They look so alike. Same red jumpsuit, same smile, the same name of course and almost the same first name. At 21, Mick Schumacher is indeed the son of Michael, the German Formula 1 legend, the driver with seven world championship titles like Lewis Hamilton. The offspring follows in the footsteps of its prestigious progenitor.
This Sunday, Mick Schumacher won the title of world champion in Formula 2, the antechamber of F1 a kind of second division for drivers. The German driver, born in Switzerland in March 1999, had such a head start in the standings that he allowed himself the luxury of not finishing his race on the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain: “F2 champion, that sounds good! I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment, it’s going to take a few days, said the young man. I am just very happy and grateful. No matter what the outcome of this race is, we are champions and that is what people will remember. “” Shumi Jr “already wants to leave a mark like her father.
From next spring, he will make his Formula 1 debut in the Haas team instead of the Frenchman Romain Grosjean who was seriously injured at the end of November.
“It would be good to let him live his career”
“It’s great to see the Schumacher name again in F1. It is something strong. I congratulated him by sending him a little message. We discuss from time to time sport or something else. He’s a very nice guy and I’m very happy to see him arrive, ”Renault driver Esteban Ocon, 24, told us in the middle of the week.
Mick Schumacher will take part in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix testing this week to familiarize himself with his environment and his new team.
And he will have to assume a name that is complicated to wear in the paddocks. His father was for a long time, the God, the king of F1 and succeeding him will not be easy. “It would be good to leave him alone, to let him live his career because it is certainly complicated to have such expectations and so many looks on him”, thinks Alain Prost the four-time world champion.
At first he was named after his mother
The legacy is all the heavier to bear since his father’s skiing accident in December 2013. A drama that has plunged since that date, the legend of the circuits in a vegetative state. At that time, her son was only 14 years old. His daughter Gina Maria had two more “I have been in the spotlight since I was young,” says Mick. Even more because of the sport I practice. I got used to it. I’m handling it pretty well and I think my results prove it. “
However, he took a little time to assume his prestigious surname. When the heir began to ride in karting in 2008, the prodigy son registered under his mother’s name Betsch before simply choosing Mick Junior to cover his tracks: “Mick has had a very heavy name to bear since quite a bit. time, slips Alain Prost, the non-executive director of the Renault team. All the more so with her daddy’s accident. I knew Mick when he was a baby, but I’ve gotten to know him better lately. He really is a great boy. He understood how to manage this paternal heritage. But I am very happy to see him arrive in F1 because he fully deserves it. “
Before landing in F1, Mick Schumacher made peace with this magical name. “It’s fantastic to play the same sport, which we both love so much with my dad. To follow the same path, to discover this sport in all these aspects, it’s great, ”he slips with a dream in mind. Today he is said to be Michael’s son. He hopes that in 10 years, we will say that Michael was his father with eternal regret: that the latter, who set the bar so high, cannot see that his son is also part of the big leagues.
Article original de: www.leparisien.fr
