The Haas F1 Team completed its newly formed driver lineup for the 2021 Formula One season after the team announced the addition of Mick Schumacher, who will embark on his first full-time competition in F1 racing next year.
Schumacher, a 21-year-old German from Vufflens-le-Château, Switzerland, is the son of Michael Schumacher, seven-time Formula One champion. He is also a Formula 2 competitor for Prema Racing, having achieved two victories and 10 podiums this season. He currently leading the championship standings by 14 points entering the series’ pair of final events of the 2020 season at the Bahrain International Circuit scheduled on December 5-6.
The news comes a day after the Haas F1 Team announced that Nikita Mazepin, a Formula 2 competitor from Moscow, Russia, will join the organization as one of the team’s new competitors for the 2021 F1 season. Both Mazepin and Schumacher will replace Haas’ current lineup, featuring Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.
“I’m very pleased that we’re able to confirm Mick Schumacher in our driver line-up for next season and I look forward to welcoming him into the team,” Guenther Steiner, Haas’ Team Principal, said. “The Formula 2 Championship has long served as a proving ground for talent to showcase their credentials and this year’s field has undoubtedly been one of the most competitive in recent seasons. Mick has won races, collected podiums and excelled against some pretty exceptional talent in 2020. I firmly believe he’s earned the opportunity to graduate into Formula 1 based on his performances. We have an opportunity ahead of us, as a team, to evaluate and nurture a new driver given our familiarity with our race package heading into 2021. We are putting in place our building blocks for the continued long-term growth of the team and I look forward to Mick’s contributions both on and off the track in that process.”
Schumacher comes into Formula One Racing with an extensive background of racing, having competed in karting before competing in the 2015 ADAC Formula 4 Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing. The following year, he competed in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship and the Italian Formula 4 Championship with Prema Powerteam before he campaigned in the 2016-17 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 for MRF Racing. In 2017, Schumacher raced in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with Prema Powerteam before winning eight races and the championship the following season. In 2019, after joining the Ferrari Academy, he competed in the Formula 2 Championship with Prema Racing, where he achieved his first victory at Hungaroring in Hungary and finished in 12th place in the final standings.
With Mick set to join Haas on a multi-year basis, he is set to become the third member of the Schumacher family to compete in F1, joining his father Michael and uncle Ralf. He will also experience his first laps with Haas in an FP1 at Abu Dhabi next week, where he will then participate in a rookie test a few days following the 2020 F1 finale event at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
“The prospect of being on the Formula 1 grid next year makes me incredibly happy and I’m simply speechless,” Schumacher said. “I would like to thank Haas F1 Team, Scuderia Ferrari and the Ferrari Driver Academy for placing their trust in me. I also want to acknowledge and extend my love to my parents – I know that I owe them everything. I have always believed that I would realise my dream of Formula 1. A huge thank you must also go to all the great motorsport fans out there who have supported me throughout my career. I will give it my all, as I always do, and I look forward to going on this journey together with Haas F1 and them.”
Mick Schumacher is set to make his Formula One debut in the 2021 season-opening event at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit for the Australian Grand Prix on March 21, 2021.
