Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel shared a wholesome moment in the media pen after the sprint race for the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Vettel holds the distinction of being the first Aston Martin driver this season to make it into the third qualifying session after qualifying ninth on Friday, while Schumacher was unable to climb out of Q2 as Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen qualified fourth.
It is no secret that raw pace in the dry is not a friend of the Silverstone team this year, so the four-time world champion started the sprint on the softs to mitigate the offset.
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Sadly, tyre degradation would appear fairly hostile to them too as the 34-year-old dropped back towards the end and finished 13th while the Haas driver managed a top-10 finish.
The pair engaged in a battle as the 23-year-old passed his friend late on, and they spent their joint interview reminiscing on a fun day at the office.
“It was fun right?” asked Schumacher.
“Yeah it was,” replied his compatriot.
“Better for him but I knew he was on the medium tyre so I was struggling more and more with my soft tyres,” added Vettel.
“I could keep him behind for a while and then yeah, once it was time he was faster and it was fun racing.”
Schumacher’s first top 10 finish in a race did not yield any points for the 2020 Formula 2 champion, and he would ultimately end the race just three seconds behind Magnussen, who took the final point in eighth.
He joked that, while passing Vettel, he was not giving his utmost to the cause.
“I was taking it easy,” he quipped.
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“You shouldn’t have, you could have got Alonso as well, nah I’m joking,” was the 34-year-old’s amusing retort.
On an ever so slightly more serious note, the Haas driver divulged that he can take a few tips from the 53-time race winner’s defensive techniques.
“It was good fun, great seeing what he [Vettel] was doing in defending and stuff so I could pick up some stuff from that and learn from it so when the cards are reversed…” he stopped for comedic effect.
Aston Martin and Schumacher are yet to score points in 2022, but Schumacher’s first top 10 start of his career on Sunday might well help change that.