The script for the next Netflix season Drive to survive should write itself after Mick Schumacher and Nikita Masepin will also drive side by side and against each other at the Haas racing team in the coming Formula 1 season. Good German versus rude Russians, if that’s not a plot. Let’s see whether team boss Günther Steiner, who as an edgy hardliner has always played a leading role in the streaming epic, can curb his two drivers. In the last two races before the Russian Grand Prix this weekend, the two 22-year-olds rushed into their cars again. What the trade journal, which tends to be more objective Motorsport up-to-date about the toxic relationship was headlined: “Russian Roulette”.
On Thursday, Mick Schumacher was still happy in Sochi that he could continue to live his Formula 1 dream for at least another year. With the start of racing in the Autodrom, the uncertainty began again: How will his direct opponent, who is theoretically his colleague, behave? In terms of intensity, the argument at the bottom of the table easily approaches that between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. In terms of class, of course, not yet.
The two complete their year of study with different teachers. Behind Schumi junior is the Ferrari Academy, behind Masepin is his father Dimitri, job title oligarch. This contradicting constellation plagues the team boss Steiner in particular, who has to mediate on all sides if he wants to secure the future of his racing team: Haas gets the engines and engineers from Ferrari, while Papa Masepin gives him plenty of sponsorship millions. “There has never been a contractual preference for a driver with us. And there will not be in the future either,” says Steiner, who sometimes seems to despair of his neutrality himself. Of course, each side jealously watches that the other is not being granted some advantage.
In terms of sport, Schumacher is clearly the better driver
That doesn’t make it easy for anyone. After all, Steiner has experience with out of control internal duels, before the Dane Kevin Magnussen and the Frenchman Romain Grosjean were regularly good for a crash. The two rookies of today and tomorrow are opposite in many ways, especially in character and demeanor. For Schumacher, the focus is on learning, he is the team player in the tradition of his father and tries to solve conflicts behind the scenes. After the contract extension he seriously speaks of a “family feeling” in the team and that this is one of the reasons why he is happy to be able to stay. This occasionally brings him the accusation of looking pale. But what should he also say: that he would probably be further elsewhere?
In terms of sport, Schumacher has so far been clearly the better, but his problem is that he can learn little from his colleagues – and the Haas training company also has a lot to do with itself. Ferrari racing director Laurent Mekies, who is also responsible for the Italian brand’s junior academy, attests to the youngster: “We are very confident that he will continue to improve. Mick confirmed the qualities and characteristics in his first season in Formula 1 that identified him earlier in his career. ” That means: Make even more effort, maybe it will work out with an even bigger leap in 2023!
Internal duel in the official race: Mick Schumacher (front) is harassed by Nikita Masepin, here at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
(Photo: Zak Mauger via www.imago-images.de/Motorsport Images / Imago)
Masepin has come closer to his German rival in recent races, he attributes that to a lighter chassis that he got after the summer. His progress is comparatively marginal, but after all the excessive demands in the first half of the season, the smallest occasion is enough to let the ego swell further: “Maybe it’s like with me with the wine. The more mature, the better.” As a reminder: After all, the man is already 22. He apparently skipped the chapters Humility and Respect on the fast way up.
Steiner, with his moderate suitability as a justice of the peace, actually wants to see something like progress in the relationship after the recent clash of his drivers – Masepin had hit Schumacher off the front wing in Monza. Masepin took the blame, it was too obvious, even for the stewards who imposed a time penalty and a penalty point. After all, this time the action was not as life-threatening as his lane change before. “We had another incident, but I think the two guys learned from the last time and settled the matter between themselves. I liked that. Things have to be clarified, that’s part of their development,” says the crisis manager. “They don’t have to become friends. But there has to be a good working relationship.”
“I always forget the word for thank you,” says Schumacher
He would rather that they rub against each other now than in the coming year, when Haas is finally calculating opportunities again in terms of sport. “Getting used to the rigors of Formula 1,” he calls the training program. Schumacher happily agrees: “I think that is being boiled up in many ways. We race. As long as we understand each other and work together, it brings something to the team – and we are currently working together. That will be important for the team at next year so that we can consistently drive in midfield. “
To always clarify things as openly as he might like, the German racing driver doesn’t really expect much of that. Even before the last discussion he knew: “He doesn’t listen to me. He does his thing, I do mine.” When asked how good he was in Russian, Schumacher replied: “Just what my name is. I always forget the word for thank you.”