IMAGO / PanoramiC
Mick Schumacher has been released from the hospital, Haas F1 said, following the driver's high-speed crash during the second round of qualifying that likely had fans holding their breath.
The team confirmed after qualifying that he will not participate in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The German spun out in Turn 12, and as he collided with the wall, two of his wheels came flying off and extensive damage was done. Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft said Schumacher was driving approximately 170mph during the impact.
An ambulance rushed to the scene as the 23-year-old remained in the cockpit. Haas F1 confirmed that the driver was “conscious” and he was extracted carefully from the vehicle. The FIA said in a statement that while he was at the medical center, “no injuries” were revealed.
The team shared an update that Schumacher “is physically in a good condition but will be flown by helicopter to hospital for further precautionary check-ups.”
The 23-year-old shared an update of his own, tweeting a photo of himself with the tweet, “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.”
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has been a controversial race within Formula One not just because of the country's human rights record but also because of the dangers of the tight-quartered circuit.
The street track was added to the schedule last season, and it was evident early on how dangerous it could be between Max Verstappen's wreck in qualifying and the two red flags within the first 15 laps of the race. Since December 2021, changes have been made in order to make it safer, such as widening several of the corners.
However, this year’s race brings new safety concerns to the forefront after an Aramco oil depot went up in flames as a large plume of black smoke filled the air, which was visible during Friday’s practice. Later in the day, a spokesperson for the Houthis rebels in Yemen, who receive military and financial support from Iran, later claimed responsibility for the missile attack.
Formula One confirmed the Grand Prix would go on as planned earlier on Friday; however, the drivers met for over four hours afterwards, finally leaving the paddock well past 2 a.m. in Jeddah. As of Friday evening ET, the drivers decided to race this weekend, per multiple reports.
The Grand Prix Drivers' Association later released a statement, “Yesterday was a difficult day for Formula One and a stressful day for us Formula One drivers. Perhaps it is hard to comprehend if you have never driven an F1 car on this fast and challenging Jeddah track, but on seeing the smoke from the incident it was difficult to remain a fully focused race driver and erase natural human concerns.
"Consequently we went into long discussions between ourselves, with our team principals, and with the most senior people who run our sport. A large variety of opinions were shared and debated and, having listened not only to the Formula 1 powers but also to the Saudi government ministers who explained how security measures were being elevated to the maximum, the outcome was a resolution that we would practise and qualify today and race tomorrow.
"We therefore hope that the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be remembered as a good race rather than for the incident that took place yesterday".
