The Russian GP was easily one of the most gripping races of the season. Duels were spread across the grid; however, early retirement for Mick Schumacher robbed him of participating in the action-packed second stint. His first DNF in F1, Schumacher made a bold claim while describing his short-lived race.

In an interview with Sky Sports F1, Schumacher explained the reason Haas retired his car. “It seems to be internal to the engine. We tried to solve it on the track. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”

The rookie had an impressive run in Saturday’s qualifying; he missed out on Q2 by a second. Finding some impressive pace in his Haas chassis, Schumacher compared his car to Hamilton’s Mercedes.

“I think we were doing pretty good in terms of speed at that point. The only one who was faster was Lewis Hamilton, so I’m actually pretty happy with that today’s race.”

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While the newfound speed in the Haas has been noteworthy, Schumacher’s P16 qualifying was impressive. He out-qualified his teammate by 3.9 seconds, but comparing the Haas’ pace to Hamilton‘s remains interesting.

Mick Schumacher reflects on Sochi

Although his grid placement was advantageous, Schumacher didn’t have an impressive start. Explaining his mistake, the mistake that robbed him of a better race.

“I made the wrong choice of side that I wanted to put myself in. We knew that the right side would start worse overall. So we had planned that the left side would be[better for] us. Then unfortunately I got into a sandwich and felt a touch.”

Nonetheless, the race had Sochi had a lot of learning points for the driver. Schumacher revealed having learned a lot from the eventful Russian GP. “I have a lot of positive things with me. It was one of our better races today. I would not have thought that. A little light at the end of the tunnel.”

As the end of his rookie season draws near, Mick will continue with the American outfit for the 2022 season. The new regulations are believed to level the pecking order; having had a year-long learning experience with the sport, will Schumacher find his footing next season?

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