Mick Schumacher airlifted to hospital after terrifying 170mph crash

The 23-year-old son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher lost control of his Haas during qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - MARCH 26: The car of Mick Schumacher of Germany and Haas F1 is removed from the track following a crash during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 26, 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Mick Schumacher was airlifted to hospital following a terrifying 170mph crash during qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The 23-year-old son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher lost control of his Haas as he rode the kerbs through Turn 12 and slammed into the concrete wall on the opposite side of the circuit.

The force of the impact tore the front wing and both wheels off the right-hand side of his car before he came to a standstill.

The television cameras immediately cut away and no replays were shown. An ambulance was soon on the scene as Schumacher’s mechanics stood in the Haas garage with their hands on their heads.

But following several minutes without any updates, news eventually filtered through that Schumacher was conscious.

Schumacher’s machine was so badly damaged in the accident that it split in two as it was towed away by a recovery vehicle.

Schumacher was taken to the medical centre and then airlifted to the King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital seven miles south of the circuit for “further precautionary check-ups”.

Schumacher will be forced to miss the race owing to the severity of the damage to his car.

The running was delayed for 57 minutes as the barriers were repaired and the debris from Schumacher’s accident cleared.

Sky F1 reported Schumacher had spoken to his mother, Carina, and was set to be taken to hospital for a scan – but, according to the Haas team, was thankfully “physically fine”.

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner added on Sky F1: “I didn’t speak with him, he spoke with his mum, I spoke with his mum a few times and kept her updated. He has no injuries that you can see, they just wanted to check on him, doing some scans to see there is no damage from the forces of the impact.

“It seems like he has gone on the kerb and just lost the car. It seems there was no breakage or anything. We lost all the data as well immediately on impact. We had no contact with him and no data anymore, it just cut everything off.

“We got the message he was conscious, that was the most important thing, and then they said he had no external injuries.”