Haas F1's Mick Schumacher will not race on Sunday following Saudi Arabian GP qualifying accident
Haas has confirmed that Mick Schumacher will not race on Sunday following his major accident in the qualifying session of the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The German lost control of his car around the high-speed street circuit, crashing into the barriers midway through Q2.
In light of today's qualifying incident, Mick Schumacher will not participate in tomorrow's #SaudiArabianGP
#HaasF1 https://t.co/trPRIUFFHk
Things were looking up for the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher as he made it past Q1 in his newly improved Haas. The young driver, however, lost the car in a series of high-speed esses in the first sector, crashing straight into the barrier. Mick Schumacher's incident immediately brought out a red flag, halting the session until debris was cleared. While the driver initially did not show any signs of movement, he was eventually seen responding well after being taken off track.
Speaking about Schumacher's lack of participation on Sunday, team principal Gunther Steiner said:
“A very eventful day for us. The best thing is that Mick has apparently no injuries. He’s in the hospital right now and being evaluated by doctors, so he is in good hands at the moment. There is a possibility that he’ll have to stay for observation overnight at the hospital. Based on these facts and where we are, we have decided not to field his car tomorrow.”
Mick Schumacher's teammate Kevin Magnussen praises F1's safety standards
Crashing at over 200 kmph is no joke – and Kevin Magnussen agrees. The Danish driver praised the FIA for their increased safety standards in recent times, claiming it is incredible that Mick Schumacher was able to walk away from a crash like that.
i dont want to imagine what would have happened if there were 19 more cars racing on the track when Schumacher crashed. This track is just not suitable for F1 Cars. Jeddah is a death trap. #F12022 #JeddahGP #Schumacher #FormulaOne https://t.co/X5XbZFX0dS
Speaking to the media after the qualifying session, Magnussen said:
“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.”
Magnussen qualified P10 in Jeddah, making it into Q3 despite never having driven the car on the track before. The Danish driver also missed the bulk of the practice sessions on Friday, further making his performance incredible. Haas are finally starting to prove themselves as solid midfield competitors after a disappointing 2021 campaign.