Formula 1: Why we shouldn’t expect success from Mick Schumacher in 2021

Mick Schumacher’s rookie Formula 1 season in 2021 will be more about learning than it will be about his ability to secure solid results. His history backs that up, and given the current state of the Haas team, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

After four seasons of the same driver pairing, Haas moved on from Romain Grosjean, who had driven for the team since they entered Formula 1 in 2016, and Kevin Magnussen following the 2020 season and signed reigning Formula 2 champion Mick Schumacher and fellow rookie Nikita Mazepin for 2021.

The legendary Schumacher name has not been in Formula 1 since 2012, which marked the final time seven-time world champion and 91-time Grand Prix winner Michael Schumacher competed in the sport.

Hopes are high for the 22-year-old Mick, not just because of his name but because of his success in the junior ranks, specifically in Formula 2 after signing with the Ferrari Driver Academy.

However, his rookie season with the American team which finished in ninth place out of 10 teams in the 2020 constructor standings will be more about learning and gaining experience than it will be able securing top results, and that would likely be the case regardless of Haas’ current abysmal state.

Here is what Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto had to say about Schumacher over the winter, according to Motorsport.

"“Compared to Charles [Leclerc], Charles normally is very fast on the very first day. I think that Mick, the way he has developed himself, he is learning a lot in the first season and eventually even the start of the second. Then he becomes very strong in the second half of the second season. So that’s why I think two seasons will be important for him. But already in the second [year], I’m expecting to see progress compared to the first one.”"

Schumacher’s history backs up Binotto’s claim.

In his rookie season of the ADAC Formula 4 Championship in 2015, he finished in 10th place in the driver standings with one win and an additional podium finish in 22 races. The following season, he finished in second in the standings with five wins and an additional seven podium finishes in 24 races.

In his rookie season of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2017, he finished in 12th place in the driver standings with just one podium finish in 30 races.

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The following season, he won the title with eight wins and an additional six podium finishes in 30 races, and he won eight races despite starting the season 0 for 14. He finished in 16th in the Macau Grand Prix in 2017 before finishing in fifth in 2018.

He basically repeated what he did in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in Formula 2. In 2019, he finished in 12th place in the driver standings with one podium finish, which happened to be a win, in 22 races. That lone win came in the second half of the season.

In 2020, he won the title, doing so with two wins, both in the second half of the season, and an additional eight podium finishes in 24 races.

So ironically, with Haas already effectively throwing in the towel on car development for the 2021 season as they prepare for the new rules and regulations to be introduced for next year, Schumacher may be at an advantage.

The only exceptions are MRF Challenge Formula 2000 and the Italian Formula 4 Championship, where he was hot right out of the gate.

He competed in four of the 14 races of MRF Challenge Formula 2000 in 2015-16 and ran the full 16-race schedule in 2016-17. He finished in third place in the driver standings in his lone full season with four wins and an additional five podium finishes.

He spent just one season in the Italian Formula 4 Championship in 2016. He finished in second place in the driver standings with five wins and an additional five podium finishes throughout the 18-race season.

Schumacher is set to make his Formula 1 debut in the Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday, March 28. ESPN is set to broadcast this race live beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET.