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Mick’s Diary: Finding Gains in the Simulator

It’s been a little while since we last caught up with our Reserve Driver, Mick Schumacher. His last diary entry was fresh from his first drive in the W14 and the excitement of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. A lot has happened since then.

We’ve had back-to-backs in Europe, split by the summer break, as well as trips to Asia and the Middle East. The 24-year-old talks through his final two overnight sims, how his role changes for the flyaway races and more.

Hello, we’re back with another chapter of my diary with the team.

We last spoke before the summer break and that was a long time ago! Having a break during the season is very important. I think it’s getting more and more important as more races are added. Some teams don’t have the opportunity to do shifts and change personnel. So having the chance to unwind is vital.

For me, it was a good break. A nice opportunity to rest for a bit and detach from motorsport, but also get ready for the second half of the year. Whenever I have some time off to unwind and relax, I always like to do a lot of different things. Trying to do new things and find the best way to switch off, which is very different from person to person.

It’s incredible to be able to learn from all these great minds.

Mick Schumacher

The last races that we did in Europe were my last two overnight sims doing race support. Now we’re well into the flyaways, with Singapore, Japan and now Qatar done. I spent some time in Tokyo and went to Australia between Japan and Qatar. Now I’m very excited for the next races.

I’ve continued to settle into the team through the year and get to know more and more of my colleagues. I really enjoy being around the people. It’s incredible to be able to learn from all these great minds. I’ve been curious in getting to know everybody better and embed myself within the team. There were a few relationships from before joining that have helped. It’s been good to get to know the people that worked with my dad and all the new colleagues too.

It's been nice to feel the enthusiasm about the simulator work across the year and with those final two overnight sessions. We’ve made some good progress in developing the car and that’s been cool to see.

The overnight sims are obviously quite tiring so it’s rewarding when you see something come out of it. We have a lot of work to get through though, so you’re totally focused on that. We try to tick every box and help the team for the rest of the weekend.

Everything we learn from this year’s car along the way feed into next year. And we’ve learned a great deal.

Mick Schumacher

I’ll now be trackside across the whole weekend for these remaining Grands Prix. In my role as Reserve Driver, I need to be ready to jump in the car should Lewis or George not be able to drive. If I were back in the simulator at Brackley, I wouldn’t be able to do that.

While my simulator work has mostly focused on W14, there have been plenty of learnings that are also useful for the future. The development of W15 started quite a while ago. It’s really an on-going progress. Everything we learn from this year’s car along the way feed into next year. And we’ve learned a great deal. Everyone is working so hard to develop the best possible car we can for the start of next year.

And in the background, there’s work on my own plans for next year. These are still evolving and it’s just a matter of trying to understand exactly which direction we can go in, how to fit in the commitments and things like that. It just takes time.

As always, thanks so much for all the support, the kind words and comments I see. I hope you’ve enjoyed the insight this time around and I’ll speak to you later in the year.

Mick Schumacher Driver Page