The key to Mick Schumacher's arrival in F1 (and it's not his last name)

• Mick Schumacher: the weight of a surname

Those who follow the F2 World Championship every weekend say that

is a wonderful kid and that his character, at 21, is nothing like that of

, his father, a competitive beast who never doubted when it came to take any shortcut to victory.

From a very young age, Mick has had to get used to a different life, under the overwhelming weight of his last name.

However, he has always known how to deal with it, even when the next step seemed too high.

ford.

For the moment, this weekend he can be proclaimed F2 world champion and next season he will make the leap to F1 in the Haas that he leaves free

Yesterday, at the Sakhir circuit, the scene of the Frenchman's terrifying accident on Sunday, Mick gave smiles to those who approached him, while Grosjean, after three nights of observation, was discharged from the Manama Hospital.

Despite the burns, Romain wants to contest the Abu Dhabi GP on December 13 and thus say goodbye with honors after 11 seasons in F1.

But not at any price.

"If my left hand is not right and I cannot do all the movements, I will not risk it," he said yesterday. For now, his seat will be occupied this Sunday in Bahrain by his compatriot

, an emergency resource, recruited at the last minute by Haas.

Yes that

, team boss, has clear priorities for next week in Abu Dhabi.

Your first choice is still Grosjean.

However, the second is no longer Fittipaldi, but rather Schumacher, whom he has confirmed for Friday's free practice.

Taking the wheel on Sunday at Yas Marina would be the best preparation for him and Haas for 2021.

14 point advantage

While waiting for a final decision, Mick tempers his nerves to close the F2 World Championship in a big way.

He faces the two races of Bahrain as the leader, with a 14-point advantage, after a year in which he added two victories and seven podiums.

He may not be the best on the grid at one lap, where he has been beaten

Yuki tsunoda

or

Callum ilott

;

may not have the consistency of

Robert Schwartzman

, your garage buddy in Prema;

What no one disputes anymore is Schumacher's fabulous learning ability, perhaps his most distinctive trait as a driver, as he demonstrated during his six seasons with the single-seater, marked by a year of adaptation as an indispensable step towards the crown.

This was his roadmap in German F4 or FIA F3 and this is the way it is now in F2.

Tire management, one of his traumas at the start of the season, has been left behind.

And the errors have been minimized.

The consistency of Mick, a candidate for the podium in every race, has opened the doors of a title that is almost taken for granted, a decade after the debut of

Bruno senna

, nephew of the São Paulo genius, F1 finalizes every detail with Schumacher, whom he considers an exceptional marketing operation, especially from 2022, when the long-awaited regulatory revolution comes into force.

Televisions, whose contracts are trading down in these times of pandemic, are looking for a vein like this.

Nostalgia always sells.

The number 47 and the cabal

For now, Mick has announced that he will compete with number 47, a combo of his two favorite figures, now reserved for

Lando norris

Y

Kimi raikkonen

.

The 7 brings back the legendary memory of Michael and the 47 represents something even more cabalistic.

"It is the sum of the dates of birth of all my family", admitted Mick yesterday. In the bosom of Haas will have to compete now with

Nikita Mazepin

, a young Russian backed by the immense fortune of his family business.

He needed new blood Steiner, frustrated by the poor results of

Kevin Magnussen

and Grosjean throughout the past four seasons.

Adapting to the 2021 World Cup, where the cars can hardly be modified, represents another fierce challenge for Schumacher.

Ferrari, the team that has mentored his entire career, will continue to watch him closely.

The jump to

Scuderia

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