Mick Schumacher says he still doesn’t fully agree with his Haas team’s decision not to swap the running order of their cars during the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race.
The team’s two cars ran sixth and seventh during the opening stages of the race, Schumacher following Kevin Magnussen. Haas chose not to swap the positions of their drivers despite Schumacher repeatedly telling them he was quicker than his team mate and asking to be allowed ahead.Schumacher, who at one stage also asked if Magnussen would slow down so he could benefit from DRS, fell behind Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton by the end of the race and finished out of the points. “I don’t agree, like, seriously,” Schumacher told his team on the radio after taking the chequered flag. “We’ll talk about it.”
Speaking to a select group of media ahead of this weekend’s race in France, Schumacher confirmed he “had a conversation about it” with his team, and some difference of opinion remained over their sprint race tactics.
“I think there’s a situation where you kind of agree to disagree,” he explained in response to a question from RaceFans. “At the end, for me, for example, they’ll never know what could have happened if I’d gotten by.”
He wants to have clearer expectations about how the team will handle similar situations again.
“It’s just a matter of maybe understanding it also better from my side previous to the race for example, just that there is no question mark,” he said. “If there’s a chance I’ll pass by and if it doesn’t work out we’ll just swap back.
“I think there’s also growing and understanding from both of us. From my side and also from their side.”
He enjoyed a better result in the grand prix, claiming a best-ever finish of sixth place. It was his second points finish in a row after taking the first of his career at the British Grand Prix a week earlier.
Schumacher is optimistic the team can continue that run this weekend. “We’ve been on a roll since Silverstone, and Canada as well,” he said.
“So I kind of have the feeling that wherever we go, we’re pretty okay. At least we’re in the top 10. So I think that there’s a good chance that we’ll score points this weekend again, if everything goes our way right away, for sure.
“If not, then maybe there’s a chance that we might not achieve that. But I’m very positive and optimistic about it.
“I think that we as a team are doing a great job at the moment, putting everything into place for us to be in a good position to score points. And again, I think it’s just a matter of having everything lined up for us to get into quali and then into the race.”
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slowmo (@slowmo)
22nd July 2022, 9:20
The following driver benefitting from DRS claiming he’s faster than his teammate ahead is really getting old now. If you can’t even start to get alongside your teammate when you have DRS then you’re not faster. Fair enough if you’re climbing over the back of them in every corner and close to a move down each straight but that was not the case for that race.
Lasse
22nd July 2022, 12:08
Exactly!!
pastaman
22nd July 2022, 13:33
I agree with you in principle. However, Schumacher was, in fact, climbing over the back of his teammate. He had to back out of a pass several times.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
22nd July 2022, 9:24
Next time don’t ask, just overtake. If they tell you to hold position, ignore them.
In F1 you’re either assertive or you’re a doormat. If it’s not a team order for strategy, and you’re quicker, make the overtake and make things happen. You can still agree to disagree afterwards, but at least you’ve got the result, at the end of the day the team will be the understanding one and that’s that.
This goes doubly so for someone like Mick Schumacher. The last thing he needs to do is make friends with the Haas team over asserting himself over his teammate. Haas is not the end goal here, you want better teams to notice you, and they’ll notice you overtaking your team mate and getting a good result a lot more than they’ll notice you “being a team player” and finishing outside of the points.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
23rd July 2022, 8:44
Agree, sound reasoning.
Qeki (@qeki)
22nd July 2022, 9:56
Bad Mick… Good Mick… Bad Mick… Good Mick… Bad…
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
22nd July 2022, 11:56
Doesn’t make much sense to me. From a team perspective, it is obvious that staying put and organizing a DRS train was the way to go, unless they have a chance to catch the driver ahead, which they hadn’t. Moreover, a DRS train probably works best with the slowest car ahead. At Haas it looked like both drivers were selfish enough for that not to happen. Schumacher lost a place to Hamilton as a result when Magnussen broke his DRS, and Magnussen was lucky not to lose a place as well. The Haas drivers got the wrong end of a prisoner’s dilemma.
Lasse
22nd July 2022, 12:08
Why Magnussen got it wrong. You not in a position to wait for your teammate just because DRS is slipping away from him. IF K-MAG had slowed down they would been less 1 or 2 points for sure. Better Mike starts show something, if not because engine issues for K-MAG he would been 8th in the race
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
22nd July 2022, 16:03
Yes, Magnussen could have waited, and if they stayed put I think Haas would probably have scored one more point. On the other hand, who would want to offer DRS to a teammate who is so eager to overtake you ?