Mick Schumacher was “90% happy” after his debut Formula 1 race at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Haas driver was the last finisher in 15th after being left playing catch up following a spin at Turn 4 early on.
But once into the rhythm, Schumacher was satisfied with how his 56 laps progressed.
“I think in general, let’s say 90% happy and 10% not because of the mistake that I did at the Safety Car restart with the spin,” he said.
“Luckily the car was still drivable and everything was alright, I could keep going and keep taking my experience through the race weekend. After I went through the C3s [tyres], the C2s, and the C2s felt really good.”
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Schumacher’s race also wasn’t totally alone as the wounded Williams of Nicholas Latifi slipped back with a turbo problem.
That also allowed Mick a small chance to experience what it’s like to race another F1 car in close quarters.
“Afterwards, obviously, a bit of a shame that I wasn’t in the pack, being able to try at least to be close to the guys for a few laps,” he said.
“Fortunately, let’s say, I got through [the] blue flags but also [when] catching up to Nicholas, I was able to get a feel for how it is to follow a car close with DRS and everything.
“I felt like I’ve learned a lot and I’m able to convert that hopefully into something positive in two weeks.”
Schumacher’s race was in stark contrast to teammate Nikita Mazepin, who crashed at Turn 3 on the opening lap, and met Haas chief Guenther Steiner’s goal for his drivers to complete the full race distance.
“I’m very happy with how he did it,” Steiner said of Schumacher’s performance. “He improved in each stint on tyres, very good, very calm, very good communication with his team.
“Except for one spin, nothing else went wrong. Advice I gave him? Keep on doing this and we will get there pretty soon to be at a good level.”
