"When you fight against opponents like that, you learn quickly"- Losing to Max Verstappen proved to be 'good' for Mick Schumacher, says Haas team principal

Mick Schumacher has been able to learn a lot from battles with drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in the last couple of races. That's the view of Haas team boss Guenther Steiner. The team principal felt Mick Schumacher was shaken up at the start of the season when Kevin Magnussen came in and started beating him. In due time though, the German has learned and gotten better.

According to Steiner, Mick Schumacher was unable to learn much as he was all alone at the back of the grid last season. Driving a better car and fighting against better competition, he's able to grow as a driver this year.

“It was also difficult for Mick at the beginning, because he was quite superior last year. And then all of a sudden he's quite inferior. I do think that has an influence on how a driver drives, and how he puts pressure on himself. He had to learn that."

"I always say, 'the further up you get, the thinner the air gets and the thicker the skin you need.' Take the duel with [Max] Verstappen at Silverstone. He lost it, but that was good for him because he was able to learn a lot in the process. The best way to do that is from the really good ones. When you fight against opponents like that, you learn quickly."

Now Mick Schumacher has to learn how to drive in a better car

According to Steiner, the next steps in learning for Mick Schumacher include driving a better car against better competition and learning from it.

"At the back, I don't think he was able to learn that much last year about how Formula 1 works. A lot of the guys come from Formula 2 and they think they already know how Formula 1 works. But it takes time. You can't force it. It's like school: you can't learn the curriculum of four years in two days either."

"Now Mick has to learn to drive in a better car and continue to fight at the front and score points. Logically, the further up front you fight, the harder it is. That is normal. That's why I think it's good that we have reached this level now. Now we have to take one level after the other until it's normal to fight for points."

The Haas driver scored his first points at Silverstone. Additionally, he followed it up with points in Austria and is starting to perform at a good level this season.