Mick Schumacher says the lack of grip available during practice for Formula 1’s Portuguese Grand Prix brought back memories from his time in Formula 3 and go-karting.
Drivers struggled for outright grip at Portimao, with World Champion and FP2 pacesetter Lewis Hamilton suggesting Pirelli should have brought softer compounds.
Schumacher finished the second practice session in 18th position, 1.7s off the pace, and within a few tenths of the lower end of the midfield group.
His best effort was over a second faster than the quicker time achieved by team-mate Nikita Mazepin.
“It was definitely a lot more slippery than I’m used to but it was fun,” he said.
“We had a very lively car out there, it brought back memories from F3 and go-karting style. It was interesting. The track is quite impressive, lots of blind corners, and quite intense.
“It wasn’t difficult to build confidence here, it’s just about getting a clean lap and that’s very difficult if the car obviously is difficult to drive.
“I think we’re getting into a window where it’s just getting more and more resilient. I’m also getting more comfortable with a lively car. I think it’s kind of fun out there.”
Schumacher suggested that Haas could battle for higher positions in Q1 if it can string together its potential.
“At Imola we made a big step forward and here we were not as confident I would say that we’d be mixing around P15 and it seems we are,” he said.
“Obviously quali might be a different question as some might turn the engines up a bit more, so it’s interesting to see where we are, but if we do our jobs, which we always do, we should be in a good window tomorrow for qualifying.”
