Schumacher to miss Saudi Arabian GP after huge crash
Mick Schumacher helped out of his Haas after crashing during Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying. Jeddah March 2022.
Haas have confirmed Mick Schumacher will not race in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after his terrifying 170mph qualifying crash in Jeddah.
The German driver hit the barrier at Turn 11 and the momentum carried the car down to Turn 12, where it came to rest up against the wall having sustained huge damage.
Although the 23-year-old needed to be assisted out of the cockpit by the Formula 1 medical crew and was carried into an ambulance on a stretcher, fortunately it quickly emerged that he had not been seriously injured.
He was seen removing his gloves and during the red-flag stoppage that lasted for nearly an hour, the Haas team reported he was “physically okay”.
Team principal Guenther Steiner told Sky F1 the son of Michael Schumacher had spoken to his mother, Carina, before being taken by helicopter to hospital for precautionary checks.
Later, Haas announced Kevin Magnussen would be their only driver competing in the grand prix, having reached Q3 for the second week in succession and qualified 10th.
“In light of today’s qualifying incident, Mick Schumacher will not participate in tomorrow’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix,” read a statement from Haas.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we will only be running one car in the race.”
In light of today's qualifying incident, Mick Schumacher will not participate in tomorrow's #SaudiArabianGP #HaasF1 pic.twitter.com/trPRIUFFHk
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) March 26, 2022
Reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi would have been ineligible in any case because it was Schumacher who took part in qualifying.
Before the announcement, Steiner had told Sky F1 he considered it unlikely Schumacher would be able to drive in the race even if he was given the all clear to do so by the medics.
“We need to see after the scans how he is doing, how the car is and then decide what we do tomorrow because at some stage it’s maybe better not to start,” said Steiner.
“I don’t want to anticipate that we don’t start, but we are considering everything for tomorrow. You would need to build a complete new car.
“Taking any risks tomorrow is not on and in two weeks we are in Melbourne. It’s better to focus on that one to make sure we are in a good state there.”
The wreckage of Schumacher’s car triggered recollections of Romain Grosjean’s fiery crash in the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix when his Haas split in two as it pierced the barrier and burst into flames.
“It shows how safe the cars are,” said Steiner of the new models. “They [the FIA] increased chassis stiffness this year after the accident for Romain. For sure, these things help and you need to be lucky as well. The most important thing is the driver is okay.
“I think our car is good and maybe he just tried a bit too hard. If you make an error there is no run-off here, it’s walls, and that had him.”
