Steiner explains decision for Hulkenberg

Haas “slightly slower” than hoped

It will be difficult for Sebastian Vettel to score points in his last Formula 1 race – and probably even more difficult for Mick Schumacher. “We were a bit slower than we had hoped,” he admits after P17 in FT2.

They want to improve for Saturday. “Hopefully we’ll be able to make it out of Q1 and compete in Q2,” said Schumacher, for whom things “didn’t go well”. “The car didn’t feel great,” he reports.

It was even worse for his teammate, who even finished one place behind Schumacher in FT2. “Kevin’s fast lap was affected by damage to the underbody and traffic,” reveals Günther Steiner.

“I don’t think we had the pace today that we had last weekend,” admits Magnussen himself. Should be quite a fight for Haas tomorrow and Sunday.

Wolff warns: Red Bull can still do more!

That doesn’t affect this weekend, but already in 2023. On ‘Sky’, Wolff explains that the gap to the bulls was narrowed at the end of the year. “One mustn’t forget at Red Bull either: They’ve already turned off,” he emphasizes.

Because the bulls have already been world champions for a few races. “We’ve come a good step closer, but they can certainly add something,” warns Wolff, who also emphasizes: “We have [das Auto] understood much better.”

“I think it’s not going to be like that for the car [2023] will look radically different. But there are different patterns in architecture that just don’t work, and we know what it is,” says Wolff.

But Red Bull will certainly improve again in 2023.

Russell: Red Bull only tenth ahead

The Brazil winner shared his team-mate’s assessment and explained that Red Bull were quicker today. “They’re probably two tenths ahead on a lap, even more on a long run,” Russell fears.

“We have some work to do in the evening, but we look reasonable compared to Ferrari,” said the Brit, who emphasized: “I hope we can fight for the top 3 in qualifying – and who knows where that will take us bring on Sunday.”

That means he hasn’t given up his dream of winning yet. But it is also clear that the track suits the Red Bull well because of the long straights and the slow corners. Therefore, one is not so dissatisfied with the deficit.

Because in Spa you were significantly further behind on a comparable route.

Hamilton: Something went in the wrong direction

The Brit set the best time in FT1, but dropped back to P4 in the afternoon. “FT1 felt pretty good. The balance was a bit off in FT2,” he reports. The changes that were made were “not the right ones”.

He therefore had “a lot of oversteer” in FT2. “That was my biggest limitation. We’ll make some changes overnight, but other than that we’re relatively competitive,” he says with satisfaction.

“The Red Bulls look a bit faster here, which was to be expected. We didn’t expect this to be our best race. But we’ll work hard overnight,” said Hamilton, who is satisfied overall.

A question mark is still the preparation of the tires for a fast lap. “It’s like throwing the dice. You just hope you’ve prepared them properly. Sometimes you have, sometimes you don’t,” he says.

Verstappen optimistic: Better again than in Brazil

The Dutchman drove the best time of the day today and is accordingly optimistic. “Normally,” he says, Red Bull should be stronger here than they were last time in Brazil. “I’m just very happy with how the session went for me,” he reports.

“Of course you always try to find little things. But overall it was good,” says the world champion, who previously had to skip FT1. “I think Liam [Lawson] did a very good job in FT1,” he says.

He then had “no real problems” in FT2. “The car was in a good window,” he says with satisfaction. The long run was also good. Sounds like we should have Red Bull back on our list indeed!

Ralf Schumacher: Mercedes deal would be good for Mick

Ralf Schumacher could also imagine his nephew with the Silver Arrows. At ‘Sky’ the expert explains: “I think that Mick could just learn insanely to work with such a team.”

Alexander Albon is a good example of how you can make the jump back to the starting grid after a year as a reserve pilot with a top team. That’s exactly what he can imagine for Mick.

After a year on the bench, he could “come back with a completely different view” of things and, above all, a portion of “experience”.

Wolff: Schumacher to Mercedes?

Meanwhile, on ‘Sky’, Toto Wolff once again commented on the rumors that Mick could dock with the Silver Arrows as a replacement pilot in 2023. He emphasizes again: “The Schumacher family […] is closely related to Mercedes.”

“David is driving [in der DTM] a Mercedes, Ralf drove a Mercedes for many years and Michael anyway. And he’s German, fits the star incredibly well. I think he deserves a place in Formula 1.”

“Now we have to see if we can do it,” said the Mercedes team boss. Sounds pretty promising!

The most important thing for Friday…

… is again compact in a separate photo series. And don’t forget: At 6:00 p.m. Kevin Scheuren and Christian Nimmervoll will also be live with their big analysis of the day on the Formel1.de YouTube channel!

FIA does not want to investigate Monaco

Some readers asked us whether the FIA ​​will look again at Perez’s crash in qualifying in Monaco. That will not be the case for the time being, as FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has confirmed.

“Nobody from our side has said that we will investigate it,” he reveals, but also emphasizes that an investigation is open if anyone should complain officially. That doesn’t seem to have been the case so far.

Vettel: Are there any points to say goodbye?

Vettel just ended FT2 on P12. So what are the chances of scoring points in his last Formula 1 race on Sunday? “Good question. I don’t think we will do it as easily as in Texas, for example,” says team boss Mike Krack on ‘Sky’.

“But it will be better than in Mexico, so a bit in between. I think the Alfa Romeos, against which we are mainly fighting in the world championship, will be a bit faster,” admits Krack.

“But we have the more reliable car and maybe sometimes the better strategy,” said the team boss. In fact, Bottas just ended up on P10 – and thus a little ahead of Vettel. So it will be a tough fight on Sunday.

Also Norris…

… is driving this weekend with a farewell greeting to Sebastian Vettel on his helmet! Helmut Marko says about all the gestures this weekend on ‘Sky’: “He was a great personality, you shouldn’t underestimate that …”

FT2: Closing time

That was it on the track for today, as announced, nothing has changed in the positions. Here in the ticker we are of course still there for you for a few hours with the votes for Friday.

As usual, here is a quick overview:

Report FT2

Result FT2

Overall result Friday