Mick Schumacher simply smiles away at the increasing pressure. Neither his violent crash in Saudi Arabia nor the tough team duel with the currently superior Kevin Magnussen make the 23-year-old doubt himself before his return to the Haas racing car.
“Expectations are high to be in the points this week. I believe we can do it,” said Schumacher in Melbourne instead. At the Australian Grand Prix on April 10 (7:00 a.m. CEST/Sky), Schumacher would be only too happy to finish in the top ten for the first time and thus secure the first World Championship points of his career.
That could help the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher to silence critics, at least temporarily. In his second year in the motorsport premier class, the former Formula 2 champion has to improve. Magnussen proved that Haas, who was so lame last year, is capable of much more this season with two runs in the top ten, Schumacher was eleventh at the start in Bahrain.
Mick Schumacher is required
“We did it with one car, the next step would be to do it with two cars,” said team manager Günther Steiner on his 57th birthday on April 7th in the paddock. Schumacher is required and should afford fewer accidents. The hard impact on the track barrier two weeks ago in Jeddah cost the US team up to a million US dollars, said Steiner. The vehicle was completely destroyed. After all: Schumacher was unhurt, but did not compete in the Grand Prix to be on the safe side. “I’m doing very well, there are no after-effects,” said the youngster at the team’s accommodation.
The accident in Saudi Arabia did not change his approach. “You always try not to crash, but also to drive as fast as possible. You had to take a risk, and we did that,” said Schumacher. A completely new route is now waiting for him in Australia. In the past two years, there has been no driving in Melbourne due to the corona pandemic, and the course in Albert Park has been changed so that more overtaking maneuvers are possible.
Schumacher: “We both want to push each other”
While Schumacher was mostly able to control his ex-stable rival Nikita Masepin, who has now been sorted out, the German faces another challenge in 2022. The Dane Magnussen looks back on the experience of 121 race starts and drove for the Americans between 2017 and 2020. “He’s a very open teammate, we can both benefit from each other,” said Schumacher: “He’s a motivator. We both want to push each other to be better.”
Schumacher can still learn from Magnussen. The 29-year-old sees a lot of potential in the Haas car and is even thinking of podium finishes. The goal must be to place behind Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes. “We would then be the first to be there if the big three teams make mistakes,” said Magnussen. Under normal circumstances, your own performance is certainly not enough to make it onto the podium, but his racing team should be able to benefit when others make a mistake. “If we get a podium we have to be up front in midfield,” said the ambitious Magnussen.
He and Schumacher can’t afford big mistakes Down Under. Haas does not have a replacement chassis available because this is currently being prepared in Europe for the next races. If one of the two cars is severely damaged in an accident, there is a risk of another failure. “The drivers know about the situation. Something like this can always happen,” said Boss Steiner, who certainly didn’t warn any of his drivers to be particularly careful. “You can’t say now: go out and drive slowly,” said the South Tyrolean.