Mick Schumacher believes that spray from the car ahead led to his crash in the Japanese GP FP1.
Schumacher crashed his VF-22 car at the end of the opening free practice session at Suzuka. Haas decided to replace his chassis, so the German was forced to miss FP2.
“I think it was more from the fact that we had a car ahead which threw up a lot of spray,” Schumacher said.
“I didn’t really see much of where to put the car. It wasn’t great [either] that we lost a lot of [tire] temperature from the practice start.
“And on top of that, we were in a mode in which we tried to learn as much as we can to be able to have all the right settings for the race.
“You’re trying to figure out the track itself – it is obviously my first time here – and trying to see where the puddles are – because that’s something that is very different every place you go to.
“Unfortunately here, the water seems to accumulate quite a bit in certain areas. It’s just a matter of understanding that.
“Had it happened two meters later, I probably would have just had a 360 spin and kept going – but things happen for a reason. I don’t know what that reason behind it is now, but maybe in 10 years’ time, I will.”
