Austrian GP 2022
Mick Schumacher was not rewarded for his best race. For nine laps he had successfully defended himself against Lewis Hamilton. Then Kevin Magnussen stopped donating DRS. Schumacher had requested a place swap before the duel.
In the last race Max Verstappen, this time Lewis Hamilton: Mick Schumacher learns how to fight the big guys in this business. At Silverstone, the German showed good risk management. And in the sprint in Spielberg that he can defend himself against a seven-time world champion. Schumacher was under constant fire for nine laps. Hamilton was in the faster car. Nevertheless, the Haas built up in front of him like a wall.
Schumacher had an answer to all the Mercedes driver's tricks. It doesn't matter whether the Englishman attacked on the outside before Turn 3, on the inside before Turn 4 or sat next to him in Turn 5. In the end, the white car always came out ahead of the silver one. This race deserved points, but in the end he got nothing. Hamilton passed Schumacher at Turn 4 with three laps to go. The German had lost his DRS donor. A lap earlier, Kevin Magnussen escaped by 1.3 seconds.
Schumacher demands a swap
Anger after the race was written all over Schumacher's face. Not because of the lost duel. He had asked his team to swap places before the start of the duel and later hoped that Magnussen would at least escort him until the last lap. "If I had had DRS to the end, I would have stayed ahead of Lewis. In the end, it was easier for him because my tires had worn out and he stashed more energy than we did."
Team boss Guenther Steiner admits: "We reacted a bit too late. When we told Kevin to drop back, it had already happened." Magnussen confirmed: "The team was just on the radio when Hamilton passed Mick." The Dane was able to pull away from the two fighting cocks in his rear-view mirror because his tires had suffered less.
Schumacher thought he should have been in Magnussen's position. "I was faster than Kevin at the beginning." That's why he asked the team to switch positions. Steiner disagreed: "Mick was only faster on the straights because he had DRS and Kevin didn't. If he had been faster everywhere, we would have changed positions." The thanks still went to his German driver: "Mick did a great job defending himself against Hamilton for so long. If Lewis had passed earlier, Kevin would have lost his place too." So the Haas account has grown by two more points.
