Meet Mick Schumacher's Haas race engineer Gary Gannon who famously appears in Drive to Survive
Mick Schumacher's former race engineer at Haas, Gary Gannon, was seen cheering on the young German through his struggles in the latest season of Netflix's docuseries Drive to Survive. The series takes the audience through the 2022 F1 season.
Given that Schumacher was driving in only his second season, the 23-year-old faced undeniable pressure in times when he was unable to perform acceptably.
Gannon is an engineer who started his career at Honda after graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University. After over 10 years with the Japanese manufacturer, he worked at Wirth Research and the Marussia F1 Team before joining the American outfit back in 2015. In his time at Haas, Gannon has previously worked with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.
Gannon shared a positive relationship with Mick Schumacher as his race engineer. He seemed to understand the exact type of support, technical and otherwise, that the driver needed during the race.
As reported by Motorlat, Gannon previously revealed that Schumacher is the type of driver who requires plenty of information during a race. He said:
“Mick wants a lot of information during the race, so I always talk to him in the race. Sometimes it feel like I’m talking too much, but that’s exactly what he wants and what he needs.”
Who’s your favorite F1 Race Engineer on Team Radio and why is it Gary Gannon? 😊
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Mick Schumacher is optimistic about the future despite failing to secure a seat in 2023
After two rather underwhelming seasons at Haas in F1, Mick Schumacher, unfortunately, failed to secure a seat for the upcoming 2023 F1 season. However, this does not mean that the young German has lost hope regarding future opportunities to return.
While he is no longer a full-time driver, Schumacher parted ways with the Ferrari academy to join the Silver Arrows as a reserve driver this year. He also revealed that over the winter break, others had shown an interest in keeping track of his progress, indicating a bright future.
Schumacher has been replaced by Nico Hulkenberg at Haas, who is returning to the grid this season to partner with Kevin Magnussen.
During a media interaction at the Mercedes W14 launch event held in Silverstone, the 23-year-old optimistically said:
“There’s obviously no guarantee, but I’m in a comfortable position right now where I feel like I can learn, I can extract the maximum out of this year – even though I’m not driving. I’m sure that with the results I’ve shown in junior categories, but also in F1, I’m sure that there will be opportunities. Over the winter, a few people have already mentioned that there’s interest. So in one sense, I’m not too worried.”
Mick Schumacher finished the 2022 F1 season 16th in the drivers' standings, an improvement from the final result of his rookie year.