Mick Schumacher was ruled out of Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Formula 1 Grand Prix after he crashed badly in qualifying and was flown to a hospital in Jeddah for precautionary checks.
Haas F1 ruled out Schumacher from Sunday’s race and the American team said it would only field one car. Schumacher, who turned 23 earlier this week, posted on social media that he was “fine”.
“The car felt great,” wrote the German.
“We will come back stronger.”
Schumacher is the son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher and the Haas team said the young driver was able to call his mother after the accident.
It was several minutes before Schumacher was pulled from his mangled car and into an ambulance for an initial cursory check at the track.
Formula 1 has come under severe scrutiny for continuing its race weekend following an attack on a nearby oil depot by rebels.
The attack during Friday’s first practice session could be heard along the track and smoke could be seen in the background of the circuit.
The riders met several times for more than four hours on Friday to discuss safety concerns and whether or not to compete.
F1 and the FIA, the series’ governing body, reassured competitors that safety measures were in place. So things went on as planned on Saturday until Schumacher’s crash in the second part of qualifying.
It resulted in a lengthy stoppage for the clean-up effort, and Red Bull pole-sitter Sergio Perez said after the Saudi Arabian circuit was “definitely the most dangerous place on the calendar”. That’s no secret.”
“It’s a track that really demands a lot from the drivers, the cars and the teams. If you get it wrong, you can have a big accident,” said Perez.
“The last thing I want to think about is the track and I think if we go forward it’s a discussion again.”
Sunday marks the second time in three F1 races that Haas has been reduced to just one car. Nikita Mazepin missed the season finale last year when he tested positive for COVID-19 on 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 like last December in Abu Dhabi when Mazepin was ruled out, he wasn’t allowed in the car this late into the race weekend.
