Formula 1 | Why Schumacher stayed in his Haas F1 when he crashed in Jeddah

Mick Schumacher has explained why he didn’t get out of his car sooner after crashing in Jeddah in qualifying, leaving several minutes of uncertainty over the young German’s condition.

The session was quickly stopped at the red flag, while the cameras avoided broadcasting the scene while waiting for reassuring news.

In reality, everything was going well for Schumacher who, after the arrival of medical personnel, was able to get out of the car and was helped into the ambulance to go to the hospital for a check-up.

« I didn’t want to go out at first because I knew there would be a few more cars behind me. As a result, I just checked to see if everything was okay. I didn’t know the cameras weren’t filming me anymore because of this expectation.

As well as remaining in the car, Schumacher was also not speaking on the team radio, further heightening concerns.

« Probably something got cut. I really wanted to say I was fine. »

Its boss, Günther Steiner, confirmed that the chassis was reusable despite this crash.

« The chassis has some damage but it’s not really important. The rest of the car was broken, but not the chassis. »

« This chassis will be reused, absolutely. On the chassis, the side impact structures need to be changed. They did their job, they destroyed themselves. The chassis has only minor damage that can be easily repaired. »

Note that a provision has been revealed, taken following the accidents seen in 2021: if a team has to build a new chassis because of a crash, this can be done outside the budget ceiling. This does not concern Haas F1 which does not evolve on the ceiling.