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Mick Schumacher believes that he is not yet at Formula 1 level but aims to be so as soon as season’s end, having now become a Formula 2 race winner.
Schumacher won the reverse grid Sprint Race last time out at the Hungaroring after starting from first position due to finishing eighth in the Feature Race.
The F2 rookie, who won last year’s FIA Formula 3 European Championship with a race to spare, is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy and has tested for both the Scuderia and customer Alfa Romeo Racing this year.
However, Schumacher, currently 11th in the F2 standings, does not feel he would be ready to make the step right at this point in time.
“I think only time can tell,” said the son of seven-time world drivers’ champion, Michael.
“Obviously having the first victory in F2 is a great thing. I still need to work a lot on myself.
“Whether I go to F1 next year or in two years or three years, I don’t know. Only time can tell that.
“I will do my best possible to try to learn as much as possible so that when I do make the step, I am ready and comfortable.”
Schumacher had only scored points in six of the 15 races which preceded his win.
However, the Prema Racing driver takes confidence from a victory which he had to work for by holding off Nobuharu Matsushita for virtually all 28 laps.
“I think it’s true that in a way, the first one is the hardest, but obviously it’s also once you get that win, it gives you a lot of confidence,” said Schumacher.
“It gives you a lot of confidence to go into the next round, especially getting towards the end of the season now.
“It’s good that we have done it in a way that is also I think not easy, because we had a lot of pressure, not only from Nobu but throughout the whole season.
“We had some very strong performances, but not enough points for what we had.
“I think I refer back to Red Bull Ring or Silverstone where the pace was great, but in many ways we didn’t manage to really exploit it.
“In general, I’m really happy that we managed to get that win, but mostly also getting those points in.”
The next round of F2 is at the Belgian Grand Prix on August 30-September 1.
