Schumacher won’t lose confidence after Jeddah F1 crash

Schumacher lost control of his car at the exit of Turn 10 during Q2 for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, resulting in a hefty impact with the barrier on the left-hand side of the track.

After being taken to the hospital for precautionary checks, Schumacher was found to have suffered no injuries, but was ruled out of the grand prix on Sunday.

It came as a setback for Schumacher, who recorded a career-best result of 11th in the Bahrain season opener and is now contending for his first points in F1 thanks to Haas’s upswing in form.

Haas has already scored more points than in the previous two seasons combined, thanks to Kevin Magnussen’s back-to-back top-10 finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

But Steiner was sure that Schumacher’s confidence would not be knocked by the crash, backing the 2020 Formula 2 champion to bounce back amid the increased competition for points.

“I don’t think that he’ll lose confidence,” Steiner said.

“Obviously now the target is set a little bit higher than last year. Last year there was no question at all, we contended to be 19th and 20th. Because that was where we were – consistently, by the way.

“So this year, we think it’s a good thing for him [to have more pressure]. Because you have to learn this.

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Mick Schumacher, Haas

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“I continue to say, the higher up you get, the thinner the air gets. So you need to deal with it.

“It’s part of being an F1 driver. Dealing with pressure, that’s any high-profile sport or management position, the pressure is on and if you don’t like the pressure, go and do something else.”

Steiner felt that analyzing the cause of the crash with Schumacher would be key to help him understand what happened and ensure his confidence was not dented.

“We need to talk it through, but I think he needs to do that, because we didn’t drive the car, we need to show what he wants to see,” Steiner said.

“And I think [we need to] compare the data with Kevin, and I haven’t compared the data. So did he try too hard? I don’t know what it was. Was the tire not warm enough? We need to find out.

“Then I think just getting back in a car, then you gain this confidence again.”

Haas opted against developing its 2021 car in order to place full focus on the new regulations in 2022, and has also benefitted from a major step forward with Ferrari’s power unit.