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Tag: Mick Schumacher

  • Mick Schumacher puts the Italian team on Victory mode at Misano

    Mick Schumacher puts the Italian team on Victory mode at Misano

    Mick Schumacher on way to his victory at Misano on Saturday. An FIA image

    Event: 07 Misano
    Session: Race 1
    Track: Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli / I
    Pole position: Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing)
    Race winner: Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing)
    Weather: overcast, 31.4 °C

    After his victories at Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone, Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing) also confirmed his current good shape at the 4.226 kilometres long Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. The German, who is racing for the only Italian team in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, won the 19th race of the season from the two rookie drivers Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Theodore Racing) and Robert Shvartzman (PREMA Theodore Racing). In the drivers’ standings, Daniel Ticktum (Motopark) remains in the lead, the Brit took the chequered flag at Misano in sixth place.

    Once the red lights on the start line gantry went out, Mick Schumacher took the lead. Marcus Armstrong claimed second place from Robert Shvartzman and Guanyu Zhou (PREMA Theodore Racing), who had to defend his position from a charging Daniel Ticktum in the first corners. Soon after that, Zhou had pulled a slight gap and went on to put Shvartman under pressure in the battle for third. However, the young Russian successfully defended his position from the experienced Russian.

    Out in front, Schumacher maintained his margin at around 1.5 seconds throughout the race and eventually crossed the finish line as the winner, just over two seconds ahead of his teammate Armstrong. Shvartzman secured the final podium slot. Thus, drivers of the PREMA Theodore Racing team locked out the podium in the squad’s home race.

    Having overtaken his teammate Daniel Ticktum around the halfway point of the race, Jüri Vips (Motopark) finished fifth. The Brit brought sixth place home, just ahead of Ralf Aron (PREMA Theodore Racing) and Alex Palou (Hitech Bullfrog GP). Jehan Daruvala (Carlin) and Jonathan Aberdein (Motopark) rounded out the top ten.

    Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing): “The potential has always been there, but initially, we weren’t able to make full use of it. Since Spa-Francorchamps, however, things have been going pretty well and I am happy that I am now also able to show what I can achieve in the races. Today, I was able to pull a gap at the start and on the first lap and then I tried to manage it.”

    Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Theodore Racing): “Mick was really good on the opening lap and was able to pull a gap straight away. After that, I was no longer in a position to still put him under pressure, although I had actually planned it. I think that the PREMA Theodore Racing team is so strong here at Misano as both the team and we as the drivers have a lot of experience at this track.”

    Robert Shvartzman (PREMA Theodore Racing): “I had a close fight with my teammate Guanyu Zhou, we were certainly fighting side by side for five laps. It was a nice and a fair battle, in which I finally got a little more room to breathe after he had made a mistake.”

  • Mick Schumacher wins second F3 pole: Misano

    Mick Schumacher wins second F3 pole: Misano

    Mick Schumacher takes Misano F3 pole on Saturday. An FIA photo

    Event: 07 Misano
    Session: Qualifying 1
    Track: Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli / I
    Pole position: Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing)
    Weather: overcast, 29.2 °C

    At the 4.226 kilometres long Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing, 1m27.934s) claimed his second FIA Formula 3 European Championship pole position. The German was 19 thousandths of a second faster than Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Theodore Racing, 1m27.953s), his closest rival in the classification. Guanyu Zhou (PREMA Theodore Racing, 1m27.992s) was third from Robert Shvartzman (PREMA Theodore Racing, 1m28.015s). Daniel Ticktum (Motopark, 1m28.020s), the FIA Formula 3 European Championship points’ leader, ended up fifth, only 86 thousandths of a second down on pace-setter Schumacher.

    The young drivers staged an exciting qualifying in the first-ever visit of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship to Misano in Italy with positions changing throughout the session. Only just before the end, Mick Schumacher moved up into first place with Marcus Armstrong, Guanyu Zhou and Robert Shvartzman following in second to fourth position. Thus, drivers of the PREMA Theodore Racing team, the only Italian team in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, locked out the first four places.

    Daniel Ticktum, who posted one fastest time of the day during the official pre-season test at the same venue, ended up fifth in qualifying. Behind Jehan Daruvala (Carlin, 1m28.067s) in sixth place, Jüri Vips (Motopark, 1m28.172s) followed in seventh position. Back in April, the Estonian was the second driver to post a fastest time of the day in the official pre-season test at Misano. Jonathan Aberdein (Motopark, 1m28.177s), Ralf Aron (PREMA Theodore Racing, 1m28.224s) and Sacha Fenestraz (Carlin, 1m28.254s) rounded out the top ten. In the process, the Frenchman was only 0.32 seconds down on Schumacher’s fastest time. In total, the lap times of the first 19 drivers were within 0.8 seconds. Classified 19th, Nikita Troitckii (Carlin, 1m28.682s) came within 0.748 seconds of Schumacher’s time.

    Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing): “This afternoon’s free practice didn’t go as we had expected it to, we had some minor set-up issues. After that, we tried to improve as well as we could. Now I am happy with our progress and the result from qualifying. We will try to make the best out of this pole position in the first race. Of course, my preference would be to win. However, the important thing for me is to score some points no matter what in order to close up to the frontrunners in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers’ standings.”

  • Mick Schumacher takes the lead with a double

    Mick Schumacher takes the lead with a double

    Bahrain, 19 Nov 2016: German driver Mick Schumacher got his MRF Challenge 2016 off to the perfect start by winning two races and taking the championship lead after Round 1 in Bahrain. Schumacher finished ahead of Joey Mawson and Ralf Aron in Race 2. Aron struck back in Race 3 to win comfortably with Schumacher taking the win in Race 4. Schumacher leads the championship with 75 points ahead of Aron (72) and Mawson (61).

    In Race 2 Schumacher started from the front row alongside Brazilian rookie Felipe Drugovich, who was on the reverse grid pole position. Schumacher had a great start and took the lead going into Turn 1, with Drugovich managing to hold off Race 1 winner Newey and Aussie driver Mawson. It was just a matter of time before both drivers passed Drugovich, while Aron recovered from a poor start to also quickly start catching the lead bunch of drivers. Schumacher pulled away while Newey had Mawson all over him and on Lap 3 the he passed him to move into 2nd place. Aron set some fast lap times to close in on Newey. Schumacher crossed the finish line comfortably in 1st place to take his maiden MRF Challenge win ahead of Mawson. Aron was on Newey’s tail and overtook him on the last lap to take the final podium spot, with the pair being separated by a mere 0.016s. Drugovich finished in 5th place ahead of Kimi Schramm and Dylan Young.

    In Race 3 Pole-sitter Newey had a torrid start and got jumped by the chasing pack heading into the first corner. Mawson took the lead with Aron in 2nd and Schumacher 3rd. Schumacher pulled off a brilliant overtaking move into turn 9 to get past Aron but the latter struck back down the main straight to get back into 2nd place. Newey was forced to retire on lap 1 bringing out the Safety car for the first time this season. At the restart, Aron wasted no time in overtaking Mawson and then pulled away, winning by a margin of 6.566s. Schumacher came under late pressure from Drugovich, but the German managed to hold on to 3rd position by a mere 0.248s. Juri Vips took 5th place ahead of Pedro Cardoso and Schramm.

    In Race 4 Schumacher got the jump on pole-sitter Cardoso to slot into second place behind Vips. It was turn 9 again that Schumacher pounced and got past Vips to take the lead and pull away. Behind, it was a battle between Joey Mawson and European F3 regular Ralf Aron for fourth and they were soon joined by Harrison Newey, who made up eight places to sixth in the opening few laps. Newey managed to go past Aron at Turn 1 on Lap 4 to move into the top five and later was gifted fourth after Mawson’s mistake. Schumacher crossed the line in 1st place ahead of first time podium winner Vips and Cardoso.

    Mick Schumacher was happy to get his challenge off to to a great start. He said, “I am happy with the overall start to the championship. In the last race I felt it was important to get past Juri Vips soon in order to get the win. The circuit was enjoyable to drive on and I now look forward to the next race in Dubai.”

    Ralf Aron was pleased to get his first win under his belt. He commented, “I managed to get a good start and then after that the car felt great. I am really happy to take my first win in the series. In Race 4 my tyres were old while the others had new ones so it was not as easy. Anyway to go away with three podiums is a good start.”

    MRF Challenge 2016, Round 1, Bahrain, Race 2:

    Pos Driver Name Total Time
    1 Mick Schumacher 20:18.365
    2 Joey Mawson 20:20.243
    3 Ralf Aron 20:25.917
    4 Harrison Newey 20:25.933
    5 Felipe Drugovich 20:31.973
    6 Kimi Schramm 20:36.912
    7 Dylan Young 20:48.811
    8 Bruna Tomaselli 20:50.304
    9 Manuel Maldonado 20:51.572
    10 Pavan Ravishanker 20:52.861

    MRF Challenge 2016, Round 1, Bahrain, Race 3:

    Pos Driver Name Total Time
    1 Ralf Aron 21:09.925
    2 Joey Mawson 21:16.493
    3 Mick Schumacher 21:20.470
    4 Felipe Drugovich 21:20.718
    5 Juri Vips 21:23.848
    6 Pedro Cardoso 21:24.067
    7 Kimi Schramm 21:25.016
    8 Dylan Young 21:29.378
    9 Yoshiaki Katayama 21:30.515
    10 Bruna Tomaselli 21:32.410
    Mick Schumacher receiving the 1st place trophy from Arun Mammen, MD, MRF Tyres on Saturday. An MRF image
    Mick Schumacher receiving the 1st place trophy from Arun Mammen, MD, MRF Tyres on Saturday. An MRF image

    MRF Challenge 2016, Round 1, Bahrain, Race 4:

    Pos Driver Name Total Time
    1 Mick Schumacher 20:20.843
    2 Juri Vips 20:23.145
    3 Pedro Cardoso 20:24.452
    4 Harrison Newey 20:25.027
    5 Ralf Aron 20:27.138
    6 Joey Mawson 20:28.716
    7 Kimi Schramm 20:29.246
    8 Felipe Drugovich 20:30.369
    9 Dylan Young 20:36.502
    10 Yoshiaki Katayama 20:39.558