Bad luck for Mick Schumacher in Monza: The German shows a strong recovery at the Italian GP on Sunday, the late safety car phase and the end of the race under yellow fail the German, who is finally flagged down in 12th place, but a possible final attack on the top 10.
“Mentally I was already in the points,” laughs Schumacher after the end of the race. “Being so close is a good comeback, considering that I didn’t drive much this weekend and had a difficult qualifying session,” the Haas driver doesn’t want to let the abrupt end of the race behind the safety car spoil his mood.
“All in all, we had more pace than expected and the strategy also reacted well to the race,” says Schumacher, who is convinced that under normal conditions he could have attacked again in the end: “We were well on course because everyone others had problems with their tires and we were on very good tyres,” explains the 23-year-old.
Mick Schumacher drove a good race in Monza.
After all: Even without points, Schumacher can make a good business card on Sunday, because in a duel with Williams driver Nicholas Latifi, whom he finally defeats, the German shows two strong overtaking maneuvers: “Williams was super fast on the straights, he’s even with me DRS pulled away. That’s why I had to somehow pull through the maneuver and it was a good one,” says Schumi Jr.
Even his otherwise strict team boss Günther Steiner only has words of praise for Schumacher this time: “Mick did a fantastic job here: Finishing twelfth – considering how little time he had in the car and the pace we are expecting on this track have”, praises the Austrian.
Alone: At Ferrari, you don’t seem to notice the performance of your own junior anymore. In any case, team boss Mattia Binotto is irritated when he says after the race in Monza in relation to Schumacher: “It was another unlucky weekend for him and it’s difficult to judge the performance. We still have a few races, then we’ll take stock and we’ll do it decide the best for him.”
How To Cars knows: Schumacher’s separation from the Ferrari Academy has long been a done deal. As a free agent on the driver market, the German hopes to have significantly better chances with Williams, Alpine or the Sauber team in 2023 (still Alfa Romeo, future Audi; ed.). Even with Red Bull’s B racing team AlphaTauri or Mercedes, some doors could open after the Ferrari separation.
Vettel finishes work early in Monza
Sebastian Vettel had to park his Aston Martin early with engine problems.
Another former Ferrari star experienced the shortest appearance of all drivers on Sunday in the Royal Park: Sebastian Vettel: The Heppenheimer rolls out at the side of the track in Monza after just twelve laps. “I still don’t know what was going on. We lost power and that’s it,” explains Vettel disappointed: “Maybe something with the engine or the battery.” A little later, the team reports a defect in the energy recovery system as the reason for the failure.
Meanwhile, Vettel is certain: “That was definitely not our weekend, it was really tough: We were also very far away from the points and very slow. Then it’s always a difficult race, even if it’s not that long for me, of course was.” Vettel cites the reason for Aston Martin’s poor performance: “I think it has to do with the configuration here, the track just wasn’t our thing.”
Curious: Aston Martin is so weak in Monza that the racing team decides to take teammate Lance Stroll’s second car out of the race 15 laps before the finish line in order to protect the engine for the upcoming tasks. Closing words Vettel: “I’m looking forward to Singapore now. We haven’t been there for a long time, the track suits me and it can’t get any worse than here.”
