'I know how hard he's working' – Vettel says Schumacher showing what he’s capable of in 2022

One of the most heart-warming storylines from the past eighteen months has been Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher’s burgeoning friendship, with Vettel using his experience to act as a mentor for the Haas youngster. But now that Schumacher has broken his points-scoring duck, Vettel has been quick to heap praise on his fellow German.

Schumacher, like his fellow rookie team mate Nikita Mazepin, failed to score a single point in 2021 at the wheel of the undeveloped Haas VF-21, as he got to grips with the world of F1.

Driving alongside Kevin Magnussen this year in the more competitive Haas VF-22 has proved a sterner test – but Schumacher finally managed a top-10 finish at Silverstone, backing that up the following weekend with sixth in Austria.

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Asked how impressed he’d been with Schumacher in 2022, Vettel replied: “I'm very, very happy for Mick because I think he had maybe an unlucky start to the season and then it takes only a couple of races and then you get a lot of criticism and I don't think it was justified.

“I know how much effort he's putting in and how hard he is working. So, I think Mick is on the right track. And it's great to see that he had the results that he deserved. So, I'm very, very happy. And I hope for him that, you know, the car will continue to be strong enough for him to show what he's capable of.”

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Haas were the last team to bring updates to their car this season, but unlike many teams, the American outfit managed to extract more and more pace from their original design as they began to fully understand how to get the most from it.

Vettel, meanwhile, is set to bow out from the sport in Abu Dhabi, leaving Schumacher with just nine Grands Prix to race alongside his mentor – and to try and help Haas stay ahead of Aston Martin in the constructors’ standings.