Haas driver Mick Schumacher believes that his anger from the sprint race in Austria helped him to his second consecutive points finish in Formula 1.
The German waited 32 races to finally score his first points in Silverstone at the British Grand Prix, and two came along at once as he managed a brilliant P6 in Spielberg on Sunday.
In between those results, however, was a sprint race on Saturday, during which the 23-year-old was caught behind team-mate Kevin Magnussen.
He was told to stay put, and the Dane was helping Schumacher with a tow and DRS so that he could defend from Sir Lewis Hamilton behind.
READ: Mick Schumacher furious with Haas
In the end, the Mercedes eventually got past, but he did so with one lap remaining, and did not have time to catch Magnussen as a result.
The seven-time champion picked up the final point in eighth, and Schumacher was livid that the team had not allowed him to race Magnussen.
However, he did pass the 29-year-old in the main race having been involved in exciting battles with multiple drivers, and he managed his best finish in Formula 1.
He cut a very different figure in the media pen on Sunday, so the time he took to reflect on the sprint helped, but so did some residual frustration from Saturday afternoon.
“Sometimes I think a little anger helps to unlock the beast,” Schumacher told Sky Sports.
It was put to the Haas driver that he perhaps did not feel able to show his inner beast because of a lack of confidence, which he thought was a fair assessment.
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“That makes sense and I think it’s very true,” added Schumacher.
The last two races have comprised the first time both Haas drivers have scored points in two consecutive races since the end of the 2018 season, so steps forward appear to have been taken by the team that went five rounds without any points before Silverstone.
However, Schumacher believes the performance has always been there this season; they just need the right circuits to be able to unlock it.
“I think we have been very consistent with what we have as a package,” he explained.
“I don’t necessarily think we made a huge step forward but I think that this place, this track maybe suits our car.
“It suits our setup, and maybe also suits our diving style in some ways so it will be interesting to see how Paul Ricard [the next race at the French Grand Prix] goes.”
Schumacher has lifted himself to 15th in the Drivers’ Championship as a result of the 12 points he has scored in the last two weeks – he also won Driver of the Day on Sunday.