Mick Schumacher believes that the next generation of cars will be tougher to drive around the Monte Carlo streets as the young German continues to chase his first World championship points.

The new generation of Formula One cars has so far improved the quality of racing whilst making them more challenging to drive, with Schumacher stating in a media session on Thursday that one of the most significant differences compared to last year’s cars is the extra understeer which he says can’t be controlled regardless of how the teams set up the car.

“I think what’s clear is that the cars are a lot heavier compared to last year, so in a sense, it will result in a very understeery car, nothing that’s up to the teams to set up, so again it depends on what you want, and you can still set it up very loose in low-speed corners so it’s just a matter of how you put it into play I would say.”

“It wasn’t that bad compared to last year I mean, we didn’t have that low speed, yet obviously, Monaco is very special in that sense, but you come here anyways and just drive what you have, and usually, it’s a matter of if you get a clean lap or not; that decides if you’re quick.”

Last year’s Monaco Grand Prix weekend was a baptism of fire for Schumacher, as although he managed to get some pace out of the troublesome Haas-VF21 in the Free Practice sessions, a chance of getting into Q2 was wasted after Schumacher hit the wall at Casino Square putting him out of Qualifying. 

The race wasn’t much better either, as, despite making a good start and making a bold pass on Nikita Mazepin at the Lowes hairpin, a fuel pump issue consigned him to the back of the field for the entirety of the race.

But Schumacher’s poor results around the Principality doesn’t diminish his love for the circuit that his father won at five times, as the young German predicts that these cars will be more brutal to drive than the previous generation of cars.

“Last year had always felt pretty good, and the year before in F2 (2019), I wasn’t too bad here we were close to getting pole or on the front row, so yeah, I think that this track is quite fun to drive and for me, it’s always quite interesting to see how quickly we as humans can adapt to situations, it’s unusual for us to drive so quick in a city and you don’t get that anywhere else really and to drive so close to the wall with these cars it’s definitely going to be a bit different, in that it will be a bit tricky too because the cars are a bit bigger compared to last year, but still I think it’s something that us drivers will get used to.”