“Love You Too”: Gracious in Defeat Mick Schumacher Gives a Classy Response to Haas’ Outrageous Post-Race Request

Besides retirement-bound Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher too had his final race at the 2022 Abu Dhabi GP. The young German completed his final race in F1, at least for a while. Now, usually, drivers love to do some car donuts on the track after the season finale race. Apparently, Mick Schumacher was not allowed to do donuts by Haas!

Haas did not have the most straightforward race in Abu Dhabi, as both Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen finished P16 and P17, respectively. Nevertheless, Haas achieved their goal of finishing P8 ahead of AlphaTauri by 2 points in the Constructors Championship.

Post the race, as it was going to be Mick Schumacher’s final moment in F1 for now, he hoped for doing some donuts in a run-off area at the Yas Marina Circuit. Although, due to some reason, Mick’s engineer requested him on the team radio to not do any donuts.

Now, there can be a couple of reasons behind this. Maybe Haas wanted to protect their engine, clutch, and gearbox. Or, since the FIA only allowed the top three drivers and Sebastian Vettel to perform donuts, that too in a designated area, maybe Haas were just reluctant to pay any potential fines coming their way.

As Mick did some donuts just before the hotel section at Yas Marina, he received the team radio call from his engineer. The engineer said, “Sorry Mick. Can you stop doing donuts, please? Seriously! I am sorry Mick. But, we just can’t.” 

To this Mick replied, “It’s alright. Love you too.” 

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So the debate will be why did Haas restrict Mick Schumacher from doing any donuts? Maybe they were just afraid he might crash their chassis? It’s a question only someone from Haas, like Guenther Steiner, can answer.

Mick Schumacher and Haas – A Relationship gone wrong?

Signed up as the F2 champion, the young gun with the most prestigious surname in F1, Mick was touted to lead Haas’ recovery from the mid-field in 2022. Instead, we saw Haas team principal Guenther Steiner growing critical of Mick’s crashes and inconsistency to score points.

Mick just wasn’t able to do enough to please Haas and its leadership to retain him for one more season in F1. Now, they have signed Aston Martin’s reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg to partner with Magnussen for 2023. Many were vocal about Mick deserving a retention and a place in F1. Though Haas beg to differ on the same.

It went from being a close-knit relationship to an ugly separation between the team and the driver. Mick has no realistic chances left for a 2023 drive, as the last vacant seat at Williams has been taken by Logan Sargeant. The F2 driver finished 4th in the F2 championship to get his Super License points.

Still, there are hopes of the young German moving to Mercedes as a reserve driver, following in the footsteps of his father Michael Schumacher. That just could be the move that lends him an olive branch to revive his F1 career.

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In any case, the way Mick has fought for his seat, he arguably deserved a better goodbye than this from Haas. Does the German have the determination to turn his career around?