Mick Schumacher back at Jeddah track day after horror smash and questions safety of ‘most dangerous place’ in F1

MICK SCHUMACHER has returned to the Jeddah track a day after his 170mph horror smash during qualifying.

And he took the opportunity to question the safety of a track that has been dubbed “the most dangerous place” on the Formula 1 calendar.

The Haas driver, who said he feels “alright” and “not too sore either”, will miss out on today’s Saudi Arabia GP after crashing during Q2 yesterday.

Schumacher, 23, was airlifted to hospital following the incident for precautionary tests.

Thankfully the German is okay and is hopeful of a return to action next month in Melbourne.

Speaking to Sky Sports today, he explained how the crash happened: “We had a small slide going through turn nine which then upset temperatures in the tyre and also positioning.

“Coming to the curb I was 20 to 30cms wide of where I wanted to be so the rear tyre dropped over the curb.

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“The moment we touch a curb we lose contact to the ground and that means there is nothing holding us back from spinning.

“I saw a few other guys have a similar issue, except they were able to catch it”

Despite his crash, Schumacher had already done enough to secure P14.

But he won’t race today, and when asked why revealed: “A combination of a few things, but in particular of car preservation – we want to race in Melbourne and if something happened in today’s race that might not happen.

“I want to get those points and I will get them in Melbourne.”

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Further quizzed if the Saudi track, which made its F1 debut only last year, is safe – he added: “I think there are things we have to have a look at. I don’t know what happens in the future. But if so, we need to have a serious discussion about it.”

Schumacher wasn’t the only driver to crash yesterday, with Williams’ Nicholas Latifi involved in a less serious accident during Q1.

I think it’s definitely the most dangerous place in the calendar, that’s no secret about it

Sergio Perez

After the securing the first pole of his career, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez labelled the circuit the “most dangerous”.

He said: “I think it’s definitely the most dangerous place in the calendar, that’s no secret about it.

“It really demands a lot from the drivers, from the cars, from the teams. If you get it wrong, it can be a huge accident.

“I don’t know if there’s something we can do into Turn 22/23 because it’s a really high-speed section.

Here if you crash, it hurts a bit more than in other places in the calendar

Carlos Sainz

“It’s more [dangerous] in the race, but I think it’s the same, after qualifying the last thing I want to think about is the track.”

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz also weighed in, adding: “Here if you crash, it hurts a bit more than in other places in the calendar because the walls are closer and the speed is higher.

“As drivers, we’re very confident here, because we know the safety of the cockpit is very high and when you see incidents like Mick’s, gives us a bit of tranquillity that at those speeds the car is protected because the FIA has done a great job in giving us very safe cockpits.

“But at the same time, is it really worth it having that huge accident when you could maybe hopefully push the walls a bit further out and it would give us a bit more space to slow down the car if we lose it?

“It’s a discussion that we need to have because it’s probably a bit on the limit.”

Some kerbs throughout the year might need to change, and I think this kerb is one of them

Lando Norris

McLaren’s Lando Norris said: “I think with this era of cars, with how you have to run them and how they’re designed, some kerbs throughout the year might need to change, and I think this kerb is one of them.”

Perez secured pole in a dramatic finish to Q3, preventing a Ferrari lock out with Charles Leclerc and Sainz pushed to P2 and P3 respectively.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, endured a nightmare session – failing to get out of Q1 for the first time since Brazil in 2017.

Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk