Formula 1: Mick Schumacher could break one of his father’s records

By Asher Fair | Apr 17, 2021

Mick Schumacher, Haas, Formula 1 (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /

It would be over two years away, but Mick Schumacher has quietly positioned himself to have a shot at one of his father Michael’s most impressive Formula 1 records.

If there was ever an “overreaction” to the first qualifying session of a Formula 1 season, this is it. But the thing about “overreactions” in sports is that often times, they turn out not to be as far-fetched as they seem, even if they don’t completely pan out.

Mick Schumacher has a chance to back up that claim.

The 22-year-old German rookie, in his first ever qualifying session, qualified in 19th out of 20th place on the grid at the 15-turn, 3.363-mile (5.412-kilometer) Bahrain International Circuit road course in Sakhir, Bahrain for the 2021 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, but it was expected that Haas would struggle.

His rookie teammate, Nikita Mazepin, qualified in last place.

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But Mazepin, who spun out twice and caused all sorts of controversy in his first career Formula 1 qualifying session, was well off of Schumacher’s pace.

The reigning Formula 2 champion finished 0.824 seconds ahead of his teammate. To put that in perspective, had Schumacher himself been 0.824 seconds quicker, he would have finished ahead of an Alpine, an Aston Martin and a Williams, and Haas wouldn’t have locked out the back row, which many expect them to do in each of the 23 races on this year’s record-breaking schedule.

Sure, it’s only one race. And maybe it’s the fact that the name Schumacher is back in Formula 1, but Mick’s comfortable gap over Mazepin, especially given Mazepin’s history on the race track, has us thinking big picture.

To start a Formula 1 career, the all-time record for most consecutive teammate qualifying battles won is 36, set by George Russell. While that mark ended last year, nobody else is even remotely close throughout Formula 1 history.

Excluding Russell’s lone Mercedes start last season, that streak would actually be up to 38. He began competing in Formula 1 in 2019 and still competes for Williams, the team for which he started his career two years ago.

The all-time record for most consecutive teammate qualifying battles won at any point in a Formula 1 career is 56, and that record is unsurprisingly held by the legendary 91-time Grand Prix winner and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, Mick’s father. Michael won a record 56 consecutive teammate qualifying battles from 1992 to 1995.

Next closest driver on this all-time list is the legendary 41-time Grand Prix winner and three-time world champion Ayrton Senna, who won 44 in a row from 1985 and 1988. Russell and Nelson Piquet are tied for third place with 36, with Piquet having gone on his streak from 1989 to 1992.

The odds of Mick going on this kind of a streak are small, but we’d venture to guess that he has better than a 50% chance to beat his teammate each race, much like his father, Senna, Russell and Piquet.

Think of it this way: the chances of picking a perfect NCAA March Madness bracket (1/2^63) are technically 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. Sure, it’s never happened, but those odds assume you literally flip a coin and nothing else is involved. It’s really a lot more like than that, believe it or not. Same deal with Schumacher vs. Mazepin.

Still, it’s something to give some thought to, given the fact that a 19th place effort in qualifying might as well be a world championship for either one of the Haas pair this year.

If he were to pull it off, he would likely break Russell’s record next year and his father’s in 2023.

Again, long ways off…

Next. Top 25 Formula 1 drivers of all-time. dark

The second race on the 2021 Formula 1 schedule, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, is scheduled to take place tomorrow at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari. This race is set to be broadcast live on ESPN beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET, and qualifying is scheduled to be broadcast live on ESPN beginning at 8:00 a.m. this morning.

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