Mick Schumacher will not take part in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix following his heavy crash in qualifying.
The Haas driver was transported to hospital by helicopter for checks after the crash, which occurred in the high-speed turn, which is taken at around 240kph (150mph).Schumacher has now been released from hospital and returned to his hotel, the team confirmed. However they announced he will take no further part in the weekend and his car has been officially withdrawn.
“I just wanted to say that I’m okay,” Schumacher posted on social media. “Thank you for the kind messages.”
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said “there is too many unknowns about how he will feel in the morning” to risk entering him in the race. “There’s nothing to be gained,” he said.
“The car, obviously, is in a state what it is. Having him out racing tomorrow, we could compromise our Melbourne effort. So there is no point to do something tomorrow when you have to start from pit lane anyway.
“In the moment we are in a position that we can score points and I think you have got a better chance if we focus and regroup for Melbourne.”
Although Schumacher qualified 14th and would have gained a place due to Daniel Ricciardo’s penalty, the damage to his car meant he would have started from the pits. Steiner therefore decided the chance of him scoring points was too low.
“We have to ship everything from here to Melbourne, we cannot ship it to the UK now,” he said. “So all the stuff on the car you need to crack-check and all that stuff.
“So it would be just not a good job for knowing that you cannot end up in the points if you start from pit lane this year because there’s too many good teams out there.”
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2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
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pastaman
26th March 2022, 22:08
Points could still be had from attrition at a race like this. However, still not worth the risk IMO
Mark (@blueruck)
26th March 2022, 22:37
I was wondering if they actually had enough spare parts to build an entire new car. Obviously they would have to break curfew to build a car and they only get a few of those each year.
Agree the risk and reward don’t look good.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
26th March 2022, 23:08
That was a horrible incident to watch. Glad he’s OK. No thanks to the track safety, purely car design on this one.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
26th March 2022, 23:50
Can someone explain to me why this race is going ahead? Ignoring the nearby missile, the track is the most dangerous with walls as only the second race for these new ground effect cars. He just got unsettled over the curb and in the wall a few tenths of a second later.
Absolutely ridiculous given the warnings by drivers. I’m praying for a safe race tomorrow because this kind of “show must go on despite all warnings” attitude is when the real bad stuff happens. Thoroughly scary.
Jere (@jerejj)
27th March 2022, 6:30
@skipgamer I don’t really put any weight on being in early-season versus late-season. Pretty indifferent overall.
Qeki (@qeki)
27th March 2022, 8:18
I don’t know but if F1 wants to be the forerunner of motorsport and automotive world it has leaped two giant steps back while taking one step ahead.
They are showing to the world just because they are F1 they can do whatever they want and race wherever they want. Imagine if the new Jaguar would be released in the middle of battlefield or when the race is underway drivers walking with children to the grid when a whole factory is being destroyed just a few miles from the track. If they want new fans I bet this isn’t the way to sell your product to them.