©Haas
Mick Schumacher says UK travel restrictions and a seven-day quarantine led to a long drawn out and "very difficult" seat fitting process at Haas.
Stringent coronavirus restrictions enforced in the UK compelled Schumacher to arrive seven days early from his home in Switzerland to undergo a period of self-isolation and two COVID-19 tests for an overall procedure that lasted just a day and a half at Haas' Banbury factory.
"Obviously, it hasn’t been easy as travelling to England has been very restricted. It was very difficult for me to get my seat fit done," said the German, quoted by Motorsport.com.
"We had a plan and then the rules changed and I had to self-quarantine.
"So I had to find a spot where I could give up 10 days basically to give myself the room to go to the team for one-and-a-half days, which is really not a lot for seven days of quarantining.
"So I arrived in England in one spot and just basically stayed there for the amount of time that was given to me.
"And after my results came all negative back to me after the days we were assigned to, I was able to go to the team."
While Schumacher ultimately completed the crucial seat fitting process, his final level of comfort will only be revealed when pre-season testing kicks off in Bahrain at the end of next week.
"We started, I think, at eight o’clock in the morning and finished at 10.30pm, but it was worth it," he added. "We managed to get a seat done, which was really good.
"It feels good on the outside, obviously. A seat is always very special but it can feel very good when you’re stationary and the moment you drive, it feels crap.
"So it’s something we’ll just have to figure out on track. And after that, we’ll do modifications. We have to, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got a good seat. And now it’s all about trying and perfecting it."
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