Schumacher Encouraged by Friday Pace at COTA and Aiming for Top Ten in Qualifying

Mick Schumacher says he was encouraged by ending second free practice with the fifth fastest time at the Circuit of the Americas, but he does not think a repeat performance is a possibility come Saturday afternoon.

The Haas F1 Team driver was the slowest of the regular drivers in fifteenth in the morning session as the United States Grand Prix weekend got underway, while he flew into the top five in the second session, even though times were virtually meaningless due to the tyre tests that were being undertaken by Pirelli by all ten teams and twenty drivers.

Haas are running a special livery at COTA this weekend for their home Grand Prix, and Schumacher hopes they can fight for a place inside the top ten in Qualifying, even if a top five is unrealistic.

“It’s great to be back, we have our special livery out this weekend and driving in front of a home crowd is always nice,” said Schumacher.  “The performance was there, but you never know what’s happening around you and what compounds or fuel loads others are using.

“We’ll gladly take it today, but I don’t think that’s possible for us tomorrow. Nonetheless, we still have some work to do and hopefully we’ll qualify in the top 10, and then have a good race.”

“I’d say it’s actually a little more difficult to drive now” – Kevin Magnussen

Team-mate Kevin Magnussen sat out the opening session as Haas gave Antonio Giovinazzi his second free practice session of the season, and the Dane felt the new generation of car is harder to deal with across the bumps compared to the last time he drove at the track back in 2019.

Magnussen ended an encouraging day for the team by placing eleventh fastest despite having limited running time, with the Pirelli tyre test taking up much of the extended ninety-minute session in Austin.

The Dane believes the team have started the weekend well and will only get stronger on Saturday as they bid end their pointless run that stretches all the way back to the Austrian Grand Prix weekend in July.

“I think it’s about finding a good compromise with the wind firstly because there’s sector one and half of sector two which is tailwind, and the rest of the track is headwind,” said Magnussen.  “The balance is very different and it’s only going to get stronger tomorrow and on Sunday.

“It’s different with these cars as they’re so stiff. The last car I drove around here was the older generation car and they were much softer. It is a bumpy track so you feel it so much more with these cars, and it can make it snap in a couple of places.

“I’d say it’s actually a little more difficult to drive now.”

The bumps at COTA and the stiffer 2022 cars are making it harder to drive than before, according to Kevin Magnussen – Credit: Andy Hone / LAT Images