Haas confirms Mick Schumacher for 2021

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Mick Schumacher will follow his famous father and uncle into the top echelon of motorsport in 2021, following confirmation that he will be driving for the Haas F1 Team next season.

The 21-year-old will be part of an all-new line-up at the American team alongside fellow rookie Nikita Mazepin, replacing the deporting Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.

“The prospect of being on the Formula 1 grid next year makes me incredibly happy and I’m simply speechless,” said Schumacher. "I have always believed that I would realize my dream of F1.

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“I’m very pleased that we’re able to confirm Mick Schumacher in our driver lineup for next season and I look forward to welcoming him into the team,” said team principal Guenther Steiner.

A member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, Schumacher is leading this year's Formula 2 championship and has a 14-point lead heading into the final weekend at Sakhir, with Mazepin currently in third place.

"F2 has long served as a proving ground for talent to showcase their credentials and this year’s field has undoubtedly been one of the most competitive in recent seasons," Steiner pointed out.

"Mick has won races, collected podiums and excelled against some pretty exceptional talent in 2020," he added. “I firmly believe he’s earned the opportunity to graduate into F1 based on his performances."

After the F2 finale, Schumacher will be driving the VF-20 in first practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before taking part in the end-of-season young driver test at Yas Marina the following week.

"We have an opportunity ahead of us, as a team, to evaluate and nurture a new driver given our familiarity with our race package heading into 2021," Steiner said.

"We are putting in place our building blocks for the continued long-term growth of the team and I look forward to Mick’s contributions both on and off the track in that process.”

Schumacher thanked Haas and the Academy for the opportunity, as well as a more personal and emotional acknowledgement.

"I also want to acknowledge and extend my love to my parents, I know that I owe them everything," he said. A huge thank you must also go to all the great motorsport fans out there who have supported me throughout my career.

"I will give it my all, as I always do, and I look forward to going on this journey together with Haas F1 and them.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.