It was a complicated Q1 for the Haas drivers today in Zandvoort. Schumacher and Mazepin who finished the session P19 and 20 were involved in a “misunderstanding” that spoiled Sebastian Vettel´s lap fast lap when the German was trying to get his Aston Martin into Q2.

MotorLat had access to a brief online meeting with Mick Schumacher where the young German explained what happened at the end of the session.  When he was asked by Motorlat about what happened at the end Mick explained: “It was messy trying to get the lap and everything and for the last run when we went out there were a few cars in front in the pit lane which were stationery and were taking a lot of time to get out of the pit lane I think that basically created the confusion on the last corner. My tyres were quite cold that´s why I requested to the team to overtake (Nikita) I got the Ok cause I needed more temperature for some reason compared to Nikita, I did so and obviously I went up and on the last corner I was unfortunately not advised that there was a pushing car behind me so I didn´t know there was Sebastian coming behind me and at that moment you are quite focused on whatever you have to do in your cockpit so  I was obviously checking my mirrors but I didn’t know there was a car coming so I wasn´t looking up for any quick cars.”

About the comments made by Nikita right after the session and whether he had the chance to “clear the air” Mick added; “I know that he´s quite vocal but for us we´ve talked internally about it and I´m sure the team will give a statement about it after this…”

When asked about the track layout and whether the banking has given him headaches, Mick seems to be enjoying the Zandvoort “It´s probably one of the strongest corners I´ve probably driven in a while I´m really enjoying turn 3 and 14. We should have more banked corners I feel.”

On the complaints made by Nikita for not respecting the agreement the team had, Mick added “In that case I´ve been behind whole part of the weekend it´s been quite clear already since FP3 That I need a faster out lap compared to him to warm up my tyres….so that´s why I requested it and I got the OK… I didn´t try to impede him or make his life difficult I was just trying to make my life a bit easier by having the opportunity to go faster.”  

Asked if he´s frustrated about public arguments “I´m used to having team internal discussions rather than public in the press so I guess that´s a new thing but obviously every driver and every person is different and it´s just a matter of getting the right communication and for sure things will settle.”

Mick understands that Nikita´s frustration comes from not knowing the communication he had with the team over the temperature he needed “I know the communication I´ve been told and given which has basically given me the Ok so I obviously in that sense don´t understand his reaction to that particular situation. On the other hand if he hasn´t gotten that information possibly yes but again for me personally I didn´t try to impede him, didn´t try to ruin his lap so that´s also why I tried to go as quick as I could to not run him into an issue later cause that´s the last thing I want to do as a teammate but unfortunately we´ve both gotten into a situation that was very difficult.”