The German had to skip the race in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago after a serious crash in qualifying. “I feel very good, there are no after-effects,” said the 23-year-old son of racing legend Michael Schumacher ahead of the race in Melbourne.
The German drove his car completely into ruins on the Jeddah circuit. Miraculously, he got out of the wreckage unharmed and also passed the medical checks, but the American team decided not to let Schumacher start in the race as a precaution. An additional problem was that Haas did not have enough spare parts to rebuild the car. Team boss Günther Steiner estimated the damage at almost 1 million euros.
Steiner announced in Melbourne that Haas does not have a spare chassis. It means Schumacher cannot afford another crash. “He has to be careful because we don’t have a safety net,” Steiner warned. Schumacher said he will not approach the race differently. “You always try not to crash, but also to drive as fast as possible,” he explained. “You have to risk something and I did.”