Sebastian Vettel has praised Mick Schumacher’s recent run of form, stating the German driver has “deserved” his point-scoring finishes.
Schumacher scored the first points of his F1 career at the British Grand Prix earlier this month, crossing the line in eighth place.
He followed it up with a run to sixth place at the following race in Austria, securing the best result of his career in F1 to date.
Vettel and Schumacher share a strong friendship, as Vettel was also great friends with Mick’s father Michael.
The four-time World Champion says that he recognises the effort that Schumacher has put in to obtain his current form.
“I’m very, very happy for Mick because, you know, I think he had maybe an unlucky start to the season,” Vettel said.
“And then, you know, 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.
“I hope for him that, you know, the car will continue to be strong enough for him to show what he’s capable of.”
Schumacher endured a more difficult weekend last time out in France, as he had a lap time deleted in Q1 that eliminated him from the session.
In the race, he struggled to 15th place after a Safety Car was deployed shortly after he made his first pit stop of the race, giving those ahead a free stop.
“We had a difficult start on the medium tyre, it didn’t really work as well as we imagined,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be tough, so we came in early but unfortunately there was a safety car, which meant for a lot of people it was a free stop essentially.
“With a pitlane like we have here, the difference is quite big, so we were quite far behind and then we had contact with Zhou. Overall, it was quite tough but we learned some things and hopefully we have a better weekend in Budapest.”
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