Mick Schumacher annoyed by track limits but still targeting points

Mick Schumacher is not giving up on a points-finish in France despite a track limits violation leaving him hovering near the back of the grid.

Schumacher, down in 19th place as the clock ran down on Q1, put in a last-gasp effort that elevated him into the top ten, the German believing he had progressed to Q2.

And then the news came that he had exceeded the track limits at the inside kerb at Turn 3 and therefore had his time deleted.

The Haas driver was shocked.

“Where? Turn Three? Inside?” he asked the team on the radio.

While Haas initially had the driver wait in the car, the team preparing to run in Q2 as they queried the alleged error, they eventually told him it was over as footage showed he had cut the inside of the corner, all four wheels over the white line.

Fine margins for Mick Schumacher 👀

The Haas driver missed out on a Q2 spot after exceeding track limits in his final Q1 run #FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/nfEOUNSmlq

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 23, 2022

“It’s just a shame,” Schumacher told F1-Insider. “I thought Turn Three was ok because there’s a bollard there. If you don’t touch it, I thought it was okay.”

The 23-year-old will line up 17th on the grid as while Nicholas Latifi was slower than him, Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen both have engine penalties.

Schumacher is hoping he can put in a recovery drive and score his third successive top ten result.

“Overtaking is not that difficult, you can drive past here with DRS. So let’s see what’s still possible here,” he said.

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner wasn’t happy with the result.

“Mick thought he was in, so of course it came as a surprise to him,” he said. “The disappointing thing is that we have a really good car here.

“That was shown by Kevin who drove a fantastic lap even with used tyres.”

The Dane put in the laps in qualifying in Q1 and Q2 for the “fun” of it, finishing qualifying P10 as he didn’t bother setting a time in Q3. He will, however, line up 20th because of his engine penalty.

Steiner is holding thumbs for a top ten showing.

“If we get the car back into the same performance window, we have a chance of scoring points,” he said.

Should Haas bring both cars home inside the points, it will be the first time in the team’s history that they have strung together a run of three double points-hauls.