Mick Schumacher lost control of his car going through the pool chicane, after changing to dry tires at the Monaco Grand Prix, suffering a spectacular accident.
After hitting the guardrail on the right hand side of the track, Mick Schumacher ‘s car crashed into the Tecpro barrier at the exit of the corner. The rear of his car separated from the rest of the chassis, including the suspension and gearbox, but the driver himself quickly reported over the radio that he was fine.
The German was able to get out of the car unassisted and was taken to the medical center as a precaution, before being quickly discharged. He later explained that the accident felt “super weird.”
Race director Eduardo Freitas decided to initially use a virtual safety car before moving to a full safety car. Subsequently, the race was stopped with a red flag to allow the repair of the Tecpro barriers damaged in the collision.
Several drivers expressed their shock at seeing the accident after the race. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly said it was “bad looking” and he was worried about the Haas driver, and that the decision to bring out the red flag was the right one.
“When I saw the gearbox completely out [of the car], it was quite shocking,” said Gasly. “Regarding the red flag, they took a while, but it was the right thing to do. I was a little surprised that we had a virtual safety car and not a [normal] safety car immediately. But I have to watch the race again, it was quite long, a lot of things happened.”
Fernando Alonso called the accident “huge” and said he hoped F1 could “learn something from today”, noting how heavier cars influence accidents.
“I don’t think it’s a problem with the car, but with the force with which it hits,” Alonso explained.
“These cars are very heavy, over 800kg, so the inertia with which you hit the wall is much higher than in the past. As I said, we probably learned something from today as well.”
Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel has been a mentor to Mick Schumacher for much of the young German’s career, having himself benefited from advice from his father, Michael.
Vettel said he was “glad to hear on the radio that he was fine before reaching [the area of the] incident”, and asked that Haas be given some leeway.
“It’s very easy to make a mistake like that,” Vettel said. “I don’t know exactly what happened to him, I haven’t seen him. The important thing is that he’s fine.”
“There is no doubt that he is capable of doing much more than what he is showing at the moment. But I think he has to give him a little respite.”
