Mick Schumacher 'improved a lot' after Kevin Magnussen's return to Haas, says team's trackside engineer

Haas trackside engineering director Ayao Komatsu reckons Mick Schumacher has benefitted a lot from having Kevin Magnussen as his teammate.

In his first year, the German had Nikita Mazepin as his teammate. The Russian was not a good benchmark, and the car was woefully off the pace as well. Because of that, Schumacher spent the bulk of his rookie year at the back of the grid fighting Mazepin.

This season, the German got a clear upgrade in teammate, as Magnussen started the season with a bang in Bahrain. According to Komatsu, having Magnussen as his teammate has helped Schumacher, giving him better benchmark. Moreover, the Danish driver's open nature has been helpful for Schumacher. Komatsu said:

“When Kevin came back into Bahrain for testing, he was a different person to two years ago. He is so open, so cherishing the challenge, and he’s very, you know, open to sharing information as well, so Mick benefited quite a lot from having a reference. And then he was always close to scoring points, but he couldn’t get there. But once he got them in Silverstone, that was a huge step. So yeah, he improved a lot this year.”

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Komatsu also talked about the mental side that saw an upgrade once Schumacher scored his first career points in Silverstone. Komatsu said:

"Also, the mental side, as I said, at Silverstone he scored his first points in F1. That was huge pressure off him, and he followed up with that performance in Spielberg, so the confidence is there."

He continued:

"Then the understanding of the car; he’s a very hard worker, he always sits with his engineers trying to understand what he’s done wrong, where he can improve on Friday night, in between FP1 and FP2. So, he’s always working hard. So finally in a season and a half since his debut, it has started paying off. And then that gives him confidence, and that’s the positive cycle.”

Schumacher (12) is 16th in the driver standings, while his teammate (22) is 14th.

Mick Schumacher reflects on disappointing weekend in Suzuka

Mick Schumacher was in line for a strong result at the Japanese GP. The Haas driver was P10 during the red flag restart.

However, the team's decision to gamble on him by staying out longer than others proved counterproductive as Schumacher finished outside the points. Reflecting on the race, he said:

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"Our car is very strong, especially on inters, but unfortunately we put them on a bit too late. The fact that we were running P3 at some point, and even did our first leading meters in P1 is something positive. Points were up for grabs, and we didn't manage to get them today, but definitely the speed was there."

The German's future has still not been confirmed. It will be interesting to see if he gets an extension at Haas for next season.