“Gearbox, the whole bodywork is gone, radiators” – Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed there is a provision for an allowance in cases of a big crash, like the Mick Schumacher one in Jeddah.
The Haas driver suffered from a horrible crash in Saudi Arabia qualifying, ensuring a stint in the hospital, and without a car to race in the following day’s main race.
It was an expensive one for the American team, considering the cost cap imposition of $140 million. But fellow team Mercedes has provided relief, with team principal Toto Wolff confirming that this crash will be exempted from the aforementioned cap.
“I don’t know money-wise but between gearbox, the whole bodywork is gone, radiators are gone – $500,000 to $1million, I would say.
“You can say that a crash like Mick had falls into the category of a ‘big shunt’ and there is an allowance in the cost cap where if you need to build a new chassis, the cost cap will be adjusted for you.
“Dangerous and city circuits are the spectacular ones, among the most spectacular ones and the drivers need to take more risks so you are always on the knifes edge.”
Haas hoping for no more crashes
Haas had a big crash with Romain Grosjean last year in Bahrain, and now this one. No wonder team boss Guenther Steiner is hoping they don’t suffer more of the same at all this season, especially with limited funds.
“There’s a nominal amount, but in a racing team, you never can stick to your budget like in a normal commercial business because you have this risk.
“You have got obviously a contingency there. But if you have two or three like this, pretty quick your contingency is not there anymore.
“It’s a loss. So you just need to manage. Obviously I hope we don’t have a lot more of them.”
