Mick Schumacher is targeting a strong Dutch Grand Prix after a frustrating weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, where the German driver finished P17.
The Haas F1 Team struggled with straight-line speed in the Ardennes Forest, making life difficult for both Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen.
The 23-year-old who is set for the boot at the American team, was glad to see some German fans in attendance, but wishes he could’ve put on more of a show.
“It was tough, yes, especially after the Safety car restart, to just see those cars driving back, it felt kind of frustrating to be fair,” said Schumacher.
READ: Esteban Ocon makes admission about Mick Schumacher and Pierre Gasly at Alpine
“I mean, not having any top speed compared to the cars around us was painful but on the other hand, it’s great to be here, great to be driving in front of so many people – some German people too, which is good.”
The German believes the team’s poor performance was due to the circuit not suiting the VF-22, with this weekend’s race at Zandvoort looking much more promising for the American’s.
“Yeah, I guess it was circuit-specific that we struggled this weekend,” said Schumacher.
“Hopefully with Zandvoort coming up, we should be in a better position where we then should be able to fight for the points again, and also in terms of upgrades we should have a better read in Zandvoort because it’s just more comparable to Budapest…
“I expect us to go a bit forwards and hopefully it will give us some points.”
Magnussen didn’t perform that much better than his under-pressure team-mate, with the Danish driver having only finished the Belgian GP one place above the young German.
Magnussen also put the track’s characteristics as the reason as to why the team were so poor, with the circuit not playing into the VF-22’s strengths.
READ: Belgian GP organiser provides update on the circuit’s future beyond 2023
“I mean, I think we had an idea that probably this wasn’t going to be such a strong weekend,” said the Dane.
“This track, it’s not really our track, this type of track, so yes, we tried what we could, but didn’t really have the pace today.
“All in all, it’s not been the best weekend, but we’ve got more running, collated more data, and that will be useful going forward, but looking forward to the next race,” said Magnussen.