Despite a neat seventh place for Kevin Magnussen and a ninth place for Mick Schumacher in Saturday’s sprint race of the Austrian Grand Prix, not everyone at the Haas team is satisfied. Schumacher thinks Magnussen should have let him go first, but the team management disagrees.
Schumacher fought a fierce battle with Lewis Hamilton at the Red Bull Ring for eighth place, which was won by the seven-time world champion. Just before that, Magnussen was driving. “The fight with Hamilton was nice, but it shouldn’t have happened,” Schumacher told sky†
According to Schumacher, he had more speed than Magnussen, but much to his dismay, the Dane did not let him pass. The German asked the team leaders to intervene in vain. “I had the feeling that I could attack Esteban Ocon (who finished sixth, ed.). There was more to it. Now I only saved Kevin from an attack by Hamilton.”
Magnussen stated that he has not heard anything about team-mate Schumacher’s wishes. He was happy with his seventh place and spoke of a “great day” for Haas.
Team boss Steiner disagrees with Schumacher
Following Schumacher’s statements, Haas team boss Günther Steiner was asked about the agreements within the team and any orders. The Italian emphasized that there was no reason to order Magnussen to let his teammate pass. “Mick was not faster,” said Steiner. “We’re all keeping a close eye on that.”
“The only reason Mick was faster than Magnussen was because of the DRS. If he had passed Magnussen it would have gone away and Magnussen would have been faster again. I talked to Mick about that before the race.”
According to Steiner, Hamilton could have benefited if Schumacher had passed Magnussen. Then the British Mercedes driver might have overtaken both Haas cars. “And then we would have taken fewer or no points here. We made the right choice.”
The main race of the Austrian GP starts on Sunday at 3 p.m.