Mick Schumacher, Haas, Hungaroring, 2021

Schumacher was ‘five minutes away’ from starting qualifying after crash repair

2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Mick Schumacher praised his Haas team for coming close to repairing his car in time for him to take part in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Haas driver spun into a barrier at turn 11 during final practice, heavily damaging his car. Schumacher, who also missed qualifying in Monaco after a crash in practice, said the team nearly completed the job in time.

“Unfortunately the way I hit the wall made things very complicated for us to repair it afterwards,” he explained. “So again I think it’s a very unfortunate moment because we missed out on qualifying again.

“But I’m very, very proud about how the team managed to get so close. I think we were around five to ten minutes off getting the car out.”

Had Q1 been delayed by a red flag, as Q2 was, Schumacher said he would have been able to join in. “It would have been enough to have a red flag or whatever that we would have been able to do a lap at least.”

Schumacher said a combination of wing and high tyre temperatures contributed to the crash. “The whole situation started actually in turn seven, where the exit was already quite on the limit with wheelspin, which in that case does overheat the surface,” he explained.

Mick Schumacher, Haas, Hungaroring, 2021
Schumacher’s car was heavily damaged in the crash
“As a result I had [turn] nine in a difficult place already with the rear being quite on the limit. But again, [turn] nine I kind of understood because it was a place where I’ve usually had snaps already all weekend long, so I kind of was ready to to counter that.

“Coming into into turn 11 we’re turning in nearly flat, and at that time when the rear went I was kind of more of a passenger.”

He admitted the change in balance at the corner took him by surprise.

“What’s a bit difficult this year is that our car seems to be quite affected by wind conditions and also by surface overheating, which adds on to I think what happened in FP3 today. For example, turn 11 was never a particular issue for me over the whole course of the weekend, so it kind of caught me off-guard that I lost the rear in that corner.

“But obviously looking at it, looking at the data and everything, it just seems like the wind conditions and surface overheating just increased that little bit more compared to the run before, also because of the track temperature being so high.”

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2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

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8 comments on “Schumacher was ‘five minutes away’ from starting qualifying after crash repair”

  1. That name only goes so far. I haven’t seen a driver this far out of his depths in awhile.

    1. Yep. Imagine backlash if it was Mazepin totaling his car like this in FP3.

      I’m quite sure Mick has crashed his car more often than Mazepin by now.

      1. Neil Debaquer
        31st July 2021, 20:39

        So? Mazepin is on average like 5 tenths off Mick in quali so the backlash on his performances is justified. Yes Mick is making more mistakes but that’s because he is pushing the car harder. I’d rather see Mick pushing 100% trying to find the limit and making a couple errors than being dead slow like his TM.

    2. Give the kid some time. Maybe the Haas is a bit difficult, and their previous driver lineup also had their moments.

    3. Failed talent 10 years from now?

    4. You haven’t seen a driver who is comfortably beating his team mate regularly so out of his depth?

      Are you Russian?

  2. Making up the numbers. Plenty of others killing it in the feeder series. Cut once cut hard my boss used to say.

  3. I can’t see how a rookie making rookie mistakes is such a big deal. Same goes for Mazepin and Tsunoda

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