Huge Schumacher crash halts F1 qualifying in Saudi Arabia

A serious crash for Mick Schumacher has halted qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Haas driver was on his second timed lap in Q2 when he lost control on an exit curb and hit the wall heavily at Turn 10. The car speared across the track and slammed into the concrete barrier on the inside of the circuit at Turn 11, ripping off two wheels before sliding back across the track and striking another barrier before coming to a rest on the run up to Turn 13.

Schumacher remained in the car while the FIA medical car arrived to tend to him and was conscious and talking with the doctors before he was extracted from the car and taken to the medical center. Initial assessments revealed no injuries and Schumacher was "physically fine" according to his team, speaking to his mother before being airlifted to King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital in Jeddah for precautionary checks.

The damage to his car was so severe that when the cleanup effort started, the rear end broke away from the rest of the car as it was lifted into the air by a recovery vehicle. The session was halted for an hour while marshals cleared up the wreckage and oil that had been left on the track before resuming at 21:40 local time - some 40 minutes after qualifying should have ended - as there was an earlier delay due to a crash for Nicholas Latifi in Q1.