Schumacher embraced opportunity at Silverstone to 'learn' from Vettel

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Sebastian Vettel's pain in the British Grand Prix was Mick Schumacher's gain in the first half of the race as the Haas rookie sought to learn from his mentor while running behind the Aston Martin driver.

A wheel-to-wheel battle for sixth position between Vettel and Alpine's Fernando Alonso on the opening lap after the race's restart ended with a spin for the four-time world champion at Luffield.

It was a costly mishap for Vettel who was engulfed by the field and forced to chase from behind. The Aston Martin driver quickly overtook Nikita Mazepin to find himself behind Schumacher.

The Haas charger was overhauled by Vettel in short order, but then enjoyed his front row seat to his countryman's race, and he took notes.

"Obviously unfortunately I saw that his race didn’t go as planned either, that’s very unfortunate," Schumacher said. "

"Therefore I didn’t challenge him in any way because I knew he was going to go faster. So I was rather trying to learn from him than impede him."

While Vettel retired on lap 40 due to an overheating problem, Schumacher pressed on. But the 22-year-old was overtaken by Mazepin as the race reached its halfway point, and the Russian beat his teammate to the checkered flag for the second time this season.

But after the race, Schumacher reckoned he had perhaps been too cautious with his tyre management on his second stint.

Read also: Mick Schumacher gets a taste of Dad's first car!

"It was not easy," admitted Schumacher. "I think we were unfortunately struggling a bit with tyres and the approach that we had.

"We’ll probably have to learn from it and try to come back stronger in Budapest again.

"We as a team were trying to not overheat the tyres in the first few laps, and it seems like Nikita was pushing a bit harder in the first few laps and still managed to keep his tyres in the window.

"So that’s something I will have to analyse why and how, because there was a lot of margin for me to go faster."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.