Michael Schumacher’s teenage son wants to follow in his father’s footsteps into Formula One following his demonstration laps before Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix. 18 year-old Mick Schumacher is currently competing in Formula Three, but drove his father’s Benetton B194 car round the Spa-Francorchamps track to commemorate the seven-time champion’s first Formula One win 25 years ago.
“Of course, Formula One is my goal, but first I want to be a complete driver before I race. I would like to continue working on myself, deepen my knowledge, improve as a driver, but also as a team member.” Mick Schumacher said, as reported by German daily newspaper Bild on Tuesday – “When I heard the car would drive here, I was straight away on for it and just wanted to do it. I am happy I have done it now. It was just great. It was a pleasure for me to drive and it was emotional and fun and amazing. There is a lot of history with it and I am really happy I was able to drive it.”
Born in 1999, Mick is too young to have many memories of his father’s major successes – he was only seven when Michael retired for the first time at the end of 2006: “I learned a lot about it. I always look back and it is just nice to see what he has reached and all his tricks and stuff.”
The young German driver intends to spend two more years in Formula Three, where he currently races for Italian outfit Prema Powerteam, then a further two years in Formula Two before moving up: “At the end of the day, the most important thing is to get everything that is part of a race weekend as perfect as possible on and off the track.” – he said – “Everyone has to know that for themselves, it is not something you can be pushed into.” – Mick Schumacher explained, as reported by the German media.
The demo drive was about celebrating his career, not focusing on what has happened since, about which his son is obviously more than aware. It was made very clear before his interviews that Mick would not answer questions on his father’s health.
Seven time Formula One world champion and Scuderia Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher has not been seen in public since suffering serious head injuries in a skiing accident back in 2013. There is no further update on Schumacher’s condition. All that has been said since he came out of a medically induced coma six months after the accident and was transferred to his home in Switzerland is that he cannot walk.
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