Krack points finger for crash at ‘over-zealous’ Schumacher

Michelle Foster
Mick Schumacher collides with Sebastian Vettel. Miami May 2022

Haas driver Mick Schumacher collides with the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel. Miami May 2022

Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack has put the blame for Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher’s Miami crash firmly on the shoulders of the Haas driver.

Racing for points at the Miami International Autodrome, Vettel overtook his young mentee only for Schumacher to fight back almost immediately.

The Haas driver tried to retake the position up the inside of Vettel, but instead made contact.

Vettel retired as a result while Schumacher lost out on his first F1 World Championship points as he had to pit for a new nose cone, finishing last of the classified runners.

Krack believes the 24-year-old has only himself to blame.

“He [Vettel] was in ninth place, which would have meant valuable championship points,” the German told Auto Bild. “Unfortunately, Seb then dropped out through no fault of his own when he met the over-zealous Schumacher.”

But while his team boss isn’t impressed with Schumacher, Vettel felt the blame belonged to both drivers.

“It is obviously a shame we both made contact and both missed scoring points,” the four-time World Champion said. “We should have done better, I need to look again.”

One could argue that Vettel most likely would not have been in the position were it not for issues at Aston Martin.

Both the German and his team-mate Lance Stroll started the race from the pit lane as the team had issues with their fuel.

Krack explained: “Before the race we had a fuel temperature issue that delayed our cars exiting the pits. This meant that both drivers had to start the race from the pit lane.”

For the Miami Grand Prix the fuel temperature was mandated at 18°C [64°F] but Aston Martin’s was too cool. The pit lane start was to avoid a penalty with the team running both cars in the pit lane to heat up the fuel.

 

While Vettel failed to score, Stroll brought home a single point as he was elevated into the top 10 when Fernando Alonso was hit with two five-second penalties.

Aston Martin, though, remain P9 in the Constructors’ Championship with just six points on the board.

This, according to Auto Motor und Sport, has the team planning a massive upgrade for the next race, the Spanish Grand Prix, so much so that it is being billed as “half a new car”.

 

From double points to broken parts for Haas in Miami

Haas had a double points finish in the grasp, but they end up coming away from Miami with nothing but broken parts.