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Mick Schumacher has returned to the Jeddah track just hours after his 170mph horror crash during qualifying at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
The Haas driver, son of Michael, crashed into the wall on the exit of Turn 12 on the circuit with pictures showing his car torn to pieces.
Schumacher gave an interview at the track today, after assuring fans he was ‘ok’ in a smiling selfie last night, and told reporters that safety on parts of the track would be something ‘we have to look at’.
The 23-year-old was airlifted to hospital for precautionary tests after the crash yesterday.
The red flag was immediately raised to allow an ambulance on to the track, with Schumacher conscious and talking to doctors before being lifted from his smashed up car and taken to the medical centre before going on to a nearby hospital.
The shocking nature of the crash was shown as the Haas car broke in two as it was lifted off the track. The German seemed in good spirits during his appearance today and, although he is not competing in the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, he hopes to compete next month in Australia.
Speaking to Sky Sports this afternoon, he explained: ‘We had a small slide going through turn nine which upset temperatures in the tyre and also position.
Back on track: 23-year-old Mick Schumacher of Germany and Haas speaks with the press after his crash during qualifying during the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit which saw him get airlifted to hospital this weekend
Schumacher described the moment he crashed during the second round of qualifying at the Saudi Arabia grand prix
‘Coming to the curb I was 20 to 30cms wide of where I want to be so the rear tyre dropped over the curb.
‘The moment we touch a curb we lose contact to the ground and that means there is nothing holding us back from spinning. I saw other guys have a similar issue.’
When asked why he won’t be racing today, he replied: ‘A combination of car preservation – we want to race in Melbourne and if something happened in today’s race that might not happen.’
When asked whether he thought the track was safe, he added: ‘I think there are things we have to have a look at. If so, we need a serious discussion.’
The caution was taken further by pole position driver Sergio Perez who called the circuit – which was only added to the F1 calendar last year – the ‘most dangerous’ on the F1 calendar.
Perez, of Red Bull, who secured the first pole position of his career, said after the Saudi Arabian circuit is ‘definitely the most dangerous place in the calendar. That’s no secret about it.’
‘It’s a circuit that really demands a lot from the drivers, from the cars, from the teams. If you get it wrong, it can be a huge accident,’ Perez said.
When asked if he thinks the track was safe, he told reporters there were things ‘we should look at’ after his crash on Saturday
‘The last thing I want to think is about the track, and I think going forwards it’s again a discussion.’
Mick, the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, lost control of his Haas as he rode the kerbs through Turn 12 and slammed into the concrete wall on the opposite side of the circuit at an estimated speed of 170mph.
The force of the impact tore the front wing and both wheels off the right-hand side of his car before he came to a standstill.
The television cameras immediately cut away and no replays were shown after the high-speed crash last night. An ambulance was soon on the scene as Schumacher’s mechanics stood in the Haas garage with their hands on their heads.
But following several minutes without any updates, news eventually filtered through that Schumacher was conscious.
Schumacher’s machine was so badly damaged in the accident that it split in two as it was towed away by a recovery vehicle.
The running was delayed for 57 minutes as the barriers were repaired and the debris from Schumacher’s accident cleared.
Schumacher posted on social media earlier with a defiant message that said he would ‘come back stronger’.
He said: ‘Hi everyone, I just wanted to say that I’m ok. Thank you for the kind messages. The car felt great, we’ll come back stronger.’
Haas confirmed following the crash yesterday that their driver was in a ‘physically in a good condition’ but was taken to King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital for further checks.
‘I spoke with his Mum and kept her updated,’ Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said.
‘He has no injuries that you can see, but they want to do some scans to make sure there was no impact from the forces.
‘The impact broke up the digital [technology] so we heard nothing [on the radio] but we got word he was conscious.’
Mick Schumacher posted a smiling selfie on Twitter following his horror crash to tell fans he is ‘ok’ and the team will ‘come back stronger’
Marshals clean debris from the track following the crash of Schumacher during qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Schumacher is extracted from his F1 car by medics after suffering the horror crash on the exit of Turn 12 at the Jeddah Circuit
Formula One driver Mick Schumacher had to be lifted from his smashed up car by paramedics after a horror 170mph crash
Medics could be seen lifting Schumacher from his stricken car after his crash during qualifying in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Schumacher suffered a horrific 170mph crash which saw the second round of qualifying abandoned for an hour to clean up
The Haas driver crashed into the wall on the exit of Turn 12 on the Jeddah circuit and there was immediate concern for him
The red flag was immediately raised to allow an ambulance on to the track and the smashed up car was soon recovered
The shocking nature of the crash was shown as the car broke in two as it was lifted off the track and back to the Haas garage
Schumacher has been flown to King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital for further checks but left the circuit ‘conscious’, Haas said
Haas team boss Guenther Steiner (right) remains in regular contact with Corinna Schumacher (left) following the crash
Haas later confirmed Schumacher will not take part in Sunday’s race.
The American team tweeted: ‘In light of today’s qualifying incident, Mick Schumacher will not participate in tomorrow’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
‘For the avoidance of doubt, we will only be running one car in the race.’
The incident paused the Q2 session for almost an hour as the track was deep cleaned and cleared of debris.
Lewis Hamilton, who suffered a shock exit in Q1, said: ‘I heard the news. I hope he’s ok.’
Former Haas driver Roman Grosjean, who suffered a significant crash in the team’s car himself in the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, added his best wishes.
Sharing Haas’ tweet confirming that Schumacher was responsive on his way for medical treatment, the Frenchman wrote: ‘Hoping for good news soon.’
‘The FIA work hard in ensuring all these circuits are safe as possible,’ Formula E driver Sam Bird said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
‘It’s been designed to be a exciting, fast rollercoaster of a street circuit. Now with that comes this danger, if you go off in high speeds, it does bite.
The session was paused for nearly an hour as the track was deep cleaned and cleared of debris following the horror smash
Before the crash Schumacher, 23, was up to P8 in Q2 with a lap time of 1:29.920, but he has now been ruled out of Sunday’s second race of the season
‘If you get it wrong you hit the wall at 200mph. Motorsport is dangerous.
‘Every time you go out there you can hit something, you can have large impact. Unfortunately today we’ve seen that with Mick.’
Before the crash, Schumacher – the son of F1 legend and seven-time world champion Michael – was up to P8 in Q2 with a lap time of 1:29.920.
His Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen, who finished fifth in Bahrain last weekend, eventually finished in P10.
Magnussen said later of the crash: ‘I’ve heard Mick is uninjured which is good and incredible when you see the crash that he had, but the safety is so good with these cars with the fact that you can walk away from a crash like that, it’s impressive.
‘I think he was having a great qualifying session up until that point and he was up for a good result, so he’ll just need to come back and get on the horse and bounce back.’
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez claimed pole position for the first time in his career, with Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in P2 and P3.
Sunday will mark the second time in three F1 races that Haas has been down to just one car. Nikita Mazepin missed the season finale last year when he tested positive for COVID-19 the morning of the race.
Mazepin has been replaced this year by Kevin Magnussen, who will start 10th on Sunday.
Haas reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi is in Saudi Arabia but, just as was the case in Abu Dhabi last December when Mazepin was ruled out, he was not eligible to get in the car so late in the race weekend.
Source: DailyMail
