Magnussen, former Haas teammate changes his opinion from praise into a swipe at Schumacher. Formula One driver Kevin Magnussen has praised his Haas team-mate Nico Hülkenberg for his special skills. But the tribute to the German also included a dig at Magnussen’s former team-mate: Mick Schumacher.

In his first stint with the Haas F1 team between 2017 and 2020, Kevin Magnussen drove alongside Romain Grosjean. However, the American team then changed both drivers and tried out two rookies in Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. A project that failed in many ways.

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The Russian, Mazepin, was conspicuous for his spins in his first year, and was forced to give up the cockpit in his second following the start of his country’s war of aggression against the Ukraine and the support of his father, the oligarch Dmitri Mazepin, who had been a sponsor of the team.

Schumacher also struggled in his first two years in F1 with the directionless Haas F1 team. The German also lacked the unconditional support of team boss Günther Steiner who would often publically berate the young rookie.

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In addition to Magnussen, who unexpectedly made his comeback for the sacked Mazepin at the end of February 2022 and thus drove a season at Schumacher’s side, the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher had his problems and finished 16th in the drivers’ standings with only 12 points, while Magnussen finished 13th with 25 points.

Reason enough for Magnussen to be all the more pleased to have finally had a veteran at his side since the beginning of the year in the form of Nico Hülkenberg. Especially with Haas desperately in need of expertise to improve the car, which is once again failing to deliver.

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“It’s good to have someone with so much experience when you’re trying to develop a car,” Magnussen was quoted as saying by RacingNews365.

A clear indication that this part of a driver’s job suffered under Hülkenberg’s predecessor Schumacher.

“When you have a problem and need a new direction, it’s good to have all that experience in the team,” added the Dane.

Indeed, Magnussen has had to work hard this season to keep up with Hülkenberg. Not only has he scored more points in the standings (9 to 2), but he has also been beaten by the German in the vast majority of qualifying and race duels.

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Just one incredible pole lap 🤤@LewisHamilton was on the absolute limit around the Marina Bay Street Circuit in 2018 🤯#SingaporeGP #F1 @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/cD5Xkc0J0L

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2023