By Alan Baldwin
MANAMA (Reuters) – Mick Schumacher’s Formula One struggles last season feature strongly in the latest run of ‘Drive to Survive’ but the German says he feels no need to watch the Netflix docu-series.
The 23-year-old, son of Ferrari great and seven times world champion Michael, lost his seat at the Haas team at the end of 2022 and is now reserve to Lewis Hamilton and George Russell at Mercedes.
“I didn’t watch it…that’s a personal choice,” Schumacher told Reuters when asked about the series at a 75th anniversary event for sportswear maker Puma at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
“I just don’t necessarily feel the need to watch myself on TV, I guess.”
The fourth episode of season five casts a spotlight on tensions within Haas as Schumacher suffers a string of costly crashes and remains without points.
Team owner Gene Haas suggests to Haas principal Guenther Steiner, who says the German is too slow, that the driver is ‘in over his head’.
Schumacher muses separately, in a frank scene on a Swiss mountainside, about the difficulties he faces and his determination to succeed.
He told Reuters he approached this year as “one door may close, but another one may open.
“Who knows, in 10 years maybe I say ‘ah, actually it was for the better,” he added.
“It definitely meant I had to grow up in a different way,” the 2020 Formula Two champion said of the experience. “It made me grow up as a person, made me grow up as a racing driver.
“Both years were quite tough, coming from a championship-winning year to basically not having any chances for points in the first (season) and the second one was quite tough in some other ways.
“I think that I’ve grown into a stronger driver hopefully and I’ll be better prepared for whatever comes and waits for me in the future.”
Schumacher said his goal was to return but felt no rush.
“Obviously I live racing and that’s why I want to do it but if it means that this year I’m not going to get to do that then…I’ll take this year out and everything I can with a learning face and a smile,” he said.
With the retirement of four times world champion Sebastian Vettel, the only German driver is veteran Nico Hulkenberg as Schumacher’s replacement at Haas.
Once-dominant Mercedes remain a major force and Audi are coming into the sport in 2026, taking over Swiss-based Sauber. An eventual return of the German Grand Prix has also been mooted.
Schumacher said if any of that helped then it would be welcome but what he had shown in junior categories and during his stint at Haas also spoke in his favour.
“I think there were some sparks in there where people actually got to see what I can do if I’m in the right position and the right car and everything,” he said.
“There’s still a lot that I want to show.”
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
