Mick Schumacher sprayed himself in champagne at Silverstone to celebrate his first F1 points. Photo / Don Kennedy

Don Kennedy on Formula One

Much of Europe and even the UK is dealing with a heat wave that shows little sign of easing off, and at this weekend's French Grand Prix, the temperatures will remain in the high 30s.

Riders in the Tour de France have had to deal with extreme heat, but at least they are scantily clad in comparison to the F1 drivers, who have to adorn fireproof underwear and balaclavas, race suits, race helmets and gloves, not to mention the heat generated from their cars and the track surface.

And with Ferrari winning at Silverstone, where Carlos Sainz took his maiden F1 victory, and also in Austria, where Charles Leclerc won, championship leader Max Verstappen is well aware the title race for both drivers and constructors is also hotting up at the halfway point in the championship.

The temperatures at the Red Bull Ring for that Austrian GP rarely ventured above 20 degrees, while much of the rest of Europe was sweltering. Mind you, Sainz was feeling the heat after his car caught on fire when he was about to overtake Verstappen for second place. He was critical of the time it took the fire marshals to put the fire out.

"I think the whole process was a bit slow," Sainz said at the time. "There was so much fire I had to really get a move on and jump out independently."

The fire marshals have defended the criticism. "After the terrible accident of Jules Bianchi in 2014, the FIA's rules regarding recoveries and interventions on the racetrack were drastically tightened," a statement issued read.

"Intervention is only allowed after instructions from Race Control. On the one hand, this obviously increases the safety of the drivers and marshals, but on the other hand, it has the disadvantage that interventions take a little longer."

Bianchi was the godfather to Leclerc who has had to deal with not just the loss of Bianchi, but also his father Herve, who died of an illness in 2017, and the tragic death in an F2 race at Spa in 2019 of his close friend Antoine Herbert.

"I don't think about danger," Leclerc said.

"I was extremely close to Jules, and Antoine I had known since we were young. It's very, very difficult to see people you have known but aren't here anymore because of the sport you love most. But I don't think about stopping. I've been programmed to do this since I was young. There is nothing else I can do. I'm just good at driving."

Leclerc is back up to second in the championship after his third win of the season in Austria, trailing Verstappen by 38 points. He was asked if Lewis Hamilton, aged 37 and currently sixth in the championship, could win an eighth title, after coming within one lap of achieving that milestone in the controversial finish to the Abu Dhabi GP last season.

"I think in the right car, yes, because he is a great," Leclerc responded. "But if it's him or me for the championship, I'd choose myself obviously. Sorry, Lewis."

That of course is a sign that Leclerc's victory at the home of Red Bull in Austria has given him new confidence and hope, whilst not forgetting that after three races this season he led the championship handsomely with two wins and a second. But then reliability issues and the resurgence of Verstappen saw the title race turn around in the Dutchman's favour.

Fernando Alonso, who had some reliability issues of his own with the improving Alpine car in Austria, following on from an impressive fifth place at Silverstone, is never short of an opinion when it comes to championship predictions.

He told a Dutch broadcaster that F1 was becoming predictable and boring again. "It's all about Red Bull and Ferrari. Only Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez can win," Alonso said.

"I don't know any other sport that's like this. The GPs have become more fun and with these cars, you can fight better. Still, I think it's too boring but it's also part of F1. There will always be teams that are faster than others."

Alonso is yet to be confirmed with Alpine for the 2023 season, which has Aussie driver and 2021 F2 champion Oscar Piastri on its books. Alonso, aged 40, denies he is preventing a much younger driver from making his way into F1.

"I see it differently," Alonso said. "Motorsport is all about the stopwatch, the key question is are you still fast enough and do you make it happen?"

"If you are slow and perform moderately, you block the way for up-and-coming talents, then you have to make room. I'm still fast, it's others who lock the door for fresh blood."

"I help young drivers and have set up a karting course because I want to give something back to the sport that has given me so much," he added.

"My whole life revolves around motorsport. It may be the only thing I'm good at. I wouldn't come into my own elsewhere."

One of the teams that is getting faster is Haas. When Russian driver Nikita Mazepin lost the drive before the season started, thanks to his country invading Ukraine, it saw the return of Kevin Magnussen, who raced IndyCar in 2021. He made an immediate impression, with a fifth-place finish in Bahrain, and ninth in Saudi Arabia.

His teammate Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, scored no points last year and questions were being asked if he had it in him to remain in F1.

Schumacher started with an okay 11th place finish in Bahrain, but in Saudi Arabia, he wrote the car off in qualifying and didn't start the race. His best place finish thereafter leading up to the British GP was 13th.

The pressure of living up to one of the greatest names in the history of the sport, and coping with fluctuating reliability issues on the track, was mounting up. But Schumacher told his team he would score his first points in F1 in the race, and he did, with an eighth place finish, unlucky not to pass Verstappen's ailing Red Bull to take seventh place. On to Austria, and he didn't put a foot wrong all weekend, finishing sixth.

All of a sudden, teams like Ferrari and Mercedes are beginning to take more notice.

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says both his drivers have been stunned by how fast the car is going without upgrades, for a team now seventh in the Constructor's championship. He says he has always had confidence in Schumacher, even though he had a bad patch for five races, and also in the car.

"I would say a lot of people are surprised we knew there was more to come and we, therefore, said why should we rush to do something," Steiner said.

"Can you imagine if we had upgrades where we are? I always say upgrades are overrated, in my opinion, and we will bring some in Hungary. Hopefully, they will work as they should."

As for Mick Schumacher, two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen, who won his titles by beating Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari, has noted Mick's progress.

"I was really happy to see Mick drive another strong race for Haas and finish sixth, two places ahead of his experienced teammate," Hakkinen told Unibet.

"Mick gets a lot of attention because of his father's reputation, and that brings pressure. However, he is a very calm, mature young guy - still only 23 - and he is clearly gaining confidence in himself and his car."

His father's health remains a closely guarded subject because Michael Schumacher's wife Corinna has always said that her husband had protected his family and now it's time for them to protect him.

She has reportedly sold the family's private jet for $29 million, presumably because they are not using it, but perhaps may need the money to pay for the 24-hour care it has been said Michael Schumacher receives.

Mick Schumacher keeps his father's health private, but he did answer a Channel 4 question as to how he copes with his father's legacy.

"I think the easiest way to answer that is you tell you why I'm here, and the reason is because I love the sport," Schumacher said.

"I love racing, I love ultimately also winning. For me, there was never a doubt that I wanted to race in Formula 1 no matter who my dad was, but he's so much more to me as well."

"He's my dad and I've had a great upbringing and I'm able to evaluate where I need to put pressure on myself and where not."

At the halfway point in the championship, there is a lot happening, not just in terms of the Verstappen versus Leclerc battle, or Red Bull versus Ferrari, but also what the midfield teams are doing to bring their talented drivers to the fore.

Alonso may be the oldest driver on the grid but says he still belongs because he's quick enough. Schumacher fans were beginning to think that Mick Schumacher might not have what Michael Schumacher clearly had, but now he is performing in his own right.

The common denominator between Leclerc, Alonso and Mick Schumacher is they all love motorsport, and never wanted to do anything else. This weekend's French GP at the Paul Ricard circuit, near the small village of Le Castelet, will therefore be a hot ticket for a variety of reasons.

- Sources: F1.com. Planet F1, Haas Motorsport.