Mick Schumacher felt "very comfortable" fighting towards the front of the grid during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
A week after scoring his first points in Formula 1 at the British GP, the Haas driver was among the top performers at the Red Bull Ring.
After qualifying in the top 10, Schumacher held off Lewis Hamilton for much of the Sprint. Then in the race, the German showed off his overtaking skills en route to P6, his best finish in F1.
"It was a lot of fun out there," a beaming Schumacher said post-race after also being voted as Driver of the Day.
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"We had to battle our way through which at times you don’t want, but in this case, it was great for experience and to really show what we were able to do out there."
Schumacher's duels with Hamilton come after he battled Max Verstappen in the closing laps at Silverstone.
And when asked how he felt going up against the best drivers on the grid, Mick replied: “I feel very comfortable there. I would feel most comfortable in the front, but we still have to wait for that.
“We have a car that we can fight with and don’t always have to risk everything to overtake I’m very happy with the car and the set-up.
“We’re getting closer to the top teams.”
How good was it seeing Mick battling with the last two World Champions in Austria and Britain in the past few weeks 🙌#HaasF1 pic.twitter.com/ch7HCPtSqc
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) July 11, 2022
His upturn in form is also well-timed after a difficult start to the season that saw Haas boss Guenther Steiner begin to question Schumacher's future at the team.
"As athletes you’re always after that pressure because that’s what’s going to light that candle under the bum to make you go quick!" he smiled.
"And it did in some ways. In Silverstone coming into the points was just what I needed to really set off fireworks in my case."
Haas too are also enjoying a resurgence in form despite still not bringing upgrades to their 2022 car since the season began.
The Steiner Ship is now ready to welcome you, all aboard! #HaasF1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/Go0QPWMXT5
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) July 10, 2022
The team's only updates are scheduled for the Hungarian GP later this month, and Mick hopes they will provide a further boost in speed.
"I think we're all going in the right direction," he said.
"We scored points at Silverstone, we scored today, we could have scored points yesterday, so it shows a steep upway trend which is really what we're after.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to keep it at Paul Ricard and in Budapest before the summer break and then really start off well with the new update and the upgrades that we will have on the car into a really strong second part of the season."
