Mick Schumacher’s crash on his in-lap after the chequered flag in first practice at the Japanese Grand Prix prompted him to miss FP2 because he needed a new chassis.
The Haas Formula 1 driver badly damaged the front of his car in a crash at the end of FP1.
After doing a practice start when the session ended, Schumacher lost control halfway round his in-lap in the wet conditions, complaining of bad aquaplaning.
Schumacher slides off at the end of the session
He was on his way back to the pit lane but crashed into the barriers #JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/y8p1xfhcay
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 7, 2022
Haas confirmed shortly before the start of FP2 that Schumacher would not participate in the session because he needed a chassis change. Team-mate Kevin Magnussen finished FP2 – another fully-wet session like FP1 – in fifth place.
The crash comes at a very bad time for Schumacher who is at serious risk of losing his drive and falling off the F1 grid in 2023.
There has been a clear trajectory of improvement, albeit not by enough in qualifying, and he had eliminated the early-season crashes that prompted a public rebuke by team boss Guenther Steiner.
This crash, his first since a heavy one in the Monaco Grand Prix, revives that old concern at a time his raw pace has a big question mark over it, and there are known to be issues internally.
Haas is essentially picking between keeping Schumacher for next year or signing Nico Hulkenberg.
The 35-year-old is currently Aston Martin’s reserve driver and has not raced full-time in F1 since 2019 but is understood to be extremely hungry to return with Haas, which needs a dependable and fast driver to pair with Kevin Magnussen.
