Mick Schumacher baffled after penalty kick in qualifying

MUNICH – In France, Mick Schumacher should get three points. After eighth in Great Britain and sixth in Austria, the goal is to continue the apparent upward trend shortly before the summer break in August. But the task became more complicated after qualifying.

The 23-year-old will only advance from 17th to 12th race of the season (Sunday, from 3 pm in the live broadcast tape on ran.de) he goes. Schumacher is even taking advantage of penalty transfers for Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz jr. , who have to start from the back due to the replacement of important components in their cars.

In Q1 and Q2, Dane showed what is possible with the car from the US racing team at Le Castellet. Because he made it to the top ten.

Schumacher’s best time has been canceled by race officials

This is what Schumacher was aiming for. But already in the first elimination phase he was slowed down by the race hosts. The time was canceled because on his fastest lap he briefly left the boundary with all four tyres. Which eventually cost him Q2.

When the team announced the penalty over the radio, the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher asked in disbelief: “Where to? Turn third? Inside?” In fact, it seemed doubtful whether he gained a real advantage through the private path. The right bend followed by a long bend of the left hand also stole the hurdles.

Schumacher: I’ve already driven this way in the free training sessions

In the “Sky” interview, when asked about the limits of the track, Schumacher confirmed: “Where I thought it was OK, it was the third turn. Because there’s a barrier, and if you don’t clear it, my opinion was that it’s okay because that’s how I drove in Free training sessions. We never received any warning.”

However, the 2020 Formula 2 champion tried to explain: “Maybe it was a little more this time, and then it set off a false alarm.” In any case, that was “very unfortunate”.

Schumacher sees good overtaking opportunities

Because the path to the points is of course much longer. Schumacher will have to outperform at least seven opponents who have started in front of him in order to continue to fill his and the team’s account.

He encourages himself ahead of the 33rd Formula 1 Grand Prix: “Overtaking is not necessarily difficult here. With DRS you can really get through this race well.” But: “Managing the tires is going to be difficult. Then we have to hope to get it right with the strategy.”

Schumacher with tongue-in-cheek brace

Just three weeks ago at Silverstone, Schumacher proved how successful the race is to catch up. There he finished eleven places compared to qualifying in what was at times a turbulent race.

Perhaps it was also this knowledge that made him post with a wink in the evening: “Track Limits 1, me 0.” On Sunday, Schumacher no longer has 0. The pilots in the top ten will have to calculate a car approaching the starting number 47.

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