Mick Schumacher believes he never lost faith in his ability to perform in Formula One after a standout qualifying effort for the Turkish Grand Prix.
The young German has had a challenging first season at Haas, attempting to make the most of an uncompetitive car while also dealing with a tense relationship with teammate Nikita Mazepin.
However, in the challenging wet qualifying conditions in Istanbul on Saturday, Schumacher’s driving shone through as he led Haas to their first real Q2 appearance of the season, finishing 14th on the grid with a lap that was 2.9 seconds faster than his partner.
After the race, Schumacher noted that despite the Haas’ lack of pace, he was always confident in the job he could accomplish when given a chance.
“I managed to really probably pull a good lap out of the hat, but I think it was never a concern from my side, really, that I was able to do that,” he explained.
“I’ve done it in other categories and I didn’t really picture it being different in Formula 1, obviously knowing that it’s hard because it’s the top 20 [drivers] in the world. But still I never doubted my capabilities.
“On that side I’m very happy that I managed now, on top, to really show and also beat the others that were in Q1 or out in Q1 basically. And I feel that the trend is still on a very good slope and still going high.
“I feel, with every time I go out, I’m more and more comfortable, and obviously, I think I managed to reach a very nice lap and I think really got the joy for it. Now I’m just looking forward to racing.”
Schumacher stated he was hoping to put in a good enough lap in Q1 to advance to Q2, but he didn’t realize he’d done it until his team radio went crazy after he crossed the line.
“There was that one lap that we had left to try and make it,” he explained. “We knew we had the opportunity, because the lap before I think was not too bad and I think we were for some time in P15.
“I knew that there was still some time in it because I wasn’t 100% happy with my lap before. But then that one lap that I had, I think we really managed to get the most out of it.
“And obviously once we crossed the line and I heard Gary [Gannon] opened the radio and I heard the cheering in the background, obviously I knew that things were good and looked good. So I think overall very, very happy.”
Schumacher has also revealed that he has finally got for Turkey the new seat that he had been after since the start of the season, having previously sat a bit crooked in the cockpit.
“Maybe that’s a lucky charm,” he said. “So probably we keep it, and hopefully it will be good.”
