” Hamilton said after the race. “The car was difficult to drive; unpredictable. We did a great job tonight. We have a great team, with Mick in the simulator. He did a great job which helped us stay on track on Saturday.”
Russell also recognized Schumacher’s work: “The work that Mick and the simulator team have done, until after midnight, helped us with the set-up to get a good performance in the race.”
Mick Schumacher, who joined the Mercedes team this season (the last one for which his father competed in F1) after two very difficult years at Haas, will get on the W14 this Wednesday to participate in the Pirelli tire tests. Accustomed to driving one of the worst cars on the grid, it will undoubtedly be a good reward for his work.
