Mick Schumacher has told fans he’s “okay” in a smiling selfie from his hotel room as he is discharged from hospital after a horrific 170mph accident during qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Haas driver, son of Michael, crashed into the wall exiting Turn 12 at Jeddah Circuit, ripping his car into pieces.
The red flag was immediately raised to allow an ambulance onto the track, with Schumacher conscious and speaking to doctors before being lifted from his smashed car and taken to the medical center before driving to a nearby hospital.
The shocking nature of the accident became clear when the Haas car broke in two as it was being lifted off the track.
But Schumacher took to social media today with the defiant message that “we will come back stronger”.
He said: “Hi everyone, I just wanted to say I’m fine. Thank you for the nice messages. The car felt great, we will come back stronger.”
Haas confirmed after yesterday’s crash that their driver was “in good physical condition” but had been taken to King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital for further evaluation.
“I spoke to his mother and kept her updated,” said Haas team boss Guenther Steiner.
“He has no injuries that you can see but they want to do some scans to make sure there was no force interference.
“The impact shattered the digital [technology] so we haven’t heard anything [on the radio] but we have learned that he was conscious.”
Mick Schumacher posted a smiling selfie on Twitter after his horror crash to tell fans he’s ‘okay’ and the team will ‘come back stronger’.
Marshals clear debris from the track after Mick Schumacher crashed in qualifying for Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Schumacher is carefully pulled from his F1 car by paramedics after suffering the horror crash on the exit of Turn 12 at the Jeddah Circuit
Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher had to be lifted out of his smashed car by paramedics after a horror crash at 270 km/h
Medics could be seen lifting Schumacher out of his battered car after his crash during qualifying in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Schumacher suffered a horrific 170mph crash that saw the second qualifying lap cut short for an hour to clean up
The Haas driver crashed into the wall exiting Turn 12 at Jeddah circuit and there was immediate concern for him
The red flag was immediately raised to allow an ambulance onto the track and the smashed car was soon recovered
The shocking nature of the accident became clear when the car broke in two as it was being lifted off the track and back to the Haas workshop
Schumacher was flown to King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital for further evaluation but “deliberately left the circuit,” Haas said
Haas team boss Günther Steiner (right) remains in regular contact with Corinna Schumacher (left) after the crash.
Haas later confirmed that Schumacher would not take part in Sunday’s race.
The American team tweeted: “In light of today’s qualifying incident, Mick Schumacher will not be participating in tomorrow’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we will only drive one car in the race.”
The incident disrupted the Q2 session for nearly an hour as the track was thoroughly cleaned and cleared of debris.
Lewis Hamilton, who suffered a shock exit in Q1, said: “I’ve heard the news. I hope he’s fine.’
Former Haas driver Roman Grosjean, who himself suffered a serious accident in the team’s car at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, added his best wishes.
Sharing Haas’ tweet confirming Schumacher was responsive on his way to medical treatment, the Frenchman wrote: ‘Hope for some good news soon.’
“The FIA is working hard to ensure all these circuits are as safe as possible,” Formula E driver Sam Bird said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It was designed to be an exciting, fast street circuit roller coaster. With that now comes this danger when you start driving at high speed it bites.
The session was suspended for nearly an hour as the track was given a thorough cleaning and debris clearance after the horror smash
Before the crash, 23-year-old Schumacher was P8 with a lap time of 1:29.920 in Q2, but he has now been disqualified from Sunday’s second race of the season
“If you get it wrong, you’ll hit the wall at 200 miles an hour. Motorsport is dangerous.
“Every time you go out there you can hit something, you can have a big impact. Unfortunately we saw that with Mick today.’
Before the crash, Schumacher – the son of F1 legend Michael – was P8 in Q2 with a lap time of 1:29.920.
His Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen, who finished fifth in Bahrain last weekend, eventually finished P10.
Magnussen later said of the accident: “I heard Mick is unhurt which is good and incredible when you see the accident he had but the safety is so good with these cars you can run away from an accident like one this is impressive.
“I think he’s had a great qualifying up to that point and he wanted to get a good result so he just needs to come back and get on the horse and get back on his feet.”
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez took pole for the first time in his career, with Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in P2 and P3.