Mika Hakkinen delivers his verdict on Mick Schumacher ahead of new F1 season

Former Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen has said that Mick Schumacher is a talented driver but he must be given time to keep improving and learning in the sport.

Schumacher enters his second season in F1 after spending his rookie year with Haas, running around at the back of the field with the team opting to not develop their car.

Indeed, all he could really do was battle his team-mate Nikita Mazepin and he did that well, and now he’ll hope 2022 sees him able to fight other drivers with the Haas car looking improved.

Naturally, the expectation and interest around Mick is higher than most young drivers given his father is 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher and, though it’s still early in Mick’s career, many one day hope that he too can drive for Ferrari and win world titles.

Time is needed to get to that stage, though, and Finnish F1 icon Mika Hakkinen has called for patience when it comes to Mick’s development.

Hakkinen, of course, battle Michael for the world championship in some epic duels in the late 90s and early 00s so he knows exactly the level required to win the title.

For now, though, he believes that Mick just needs to focus on learning and improving, and then success should come in the future:

Mick Schumacher needs to be given time to develop. And by time I mean years and years. After that it’s up to him to keep himself motivated enough to become a winner like his dad. #F1 #ViaplayF1Check out my thoughts about #HaasF1 here: https://t.co/iycci5PMTU pic.twitter.com/1nj6jl5B90

Mick is a winner at both F2 and F3 so he knows his way around a championship fight.

It’s unlikely he’ll be in such a mix this season for Haas but some midfield battles would be good for him, and it’ll also be interesting to see