Saudi Arabian GP qualifying halted after huge Schumacher shunt

With five minutes to go in Q2 Schumacher smashed nose first into the wall at high speed after losing control on the Turn 10 kerb, near the end of the first sector.

The session was immediately red-flagged while the FIA medical crew was deployed to extricate Schumacher from the badly-damaged Haas. He was then taken to the medical centre by ambulance.

Soon after the accident, Haas reported that the German was "physically fine" and had spoken to his mother, adding that medical centre checks had revealed no injuries.

However, Schumacher was still airlifted to the King Fahad Armed Forces hospital for precautionary checks.

"Mick is physically in a good condition but will be flown by helicopter to hospital for further precautionary check-ups," the Haas statement said.

Schumacher had progressed to Q1 for the second consecutive race as Haas continued to be in the midfield mix.

The red flag had been brought out a first time during Q1 when Williams driver Nicholas Latifi lost control at the Turn 13 hairpin.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 for the first time since the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix after being bumped out by Aston Martin's Lance Stroll.

He will start Sunday's race in 16th, and later explained that going the wrong way on set-up had made his car "undrivable".