According to Mercedes’ Toto Wolff, the Formula One cost cap for Haas will be modified to reflect the severity of Mick Schumacher’s incident at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Mick Schumacher escaped a high-speed crash with the barriers during qualifying in Jeddah unscathed, but his car incurred substantial damage and he was unable to compete.
Guenther Steiner, the team’s Boss, estimated that the damage could cost $1 million (£761,000).
The cost cap for the 2022 season is $140 million, according to F1 rules, with Steiner warning that too many catastrophic occurrences during the season could cause Haas to struggle to stay inside that.
However,Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ team boss, has stated that he believes there is a system inside the regulations that will offer Haas a concession based on the severity of the “shunt.”
“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,” Wolff explained, according to GPFans.
Schumacher’s incident reignited debate in F1 about the relative benefits of city street circuits. The safety of the Jeddah Corniche track, marketed as the quickest street circuit of the season, has been called into doubt amid broader complaints of the choice to race in Saudi Arabia.
Wolff, on the other hand, has defended the race and other “spectacular” street circuits, implying that danger is inherent in F1.
“Formula 1 is 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 knife’s edge,” he continued.
The season begins on another street circuit in Melbourne, this time at Albert Park, where the Australian Grand Prix returns for the first time since 2019.
