Formula 1: The under-the-radar performance of Imola

In an eventful Formula 1 race at Imola, Mick Schumacher recovered from an early error to put in a strong performance that slid straight under the radar.

Formula 1 drivers are also human: they can make mistakes. But what separates the normal from the good is how they recover. In this instance, Haas rookie Mick Schumacher was able to show glimpses of how strong he can be in the car — and mentally.

This year’s Haas, the VF-21, is a dog, quite frankly. It wins by a large margin if the competition is the most uncomfortable car to watch. It looks sketchy, that is for sure. And without the aid of much development this season, a long season is ahead.

It was always going to be tough for Schumacher and rookie teammate Nikita Mazepin to make an impression during these race weekends. Then again, Mazepin simply gets recognition when he faces the correct way. Harsh joke, but kind of deserved.

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A last row lock-out for the team is highly likely for the majority of races this year, except at Imola, where Yuki Tsunoda gave them a helping hand when he crashed out of Q1. Instead of starting in 19th and 20th place, Schumacher and Mazepin started in 18th and 19th, respectively.

Mazepin was quite a distance off the pace, just as he was in Bahrain, but it was Mick Schumacher who was still able to put in a strong performance. He outqualified his teammate by more than half a second for the second straight race and was just a tenth and a half off the pace of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.

However, all of his hard work could have easily been thrown away, as the 22-year-old German made a big error early in the race. Calling it a rookie mistake is fair and harsh at the same time. Yes, many drivers in recent times have lost control of their cars while weaving to warm up their tires during a safety car period — some more notable than others.

The “rookie” error in this instance was just how much Schumacher was weaving on his wet tires. In plain terms, he was weaving way too much. A snap of the rear leading to another snap left the Haas tasting the wall next to the pit exit. Now driving a stricken Haas with its front wing skating further down the road, his race easily could have been over.

After performing a beautiful pirouette, a frustrated Schumacher was left to limp his way around.

But the recovery was a team effort. After some excellent and meaningful coaching on the radio, Schumacher was able to partially ignore his error and get his head back down. Gary Gannon really does deserve praise; he mentally changed Schumacher’s whole outlook for the following laps. Nothing better than a soothing voice in that situation…maybe?

Anyway, this mistake happened on lap four. And to make matters worse, Schumacher had to hobble his way around the famous track for two full laps before the pit lane eventually reopened. The pit lane was originally shut down because of his accident.

It took some time, but his car was put back together. But when it rains, it pours. By the time the race restarted, Schumacher was over half a lap down from the rest of the field already. But he persisted in the very mixed conditions. Of course, the red flag certainly helped him. Sometimes you need and deserve that slice of luck.

From wet tires to intermediate tires and then to slick tires, his pace was impressive considering his machinery. But unless points are scored, it is difficult to make an impression that is noticed.

Every driver’s first rival is his teammate, and that is never more the case than when you are racing well outside of the points. So far, that is what Schumacher has been able to do. Lapping around two seconds per lap quicker than Mazepin throughout the race was impressive, even if it went largely unnoticed.

Yes, Mazepin spun off again. But then again, Schumacher, as touched on earlier, had adventures of his own. It got to the point that Schumacher caught some cars that had lapped him, and he could attempt to unlap himself. He notably caught Kimi Raikkonen and getting into DRS range behind the veteran, just as the rather large incident between George Russell and Valtteri Bottas transpired.

Raikkonen and Schumacher definitely tasted a lot of dirt and carbon fiber.

Even at this point, Schumacher was over 30 seconds ahead of his teammate, and he ultimately finished ahead of him by over a minute.

What else can he do in his situation? Not fighting for points means his performance was not recognized, but he put on an impressive recovery from a highly disappointing start. It takes a lot to recover like that, not only on-track but mentally.