New car, new season, but still an old problem: Mick Schumacher is still not exactly in his Haas. The German had already complained last year that he was sitting a bit crooked in the car, and that seems to be continuing at the moment.
“Technically not,” he replies when asked if he’s sitting in the car at the moment. That doesn’t seem to be a problem with the seat, but with itself: “My head is in the middle, but I’m pretty much shifted to the left. Something doesn’t seem right with my physique. But that’s life, right?”
Even so, Haas made a new seat that fits Schumacher’s seating position and feels good to him. However, this is only a first model during the test drives in Bahrain to see how the German copes with it. Haas will only produce a finished carbon model in the coming days.
“Hopefully he’ll be ready for the second race then,” says Schumacher.
Another piece of news for Schumacher this week was that he’s getting a new teammate. Kevin Magnussen is replacing Nikita Mazepin, returning to Haas after a year’s hiatus.
Schumacher believes in good cooperation with Magnussen
Schumacher himself has met the Dane before: during the test drives in Abu Dhabi 2020. “We actually got along very well and we still get along well,” he sees Magnussen’s commitment as positive. “In any case, I believe we can form a good team together and hopefully take the team forward.”
At least he now has a real reference compared to Mazepin, who couldn’t hold a candle to Schumacher in their first season together. That also made it difficult to assess the performance of the German, who had no real reference from other teams even with his defeated Haas.
Magnussen, on the other hand, is a well-known figure. “That’s good,” says Schumacher, who is happy to have a reference not only externally but also personally. “You want to have the pressure in Formula 1 and perform under pressure,” he says. “The fact that I now have this pressure is very positive. I can learn a lot more from it and I can measure myself.”