Schumacher happy with ‘strong recovery’ drive to P12 in Monza as Magnussen laments early damage

Haas’s run of point-less finishes stretched to five races after neither Mick Schumacher nor Kevin Magnussen made it into the top-10 of last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix – with both drivers left to reflect on a tough race for the American team.

Schumacher started the race in 17th – after getting a 15-place grid penalty for taking new components on his gearbox – but dropped down the order after a slow start. However, the German racer began to make his way up the order, climbing as high as P8 by the end of his stint.

Schumacher then made the switch from the medium tyres to the softs and dropped down to 19th before making his way through the field to 12th. After the race, the German was pleased with his “strong recovery” drive, even though it did not yield points.

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“Considering everything I would say so,” said Schumacher, when asked whether it was a good race even without points. “I haven’t really driven much this weekend, had a difficult qualifying, so to then actually being close to the points… it was a strong recovery for sure.”

As Schumacher attempted to make his way through the field, the German driver became involved in an exciting battle for 15th with the Williams of Nicholas Latifi. When asked about the tussle between the two, Schumacher said: “Well, I mean it was definitely not an easy one; he was super quick in the straights, even pulling away in the DRS, so I had to get something done somehow.

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“I was planning on not using too much tyre life, but then actually decided to do that so I could get by because I was going to just ruin my tyres if I’d stayed behind him. So I just tried it, got around.”

He continued: “Then obviously he came by like a rocket ship again, but then I got a good exit and I think within two corners pulled out a one-second gap so definitely a decent one.”

Team mate Kevin Magnussen crossed the line in P16 – last of the remaining runners in the field – and the Dane revealed that his race was made tougher after he was hit on the first lap, before setting his sights on getting back on form in Singapore.

“Well, I had contact at the beginning in Turn 1,” said Magnussen. “Got hit from behind, so the diffuser got damaged and from there we were slow. I guess the damage was too much. I don’t know exactly what effect it would have had, but nonetheless not a great day.

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“I always hope that the next race is going to be better, and Singapore looks like it’s more suitable for our car, so looking forward to that.”

Haas now head to Singapore seventh in the championship on 37 points, but under threat from AlphaTauri, who are one point behind in the constructors’ standings following Pierre Gasly’s P8 at Monza.