Mick Schumacher is in his second year in Formula 1. Prior to this season, however, his Haas racing team swapped partners. At the first greeting, Schumacher caused a surprise.
Haas actually wanted to start the season with his two young stars Mick Schumacher (23) and Nikita Masepin (also 23). But Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine resulted in the racing team parting ways with the Russian Masepin. Formula 1 had previously decided that he should only have started under a neutral flag and should have distanced himself from Russia’s warfare. Haas took action beforehand and canceled the contract.
The problem: It was only two weeks until the start of the season. Team boss Günther Steiner and his colleagues had little time for a successor. They opted for the Dane Kevin Magnussen, who drove for the racing team from 2017 to 2020. However, there remained a bit of concern that the chemistry between Schumacher and Magnussen would not be right. Schumacher had experienced some disagreements with Masepin.
But it soon became clear that the new duo got along well. One key here: humor. In an interview with “Sport Bild”, Magnussen answered the question of what the first contact was like: “Good. His very first words to me were ‘Suck my balls! (in German: suck my balls)’.”
The surprising formulation had a background. Magnussen said this sentence to Nico Hulkenberg in 2017 in an argument at the Hungaroring race in Budapest. The relationship between the two is now good again.
“Mick is extremely nice”
Schumacher’s saying broke the ice with Magnussen, the 29-year-old explained: “Mick has a good sense of humor. From that moment on I knew that we would have a good relationship. Mick is extremely nice and very relaxed. He doesn’t pretend and is not aloof. That is not a matter of course for Formula 1 drivers. I respect him very much.”
Even after the first races, the relationship is good, even if the teammates are also competitors: “Of course I want to finish in front of as many drivers as possible in every race. That also applies to Mick. But the top priority is the well-being of the team .”
So far, Magnussen has come out on top. After four races he is 10th in the overall standings with 15 points, while Schumacher has not yet scored any points. But that will change, believes Magnussen: “Mick is getting better from week to week, has already reached a new level in the first races of this season. He will score his first points in the near future.”