“The crocodiles were very cool, hopefully I can catch one myself,” said the Haas pilot on Thursday after visiting the Australia Zoo, which is run by the Irwin family. So Schumacher is fearless when it comes to the sometimes highly toxic Australian wildlife. “Spiders aren’t my favorite thing, but would always catch them and put them out – I can handle that as far as I can,” he reveals.
The fact that his new, super-fast teammate Kevin Magnussen is increasing the pressure on Schumacher does not play a negative role. “It’s great to have Kevin as a teammate,” said Schumi junior. “He is a very open teammate. We can both benefit from each other and I use the pressure as a motivator to get better.”
Mick Schumacher with Robert Irwin, son of legendary animal documentary filmmaker Steve Irwin.
After the Dane finished in the points twice in the first two races, that is now also the goal of the German: “Expectations are high, of course my first points are the goal.”
But a virtual brake is still active in the minds of mechanics and engineers. In 2018, Haas missed out on a double score after both cars failed to tighten the lug nuts during the pit stop. The scene in the first Netflix season of “Drive to Survive” is legendary, when team boss Günther Steiner dared to make the striking comparison: “We could have been rock stars, now we’re clowns.” Today he has to grin when he is asked about the mishap : “We mustn’t be afraid of the pit stops,” he says. “Then a good result will be possible.”
The fact that a replacement chassis is missing from the Schumacher crash in Melbourne two weeks ago doesn’t worry the South Tyrolean: “We mustn’t panic and we can’t drive slowly either.”
That’s not an option for Magnussen anyway. In his second Formula 1 career, the Dane is always good for fast lap times and a laugh. Whether he would also like to catch a crocodile will be planned in the virtual press round. Responding with a smirk: “I’m fine. I don’t need that.” Sure, Magnussen prefers to snap himself in Albert Park.
