Mick Schumacher feels ‘bad luck follows’ him after debris damaged his car in Austin
Mick Schumacher feels like “bad luck is following” him after a potential top-ten at the United States Grand Prix fell apart leaving him down in 14th place.
Fighting for his Formula 1 career, Haas making it clear to the German they want points not crashes, Schumacher made a solid start to Sunday’s race at the Circuit of The Americas.
He was running inside the points only to pick up damage as he got caught up in the debris as Fernando Alonso went airborne after hitting Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin.
While his team-mate Kevin Magnussen pushed on for a one-stop race, Schumacher pitted a second time.
But the damaged to his Haas meant he was not able to recover, his situation made worse as he was forced off the track by Nicholas Latifi as they battled for position.
Schumacher later received a penalty of his own, five seconds for exceeding the track limits.
“I think we were on for good points for sure,” he said, “but it seems like we picked up a big piece which damaged the car quite a lot and then we couldn’t extract the maximum out of it anymore because of that damage.
“We got it in the second stint and the car didn’t feel the same anymore, and I couldn’t keep the pace of before which was very promising.
“It’s a shame as it feels like bad luck follows us.”
Firstly, Texas you were awesome! You guys rock…
Secondly, the race definitely didn‘t go our way today. We picked up damage during the SC restart, which meant chances for points were out of reach. The only way is through and we keep fighting! Our time will come… PTW!#MSC47 pic.twitter.com/VUZ4vWy2Cq— Mick Schumacher (@SchumacherMick) October 24, 2022
He explained to F1-Insider that the “side of the car damaged and we didn’t have enough downforce, in the second stint the car didn’t feel the same anymore.
“It really went downhill from there.”
Team boss Guenther Steiner didn’t blame his driver for the point-less showing.
“Mick had very good pace on his first stint, doing a fantastic job and then when the accident happened he must’ve picked up some debris and lost some downforce,” he said.
“We haven’t seen the car yet but I guess the diffuser has got some damage and he just couldn’t do the same times with the new set of tyres.”
While Schumacher failed to score, his team-mate Magnussen finished P8.
That means he now has six top-ten results, Schumacher still stuck on two.
The German, though, doesn’t believe Sunday’s race will have any impact on his future with Haas.
“I think the team knows and has seen what I can do,” he told Sky Deutschland.
“Everyone out there saw that we were on course for points, so it’s extremely annoying that we couldn’t get in, but the pace is there.”
Schumacher has three races left to save his career as Haas is his only option for next season, Williams have pretty much confirmed Logan Sargeant.
Team owner Gene Haas spoke about the 23-year-old’s chances in the build-up to the COTA race, telling AP: “We need Mick to bring some points and we’re trying to give him as much time as possible to see what he can do.
“If he wants to stay with us, he’s got to show us that he can score some more points. That’s what we are waiting for.”
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