Haas Formula 1 team’s Mick Schumacher is frustrated after he missed out on the lap time he could have advanced to Q2 due to a track limit violation in qualifying for the F1 Mexican Grand Prix.
Mick Schumacher clocked 1:19.965 towards the end of Q1, putting him in sixth place at that time. If he had stayed that way until the end of the session, he would have been good enough for P7.
However, the time was quickly removed by the stewards as they broke the track limit at the top of Turn 2. Mick Schumacher was eliminated in Q1 in 16th place.
Mick Schumacher admits he used many of the curbs “aggressively”, but said he used the Apex bollards as a reference and said they had to be placed so drivers wouldn’t misidentify them.
“I knew I was going to be aggressive,” said Mick Schumacher.
“But in my eyes it was enough. If the bollards are there, there is a reason for that. I took that as a reference.”
“Unfortunately, I think that’s probably a point that needs attention because it’s obviously hard to see with these cars these days.”
“If you have bollards, I think it’s great that they’re positioned so you don’t go over the track limits. That will definitely help us all.”
“It’s quite disappointing. If you break there or not, the difference is probably less than 0.1 second.”
There were also compromises when Mick Schumacher made his final attack on used tyres, when another driver passed him before the start of the lap. He said it was breaking the “noble agreement” not to pass other cars on broken knees.
“It was always difficult,” said Mick Schumacher.
“But more than that, I think we didn’t follow the men’s agreement of three or four cars. It was very silly. But that’s the reality.”
“It definitely hurt my lap preparation, which meant I didn’t get the brakes to warm up like I wanted and I went into Turn 1 with a question mark.”
Mick Schumacher’s team-mate Kevin Magnussen, meanwhile, was 15th in Q2 but dropped back to 19th after a grid penalty for using the new engine earlier in the weekend.
“We treated qualifying a bit like a test,” said Kevin Magnussen of the session. “We had some doubts about what we were running, so we changed the rear wing, the floor and the front wing.”
“So the car changed a lot and the front flaps had to be moved in a completely different direction to get the balance the same. So there are some things we have to see tonight.”
When asked if the better car would be better, Kevin Magnussen admitted it was difficult to judge.
“Maybe so, but it was too far to go back to the right place,” explained Kevin Magnussen.
“The chances you get in qualifying are limited.”
Kevin Magnussen has also admitted that the Haas F1 team could decide to make further changes which will cost them 19th place on the grid and force them to start from the pitlane.
“We are certainly thinking about it.”
Category: F1 / Mick Schumacher / F1 Mexican Grand Prix / A household
