The Haas F1 team have confirmed that their driver, the 23-year-old German Mick Schumacher, is conscious after he was involved in terrifying single car high speed crash at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit ahead of Sunday's second race of the Formula 1 season in Saudi Arabia.
Schumacher, the son of F1 icon Michael, was on a hot lap in the second stage of qualifying when he lost control of his Haas VF22 on turn 12 in Jeddah, smashing into a wall to his left before coming to a stop against the opposite barrier.
His car was badly damaged in the crash, losing both of the tires on its right side. Television images also showed immediate concern from the Haas team and its pit crew just seconds after the accident. It was estimated that his car was traveling at a speed of around 150 miles per hour at the time of the crash.
Schumacher was quickly removed from the car and he was moved to an ambulance.
An initial statement from Haas said: “We have heard he is conscious and headed to Medical Centre.”
In another update, Haas said they “can confirm Mick appears physically fine.”
“He has spoken to his mom etc. Likely being taken to hospital for a scan as a precaution but awaiting FIA update on that.”
Schumacher's crash is the latest in an increasingly long line of incidents ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix. The race was called into question early on Saturday when a missile attack struck a fuel depot just six miles from the racetrack, while a fire marshal was also removed from his post on for writing a social media message in which he said he hoped that Lewis Hamilton would become involved in a fiery crash.
Schumacher was also involved in a crash in the 2021 iteration of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Jeddah Corniche Circuit has come under fire from some Formula 1 drivers for being unsafe, with several highlighting its limited visibility, high-speed corners and close barriers as being potential hazards.
Former Haas driver Nikita Mazepin was also involved in a high speed accident on the track last year.
George Russell, who is Lewis Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes, previously referred the track as a “recipe for disaster”.
“It’s a great track to drive but it’s a bit of a recipe for disaster,” he said.
“Definitely a rethink is needed and if we do come back here next year, which I guess we are, I think there are somethings that they need to modify to make these kinks just straights because it’s so blind. We’ve already seen too many incidents waiting to happen.”