SON of seven-time Formula One world champion Mick Schumacher sounded modest after clinching his first victory of the season in the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 2016-2017 and vowed not to get carried away.
Schumacher Jr won the second round yesterday at the Bahrain International Circuit after Harrison Newey, son of legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey, claimed the first.
It was Mick’s first day of racing at BIC, a track which many drivers termed to be a tough one.
“Being the first time I race here, I like it. The weather is nice and warm, unlike in Europe where it’s pretty cold,
“Even though it’s my first time, I feel comfortable on the track. However, it’s really aggressive on the tyres, so throughout the race you feel the degradation but I really like the ambiance in Bahrain,” the 17-year-old racer said.
Mick started his career in 2009 going by the name of Mick Betsch to avoid attention because of his famous surname.
He drove at the ADAC Formula Four and Italian Formula 4 as well but his choice of participation at the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 is because of his ability to drive a lot during winter.
Excited
Clinching his first win of the season, with two more rounds to go in Bahrain today, Mick revealed he will not be getting carried away just yet.
“It’s a long season for the title, and the world championship too, we still have a couple of races to go so we’ll see how it goes,”
On the other hand, Harrison was excited to open the season with a win in round one.
Newey stretched his lead to five seconds and was untroubled as he crossed the finish line.
Ralf Aron finished second ahead of Joey Mawson and Juri Vips. Schumacher crossed the line in fifth place ahead of Felipe Drugovich.
“It’s really nice to start with a victory, to be in a nice position and it was a perfect start so I’m really happy with that and we’ll see how it’ll go,” the 18-year-old said.
He added that starting from the grid was vital. “I had a really good lap earlier in the qualifying session. I went in again pretty nice and did the lap really well.
“Race one started really well and I started the gap within the first couple of laps and tried to stay away,” Newey explained.
“To be honest the circuit has been okay. I’ve felt the wheels going off a little bit towards the end but in general it was okay.”