Ferrari Driver Academy member Mick Schumacher has urged for Haas to review and learn from the events which took place last weekend at the Suzuka circuit in the Japanese Grand Prix. The German driver seemed in a good position to score some points in Japan, but eventually lost out due to a gamble from Haas that didn’t pay off.
The Ferrari junior started the race at Suzuka from P15th, but had a solid first lap and was up to tenth place, before the race was stopped due to Carlos Sainz’s crash and the difficult wet conditions, with rainfall intensity increasing.
After almost two hours, the race was resumed for a shortened 28-lap event and Mick Schumacher found himself in the lead for a few moments, as most of his rivals were called back to the pits to switch from extreme wets to Intermediates, which were clearly the better tyre at that stage.
However, the American team decided to keep Mick Schumacher out on track, with the hope of a safety car that would allow him to make a free pit stop and keep a place in the top five. Unfortunately this gamble did not pay off and the 23-year-old gradually lost many places before he was eventually called to the pits to change tyres.
Mick Schumacher returned to the track in last place where he finished the Japanese Grand Prix, but was at least promoted to P17 after a 20-second time penalty given by the race stewards to AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.
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Mick Schumacher looks back on a missed opportunity at Suzuka
Analyzing his race in Japan, Mick Schumacher confirmed that the timing of the switch to Intermediate tyres eventually made it impossible for him to fight for the points zone last weekend:
“I know that our car’s very strong, especially on the Inter,” – the Ferrari junior said, as reported by the Italian media – “Unfortunately, we put on the Inter a bit too late, so we’ll have to review that and see how in future we can assess this maybe a bit better and take the right choices, so that we are still in the points.” – he added.
Still, the brief satisfaction of leading a Formula 1 race for the first time, even if it lasted just for a few moments, was something that Mick Schumacher took as a positive at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix:
“I think that, at the end, we are always smarter, right?” Mick Schumacher replied when asked about Haas’ strategy decision to stay out on wet tyres – “The fact that we were running P3 at some point, and even I think did our first leading metres in P1, this is something positive. But, on the other hand, points were up for grabs. and unfortunately we didn’t manage to get them, but definitely the speed is there.” – the Ferrari Driver Academy member concluded.
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