Mick Schumacher suffered a chilling accident at the last Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at turn 12 after losing the rear of his car. The German ended up hitting the wall in a very violent way, for which he had to be transferred to the hospital as a preventive measure due to possible internal injuries that he could have.
However, after a medical examination, the German came out on his own without showing any physical damage, and was present with his teammates at the Driver Parade on Sunday, although he missed the race.
It was a major setback for Schumacher, who narrowly missed out on the points at the opening round in Bahrain with 11th place, and could fight for a repeat performance in Jeddah thanks to improved Haas.
His team boss, Guenther Steiner , spoke shortly after the seven-time world champion’s son’s accident, stating that he was sure the German’s confidence would not be affected by this episode.
“I don’t think I’ll lose it. Obviously now the goal is a little more difficult than last year,” the Italian said. “Last season there was no question, we were competing to be 19th and 20th, because that’s where we were consistently.
“So this season, we think it’s a good thing for him (to have more pressure), because he has to learn from this. I keep saying the higher you go, the finer the line, you have to deal with it,” Steiner said. .
“It’s part of being a Formula 1 driver, putting up with the pressure that comes with any high-level sport or managerial position, and if you don’t like it, go and do something else,” he reaffirmed.
Steiner considered that analyzing the cause of the accident with Schumacher would be key to helping the driver and make him understand what happened to ensure that his confidence is not undermined.
“We have to talk about it, but I think he has to do it, because we haven’t driven the car, we have to do what he wants to see,” he said. “And I think (we need to) compare the data with Kevin [Magnussen].”
“So, did it go too far? I don’t know what it was. The tire wasn’t hot enough? We have to find out,” the Haas chief executive continued.
“So I think just by getting back in the car, you get this confidence back,” said the American team manager, who has already managed to score more points than in the previous two seasons thanks to Magnussen’s back-to-back runs in the top 10. at the start of 2022.
The group chose not to develop its car last year to focus on the new regulations, something that, added to the step in front of the Ferrari power unit, has made Haas move up to the middle of the Grand Circus grid.
