Mick Schumacher is fighting for his future in Formula One in Zandvoort receiving spiritual support from his mother. He tried to improve his situation with his fourth appearance in the third quarter of this year.
The Haas team knew in advance that after their spa disappointment, Zandvoort would give them a chance to evolve. “Our car prefers trails with high downforce and solid tires” – Mick Schumacher said. This also put some performance pressure on the team, especially knowing that after a week at Monza they are likely to face another tough weekend. “We have to be good here because Monza is going to be tough. Now we have to get all the points we can make for races where we don’t do well.”
The Americans took the snag well with Schumacher. They already found good basic settings on Friday, so they didn’t have to change much in his car over the weekend. The team was also surprised by the result. Schumacher reached the third quarter for the fourth time this year after Canada, Great Britain and Austria.
“Mick ran a great lap. We were really surprised”
Team leader Gunther Steiner admitted. In the end, his rival was left in the garage due to a hydraulic problem, and with wins over Lance Stroll and Juki Cunoda, he took eighth place to start the race.
“We didn’t expect to get to the third quarter. Many teams thought we would be left out in the first quarter, but we saw that we could get to the second quarter. It’s great that we were finally able to beat two teams who seemed to be faster.” – said Schumacher, who is presumably targeting outliers like Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo (Q1) and Fernando Alonso (Q2).
This is Schumacher’s second weekend in the revamped Haas car, but it is the first that Haas has looked competitive. “We are glad that there is a connection between this weekend and this weekend in Budapest, and that our group brought some of it.” He said.
Schumacher’s future at Haas and in F1 remains uncertain. Meetings are dwindling and it is increasingly clear that his team is seriously considering hiring other candidates. This challenging period means performance pressure on a personal level as well as knowing that Zandvoort is one of their strongest.
His mother, Corinna Schumacher, also accompanied him to the Netherlands, and, according to him, her presence helps him a lot.
“My mother has a lot of experience in Formula 1. He did this for many years with my father, and he was good at it. I am proud of it. Of course, he is not here to negotiate contracts, but to give me psychological and emotional support”
Schumacher said.
It seems to be working now. According to speculation, these are important weekends for Schumacher, as the date for Haas’ decision approaches. In this regard, Germany’s Steiner warned against “closing the door to panic.” “We leave time to decide on the competitors, we are not in a hurry. If Mick continues to compete in this way, he has a chance. There is no doubt that we have set certain goals for him to prove. You must continue to work calmly. I find the pressure on him from the outside counterproductive” Italian said.
Corina Schumacher and Ross Brawn at the Zandvoort circuit (Photo: XPB)Q3 was a move, but Sunday’s top-ten result will be more important than that. Schumacher is doing his best to score points. “Our long runs were fast. Everyone will have trouble managing the tyres. This track is tough on the tyres. But this time we won’t start from behind the wear but in front of it until we get out of trouble.” He wished.
His teammate Kevin Magnussen finished worse than Schumacher in qualifying for the fourth time this year. For him, Q1 was already the final destination. His fastest lap was canceled due to leaving the track, but he wouldn’t have progressed even though.
According to him, he simply could not take advantage of the rapid improvement of the track during his second run in the first quarter. While improving only by 0.2 seconds, Schumacher improved by 1.1. “Everything seemed fine in the morning, and then something slipped out of my hand. I couldn’t make use of the extra fist.” – Explain the Danish, and came in seventeenth place.
