"Go even further to the limit" - Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher's advice to his nephew Mick

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes his nephew Mick had an expensive crash at the Jeddah circuit in Saudi Arabia. The brother of Michael Schumacher believes the Haas driver has a lot to learn from his teammate Kevin Magnussen.

Commenting on Mick Schumacher’s Jeddah crash, the former F1 driver spoke to Autobild and said:

“A problem for Mick. Because now he lacks a race of experience. The mistake had very strong consequences, very annoying.”

The German believes his nephew’s crash in the Jeddah qualifying session came at a price where the driver was unable to race the next day due to severe damage to the car. According to Ralf, Mick has lost one race worth of mileage and experience and the repercussions of the crash are frustrating.

Speaking to the Motorsport Network, Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner gave details on the damage to the car and said:

“I don’t know money-wise but between gearbox, the whole bodywork is gone, radiators are gone – $500,000 to $1million, I would say.”

With budget caps in effect, frequent crashes could hurt the team’s costing for the season, as damage to the cars could be expensive. As the son of a legendary F1 driver, the German is being criticized for his crashes, not just this season but throughout last season. For a small team like Haas, damage and the cost of rebuilding a car, especially during flyaway races, can affect the team’s shoe-string budgets.

Advising Schumacher Jr. for the rest of the season, the German Sky Sports pundit said:

“What Mick [Schumacher] can learn from [Kevin] Magnussen is to push the limit even more, Magnussen is a different number than Nikita Mazepin, Mick has to keep up and be faster in the end.”

The driver-turned-TV pundit believes his nephew has a lot to learn from his Danish team-mates, especially pushing the car to its limits without making mistakes. Ralf feels Magnussen’s experience and speed will push Mick to increase his pace. According to the former Williams driver, the Dane is a different ballgame compared to racing against Nikita Mazepin.

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Haas F1 team boss confirms Mick Schumacher will be driving same car from Jeddah in Australian GP

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner believes Mick Schumacher’s car from Jeddah can be rebuilt in time for the race in Melbourne. The Italian team principal confirmed that although the crash in Jeddah damaged the car severely, the chassis was intact. Consequently, the driver will be using the same car at Albert Park for the Australian GP.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Steiner said:

“The chassis, there is damage to it, but it’s not really big, the chassis. The rest of the car is broken, but not the chassis. I mean that chassis, the side-impact structures have to be changed, they did their job, they get destroyed by doing this. And otherwise there is one little notch on it which can be easily fixed.”

Meanwhile, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claimed Schumacher’s crash falls under the category of a ‘big shunt’. For such crashes, there is a provision for an adjustment in the F1 cost caps to enable the rebuilding of the chassis.