Haas F1 rakes up huge bill after Mick Schumacher's horrific crash at 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian GP
Haas F1 will be paying a hefty bill for Mick Schumacher's crash in Saudi Arabia. The German driver was on his push lap in Q2 when he lost control of the car over a kerb and ended up having a massive shunt.
The shunt was responsible for the German driver missing the race on Sunday as the car had accrued far too much damage. Guenther Steiner, the Haas F1 boss, talked about the accident listing the damage to the car and estimated repairs to be worth close to a million dollars. He said:
“The chassis itself doesn’t seem to be broken. The side impact structure is, but you can change them. Obviously we need to do a proper check on the chassis but it looks not too bad, to be honest. The engine also, I was told from Ferrari, seems to be okay. The battery pack as well. And then all the rest is broken.”
He then went on to provide an estimate of the costs that were likely to be involved, saying:
“I think the cost is still pretty high because all the suspension is gone, except the front-left. I think there’s still something on there. The rest is just like carbon powder. I don’t know money-wise but with these cars, between gearbox, the whole bodywork is gone, radiator ducts are gone, so it’s between half a million and a million I would say.”
Hi everyone, I just wanted to say that I’m ok🙏
Thank you for the kind messages.
The car felt great @haasf1team, we’ll come back stronger❤️ https://t.co/Mwpy0767kN
Reflecting on the incident, Steiner admitted that the crash was not ideal, but things like this were taken into account while budgeting. He, however, hoped that there weren't going to be too many of these in the future from either driver. The Haas F1 boss said:
“There is a nominal amount but in a racing team you never could stick to a budget like in a normal commercial business. Because you have this risk, you have got obviously a contingency in there. But if you have two or three like your contingency is pretty quickly not a contingency anymore, it’s a loss. So you just need to manage. Obviously, I hope we don’t have a lot more of them.”
And here he is speaking about that qualifying crash
#SaudiArabianGP @SchumacherMick https://t.co/EYtkExeoPZ
Haas F1 is currently fifth in championship standings
Haas F1 has made a roaring transformation in its fortunes this season. The team was stuttering as a backmarker last season, but this season it finds itself battling at the front of the midfield.
The team is currently fifth in the standings behind Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Alpine with 12 points on the board. The team has made the most of the rules change with a brilliant car and is reaping the rewards for all the hard work.