This weekend saw the hottest item in Motorsport eclipsed by another who many hope will be a star of the future. It is said you can hear Lewis Hamilton around corners in the paddock by the clamour which surrounds him, yet even the triple world champion was eclipsed in terms of demand as a 17 year old took his first steps inside the Piranha club.
Michael Schumacher Jnr was in town for his first visit to a Formula One event and one paddock old timer described the sound of his arrival as ‘regal’. Mick, as he is known to his F4 racing fraternity, is the son of Michael Schumacher, who for many F1 observers and fans across the globe – IS F1 royalty.
The English speaking media were instructed not to request interviews, because none would be given and there was a respectful distance kept by the cameras and broadcasters alike.
“He is a remarkable young man,” commented Mercedes boss Toto Wolff adding; “He is well educated, friendly and modest – that is all what you wish from a teenager. Not something you see nowadays very often. “
Those who raced against Michael Schumacher Snr may cheekily suggest that this list of qualities clearly demonstrate Mick has been heavily influenced by his Mother.
Mick is competing this season in Formula 4 and is currently is lying 2nd in both German and Italian championships, with 6 wins from 24 outings.
Manager of father and son, Sabine Kehm told the Cologne Express: “The next logical step [for Mick Jnr] is Formula 3, as he will soon be having a test.”
Unlike Max Verstappen, a year his senior, Mick Schumacher is making less waves in his race career and under the watchful eye of Sabine Kehm will now progress incrementally.
Given the response young Schumacher received over the Hockenheim weekend, he is already box office in Germany and amongst the F1 travelling circus. The question is, does he have what it takes to make it all the way to motorsports highest echelon on talent? Or will his name open doors which otherwise would remain closed?
Return of the King. 🙂
Paired with a young Max??(finish what his father started)..oh what a bad oddball I am 😇I do feel for the young Schumacher, he has to step out of a very large shadow but Damon managed to do it..no longer being introduced as Son of Graham but rather Graham was his father.
Haha, there’s a bit of poetry in that thought.
You’re correct about Damon. He successfully managed the ‘son of’ process. It can be done.
We all get given a hand of varying quality, and we can choose to play said hand as best we can; or not.
Schu Jr will have the name of the greatest driver of all time – statistically at least – casting a shadow over his every move. But, of course, he’ll also have opportunities others could only dream of. He gets to develop slowly, properly and find / cultivate his speed and racecraft. If after all that the speed is not there, then it’s not there. But, if it is, it’ll definitely be found and enhanced.
They’re playing their hand well, so far. Approach seems correct.
The only thing I feel sorry about is that Michael won’t get to enjoy his son’s progress. That’s the only tragedy, imo.
Fully agreed and you can only imagine the knowledge his father can or could offer, I know it’s a long shot but I really hope that in some small way Michael is aware of his sons progress. If I could pass just one thing onto the kid…don’t listen to your uncle
Yup. Ol’ Ralfie had THE worst overall disposition I’d seen in F1 to that point. A strange mix of delusion and entitlement coupled with an average native pace on his day (which wasn’t often) and a total disdain for pretty much everyone – including those who were helping him.
It always appeared, to me at least, that Michael was mildly ashamed of him. A bit, “yeah, that’s my brother…” *shoulder shrug*
Ralf managed to make JPM look pleasant and a team player, at times. Haha!
Laughed hard once when Michael almost put him in the wall off the start during one of the rare times Ralf was actually fighting for the same piece of track. Hakkinen, DC, JV, Hill had quite a few fights with Michael, and despite popular opinion gave as good as they got… but post-race with Ralfie was funny. A bit of: “I’m not talking to you, Michael” to which Michael seemed a bit “Lol, whatever, bro”.
After Ralf left F1, I didn’t think I’d see as sh!tty a personality in F1 as he. I was wrong…
…but, at least Lewis is quick, mostly.
From memory, Ralf had the oddest driving style. Super-shallow entry and punch-hard braking into a super-early apex, often snatching the front and then full-lock understeering, expecting way too much of the front to get around the corner.
Always wonder how good the ’00 and ’01 Williams might’ve been in the hands of a Hakkinen, as opposed to rookie-Button and then rookie-Montoya – who needed to fish-tail everywhere at that point – while team leader Ralf was implying that physics didn’t apply to his style, and if the car didn’t turn then Williams simply needed a better front-end. Nope.com/PoorWilliams
So, yeah, I agree. Mick Jr should smile and nod when uncle tries helping out. Sabine probably knows this.
(Wow, I fanboi’d out there a little. Felt… good. Really goooood!)
Mick is also competing in Italian F4 where he is tied for 2nd and missed one race weekend for “logistical” reasons. He has had some bad luck & made mistakes. In Race 3 a week ago he started 33rd and rose to P11 by race end. He attempted to pass the race leader in Race 2 and took himself out which resulted in his back of the field start in the last race.
Definitely some talent there. He is 17 and will hopefully move to F3 in 2017. Seems to have good family support and is in no rush.
“…will his name open doors which otherwise would remain closed?” Yes. No question, unless he has a serious accident.
How many examples have you seen in the past where the son did better than the father in F1?
Maybe Nico and Max are about to revert this trend, who knows?
…and FYI, despite Villeneuve Jr winning a world title, he was nowhere near his father.
Although Gilles is one of my all time favourites, to stat that a former CART champion, Indy500 winner, WDC (vice)champion F1, multiple race winner (despite the fact of the car that could Verstappens Grandma champion) and leMans 24hrs podium finisher is nowhere near his father is a little harsh! 😉
I liked him in his early years in Cart, Indy and with Williams, but after him racing at B(ritish) A(merican) D(isaster) I’m really done with this clown and his comments on everything. Nothing to downplay his achievements on track, but everything with this guy off track.
Well for Mick making less waves compared to Max, he hasn’t the credentials to wave with like Max has. And during his karting years there were more financial backing opportunities and he could still take use of his father. But it seemed for Mick it was something to do and nothing he wanted badly! His track record is rather poor compared to Max and they competed together for several years (not allways same championships or races).
Only after his fathers accident he uped his game and started to land solid results. It looked like he wants to do his father pride (wich is understandable) and took his racingcareer more seriously. This resulted in better performance on track.
In his first year F4 for VAR he had some major highs and lows and a lack of consistancy, something he seems to have more in control now. This second year F4 did him good, and I expect to see him in Prema F3 next year and it’s just a matter of time before he will be announced as Ferrari or Mercedes protoge.
He has the financial sources, the name, up untill now some solid results, the connections, the legacy. So if he keeps bringing in the results F1 is only a matter of time.
But as we saw with the sons of Lauda, Prost, Mansell a.s.o. only a legacy won’t get you in!
Some very valid points but we need to take past performance only as a rough guide, Driving isn’t down to DNA,training and guidance can make the difference but as you do say,a basic feel needs to be there. Lets hope the kid gets into F1 with talent rather than by association. After all that never forget that Michael Snr wasn’t a brilliant lower formula driver.. Mercedes favoured HHF over Schumacher in the sports cars so who knows???
Ralf Schumacher had the same name. Bruno Senna had the same name as an other great. And the list goes on and on. Names say nothing. Unless you’re the first born (son) of a king.
Or the first born son of The Boss 🙂
His name didn’t matter. It wasn’t much he needed to do to out grow his dad. And looks like he did it in his second season all ready. Max 1 Jos 0. 😅
Yes he did, but I still believe that Jos was one of the fastest drivers of his time in F1. But he did not have the support, mindset, tempre and car to show his total potential. Max has to be lucky he has some genes from his mother as well.
And all credits to Jos preparing Max the way he did. Gave up his own career in sportscars to coach and support Max. Jos is one of the best engine tuners in karting and this with Max his talent and Jos his driver coaching as well created a monster not even close to his full potential I think.
And believe me, I followed the kid since 2005/2006, keep telling people in my surrounding since 2010 that he will be the next big thing in F1. But I thought it wouldn’t be much sooner than 2018 he would make it in to F1.
I allways kept low profile of expectations according to Max. But allways and on any moment he exceded these expectations. Even now paired up against a guy like Ricciarde he stands his ground and not only raises his own bar but that of Ricciardo en their for the team as well. Outscoring Rosberg in his Mercedes over 7 races total, since he joined RedBull.
I expected him to hit this level just after Belgium, but from the first moment he was spot on!
So Yes he out grown his dad by miles, but I think this is what makes Jos proud!
Good to see him keeping up the traditional family Deutsche Vermögensberatung sponsorship deal… I was worried they’d never get any decent exposure again.