Eighth place in the Formula 1 British Grand Prix marked a career best for Mick Schumacher and the first time he’s scored world championship points.
The German headed a double-points scoring race for Haas with Kevin Magnussen in 10th, the first time the team has managed the feat since the 2019 German GP.
It came at the end of a frenetic race in Silverstone, interrupted by an early red flag and a late Safety Car period.
Schumacher even scrapped with the ailing Max Verstappen in the latter stages of the race for seventh, though lost out to the aggressive Dutchman.
“Definitely something to have a look at because he pushed me off twice there,” the German said of the late battle.
“Maybe there was some more points in it.
“But I think overall, we’re really happy. Coming back from P19, I said we had the speed to go forwards and we definitely showed it today.”
Schumacher has come under increased pressure in recent races following a spate of crashes which have hurt Haas’ bottom line.
He’s also been knocking on the door of points for a while, and was unfortunate to suffer a Ferrari power unit issue in Canada last time out while running in a points-paying position.
“It’s great for the team,” Schumacher said.
“We have the double score in the points, so that’s obviously very helpful in the constructors’.
“But also for me, I think it’s great to just get these questions from the media away and focus on what’s really important, and that’s the racing, in the driving itself.”
It was a result that pleased team boss Guenther Steiner, who had voiced his concerns over Schumacher’s performance in recent races.
“I’m very happy for the whole team to have scored double-points today,” he said.
“We deserved it – it wasn’t by luck – starting from P17 and P19 and ending eighth and 10th, we couldn’t have wished for more.
“The cars were fast, the guys did a good job, the pit stops were good, so what we need to do now is a very good qualifying and a very good race and then we’re back in the game.”
Haas now sits eighth in the constructors’ championship with 20 points, two clear of Aston Martin and just seven down on Scuderia AlphaTauri.
The F1 circus heads now to Spielberg, with the Red Bull Ring to host the Austrian Grand Prix from Friday.
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