Mick Schumacher’s chance of points in Singapore was gone after a collision with George Russell – And he fights back against a radio message from the Brit
Bitter end to a “very nice” (O-Ton) weekend for Mick Schumacher: The Haas driver was in the top 10 at the Formula 1 race in Singapore and thus on course for possible points, when a collision with George Russell and a subsequent puncture shattered all dreams of a good result.
“It’s a shame, of course, because the chance was there,” the Haas driver was annoyed. Russell tried to pass Schumacher on the start-finish line after about two-thirds of the race, but on braking for turn 1 Russell tried to pull back onto the dry line and collided with the German, resulting in punctures for both drivers.
“Obviously George is a good bit faster than us with the car, but I think it was probably the wrong place to try in that situation,” he criticised. “I understand his approach to get back on the dry, but unfortunately the dry lane was occupied by me and accordingly we ended up driving into it. “
For Schumacher, it’s “a lose-lose situation”, as he puts it. “It probably cost us points,” he rues. For his uncle and ‘Sky’ expert Ralf Schumacher, the situation is clear: “George Russell pushed Mick away. It wasn’t his fault at all.”
However, the commissioners did not pronounce a penalty against Russell. Asked if he was surprised about it, Mick waved it off: “I can’t judge, I’m not a commissioner. I didn’t see it from the outside, so it’s difficult for me to make an exact judgement about it. I only know what happened in the car, but I want to analyse it from the outside for the right answer. “
Russell criticises track and conditions
Russell himself blames the conditions, which he believes encourages such reckless manoeuvres, “You have to be very daring in these conditions. And without DRS and on a track like this, these Formula 1 cars are almost impossible to overtake,” says the Mercedes driver.
No, George, no, that is so not right HaasF1 SingaporeGP
– Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) October 2, 2022
“I feel that Formula 1 still has something to learn about this type of track, because the only overtaking opportunities here or in Barcelona, are corners that are too fast. You brake just after the 100-metre board in that 90-degree left-hand corner,” Russell said. “There’s enough room there to make the corner tighter so you can race and overtake better.”
“If it had paid off, that would have been great, but it wasn’t,” he frets. “Still, we caught him again in two laps. That shows the pace we had today. “
Schumacher fights back: “Have to fight!”
Disagreements arose again during the second meeting between the two drivers: Russell complained that Schumacher was defending as hard as if his life was at stake in the battle for 13th place. “In our situation we have to fight for it as if it was for the championship,” the German defended himself.
“Because we really need these points. And of course it’s also good for your CV if you can keep a faster car behind you,” Schumacher knows that he is still racing for a new contract and needs good performances if he wants to stay in Formula 1.
Points would have suited him well on Sunday, and the example of Daniel Ricciardo shows that a lot of points could have been scored. The Australian was directly in front of the German before Schumacher’s change to slicks, but benefited from the fact that the safety car only came onto the track shortly afterwards. So after his stop he finished in sixth place.
Pitch at pit stop: One lap longer …
“I think Daniel did exactly the right thing to wait one more lap. But of course, who knows in that situation?” said Schumacher. “From that point of view, a sixth place was definitely on the cards if we had boxed one round later.”
Nevertheless, Schumacher praises the communication with his team at that point: “It was great,” he says. “I think we had the best communication up to that point. The feedback from the tyre guys and also the team itself gave me the information I needed to make the right decision. “
“We decided collectively that it was too early for slicks and then we came in at the right time,” I think. “Maybe if we had come in a lap later it would have looked very different, but nobody could have known that.”
And despite the lack of results, he draws a positive conclusion from the weekend: “I had fun and I definitely liked the wet conditions. Our car suits the rain tyres and the conditions, so we felt comfortable. And we are happy with the decisions. We can be happy that we finished the race. “
