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Mick Schumacher made a positive return to racing in Australia after a horrendous crash in Saudi Arabia cut short his weekend. For his team Haas, however, the weekend was far from ideal with the car starting on the back foot and never being able to recover from that.
The young German driver revealed that one of the reasons behind this was the team encountering issues with the car early on in the weekend. Claiming that the team could not recover from that, Schumacher said:
“I think because of the Friday, we just started the weekend a little bit behind and then, reaching qualifying, we still had to make some changes. By then it was just too late. I think we have a better overview of what is happening, a better understanding, and now we just need to put it all in place. I’m sure that we’ll be, hopefully, back in the position where we were supposed to be. There were a lot of things that we learned, a lot of positives, and things we need to improve.”
For the first time this season, neither of the two Haas drivers was able to reach Q3 or score a point. Schumacher qualified P13 while Kevin Magnussen was eliminated in Q1. The team suffered from suspension problems on the German's car that limited his running. Magnussen, meanwhile, had reported unwell on Friday morning, which limited his mileage in the free practice sessions. The team started the weekend on the back foot and could not catch up after that.
Mick Schumacher beat Kevin Magnussen for the first time this season
On a rather positive note for Mick Schumacher, the Australian GP was the first weekend where he was the better Haas driver. The German beat his teammate Kevin Magnussen in both qualifying and the race.
Schumacher previously missed the Saudi Arabian GP due to his crash in qualifying. In Bahrain, Magnussen was by far the better driver as the Dane finished in points while Schumacher could not.
In the eyes of many, Magnussen's arrival was something that put Schumacher on the backfoot in Haas. His performance in Australia, however, should work as a stepping stone for the German to regain his position within the team.
