Qualifying Disaster Leaves Mick Schumacher With a Singular Request

Mick Schumacher is taking everyone by storm ever since the British GP. The German recorded his first ever points finish at Silverstone and then his highest finish in Austria. His drive at Silverstone was more impressive as the Haas man started the race from P19 and finished at P8. A monumental task made easy by Schumacher and a feat he might have to repeat in France thanks to his botched qualifying session.

Schumacher was denied a chance to participate in Q2 despite going tenth fastest in Q1. The deciding factor was Schumacher’s last flying lap, which was deleted by race control. The lap was deleted because the Haas man was adjudged in violation of track limits at turn 3. And exactly why Schumacher has demanded a change in policy so the drivers don’t face last gasp penalties.

There were no track limit violations flagged in practice sessions but multiple during qualifying. This was exactly the case with Schumacher as well, and discussed a post-qualifying interview.

Schumacher said, “I think it would be good to know in free practice. I was doing the exact same line in all of free practice 1, 2, and 3. And the fact that then because of that my lap’s deleted in qualifying, you know maybe it would be just good to have a heads up say ‘Look, that won’t be allowed in qualifying’ and then it’s good.”

“Then you know what you’re allowed to do and what not. In my case, I was quite confident that it would be okay to do what I did,” he added.

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Mick definitely feels hard done by the decision, maybe a topic of discussion for the next drivers’ briefing.

Track deletion during qualifying for Mick Schumacher, the agenda for next briefing?

During the Friday drivers’ briefing sessions, drivers reviewed footage of previous penalties. And the drivers were asked to make an informal vote if they agreed with the penalty. This initiative, pushed by the GPDA, is exactly what the drivers need for better communication.

At the next meeting, Mick Schumacher can review his footage and make his case about his line not being flagged throughout the practice sessions. This is will be a beneficial tool for all parties involved as the drivers will be able to voice their concerns and also get a better understanding of their penalties.

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Hopefully, the drivers’ briefing discussion makes progress on such niggling problems. And race control actually these minor changes to help the drivers.