Seven races, zero points, but two major total-loss accidents: Mick Schumacher’s record of the Formula 1 season so far is thin – as thin as the air in which you move as a young driver in the premier class. “The puppy protection is over. He has to deliver points now,” RTL reporter Felix Görner clarifies.
After the violent crash, Mick Schumacher quickly looked ahead again. “The season is still long, the tide can turn and very quickly in that case. I’ve shown that before. I’m sure I can show it this year too,” said the 23-year-old on “Sky” .
He took the blame for the expensive crash in the swimming pool passage. “It was all about keeping the car on the track. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that,” he summed up.
Steiner: “We’ll have to see how it goes”
Haas team boss Günther Steiner was quoted in the Haas message as being quite acidic. “It’s not particularly satisfying to have a serious accident again. We’ll have to see how it goes from here.”
What’s next? First of all, Haas has to repair the completely destroyed car, which really hurts given the ongoing inflation and the tight team budget. Already on the Saudi road course from Jeddah, Schumi jr. placed his VF-22 in the barrier.
The car broke in two on the Red Sea and now on the Cote d’Azur. After Saudi Arabia, Steiner estimated the damage at one million dollars, the cost of the Monaco departure should be similar, but at least “half a million,” RTL reporter Görner is sure.
The expensive crash comes at the wrong time. Because of the inflation and extreme freight costs, the teams groan financially anyway. Unsurprisingly, then, Steiner’s Grantel statement.
Crashing in Baku is absolutely forbidden
Before the classic in Monaco, Steiner had refrained from urging his drivers to be careful with regard to possible accident costs. He doesn’t assume that the pilots are so concerned about the budget, “but first think about their own careers. And if you just keep having accidents, you don’t have a career,” emphasized the South Tyrolean.
Schumacher’s contract with Haas runs until the end of the season, a real option other than the US team has not yet opened up for him, even if, according to media reports, he is considered a possible Vettel successor at Aston Martin.
Think about the career. Schumacher has to do that in Baku in two weeks, when “all eyes are on him,” as Görner predicts. There is no run-off zone on the fast street circuit in Azerbaijan, but there are many walls, as in Monaco. Crashing prohibited!