Mick Schumacher seriously damaged his car, the VF-22 , in a brutal crash during qualifying this Saturday.
However, the German was unharmed and, after preventive checks at a nearby hospital on Saturday night, he was discharged and was able to return to his hotel.
Mick Schumacher was declared fit, and Haas could have decided to fit him a new car and start him from the pitlane for the Saudi Arabian GP.
However, Steiner made the decision not to do so, because he felt that there was very little to be gained from such an effort, and that there was a risk that it might even be a disadvantage.
Starting from the pitlane, Mick would have little chance of scoring points, and in addition to getting hurt, as another accident could have ruined the next Australian GP in two weeks.
“We could have worked all night and then in the morning found out that you overcommitted yourself, doing everything in a hurry,” Steiner said of his decision to retire Mick Schumacher’s car.
“You could run out of all the spare parts in Australia, and then something small happens to you in Australia and you can’t race when in theory you should be in a better position. It doesn’t make sense to me. It’s like trying too hard, so to speak.”
(See how Mick Schumacher’s car looked after the accident before reading on)
Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Another key in Steiner’s decision not to try to race Mick Schumacher was that the truck with the material for the Australian Grand Prix was going directly from Saudi Arabia, which does not allow the opportunity to check things at the factory before the race. next race.
“You have to ship everything from here to Melbourne,” he said. “We can’t send it to the UK to do all the things on the car that are needed, to check for cracks and all that other good stuff.”
“It just wouldn’t be a good job to do because you can’t finish in the points if you start from the pitlane this year as there are too many good teams.
As we have only had two grands prix with the new cars, the teams normally at this time of the year have not yet produced a large number of parts.
Steiner said that played a role, too, as he didn’t want to risk using up his spares unnecessarily.
“If we don’t race here, we’ll be fine, 100% fine for Melbourne,” he said. “It’s always hard to keep up, but we’re happy to be able to go to Melbourne with enough spare parts.”
