Mick Schumacher
Mick Schumacher is the son of the legendary German Formula One 7-Time World Champion, Michael Schumacher. He was born on 22 March 1999 to Michael and Corinna Schumacher.
The junior Schumacher won the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2020 with Prema Powerteam, and recently made headlines in the F1 world when he signed a multi-year contract with Haas F1 Team to race for them from the 2021 season.
Mick was racing with his father Michael when Michael met with an accident and suffered life-threatening brain injuries. Mick always adored his father, describing him as “my idol” and “my role model”.
Mick has had a successful career in Karting, ADAC Formula 4, Formula 3 and Formula 2. Mick is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and made his debut in Formula One in-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Mick Schumacher’s Career Before Formula 1
Mick started his racing career when he was just nine years old. In the beginning, he was shy about using the name of his famous father. Instead, he used his mother’s maiden name and competed as “Mick Betsch.”
Karting (2012-2013)
Schumacher competed in the KF3 class of the ADAC Kart Masters during the 2011 and 2012 finishing the seasons in the 7th and the 9th place respectively. He finished 3rd in the KF3 Wintercups of 2011 and 2012 while finishing 3rd in the 2012 KF3 class DMV Kart Championship.
In 2013 Schumacher finished in 3rd place in the German Junior Kart Championship and the CIA-FIA Super Cup KF Juniors. Schumacher started competing in the International and National Junior Championships in 2014.
Now, Schumacher was using the name “Mick Junior,” to avoid drawing attention to his legacy. Mick ended the season 2nd in the German Junior Kart Championship the European Championship as well as the World Championship. Although he did not use his father’s name, his success was noticed and highlighted by the international press.
ADAC Formula 4 (2014-2015)
At the end of the 2014 season, Mick test drove a Formula 4 racing car with Jenzer Motorsport. The following year Schumacher took to racing formula classes with Van Amersfoort Racing. This time, using the Schumacher name, he competed in the ADAC Formula 4.
In 2015, Schumacher switched teams and moved to Prema Powerteam a team that was known for its ties with the Ferrari Driver Academy. He competed in the Italian F4 Championship and ended up second to Joey Mawson and Marcos Seibert in both the championships.
Formula 3 (2016-2018)
Mick Schumacher first drove F3 cars in 2016 when he appeared in the MRF Challenge, a championship based in India. He competed in the upper Formula 2000 class and finished with 9 podiums, 2 pole positions and 4 wins and ended the season third behind Harrison Newey and Joey Mawson.
Schumacher made his debut in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with Prema Powerteam in 2017. Although he finished below his Prema teammates ranking 12th in the championship, he was placed third among the competing debutant drivers.
Racing for Prema in 2018, Schumacher had a slow start to the championship taking his first win in the 15th race at Spa-Francorchamps. He was placed 10th in the rankings trailing Dan Ticktum, the leader, by 67 points almost halfway into the season.
After the Spa-Francorchamps event, Schumacher took seven more wins, five of them successively to clinch the championship. He was 57 points ahead of the second-placed Dan Ticktum and had 14 podium finishes, 7 pole positions and 8 wins while recording 4 fastest laps.
Formula 2 (2019-2020)
In appreciation of his performance in Formula 3, Schumacher was promoted to Formula 2 by Prema in 2019. He would race alongside Sean Galael with the first round starting in Bahrain. Schumacher started 10th on the grid and finished 8th while finishing 6th in the sprint race after receiving a reverse grid position.
Schumacher spun at Baku and was forced to retire, In the sprint race he recovered from the 19th position and finished 5th. In the next three races at Barcelona, Monaco and Circuit Paul Ricard colliding in each of the races and suffering a tyre puncture in the sprint at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Schumacher’s engine stalled on the grid at the Red Bull Ring and he finished 18th in the race. While he finished 4th in the 4th place at the Red Bull Ring, he earned more points in the sprint at Silverstone, finishing 6th.
At Hungaroring, Schumacher earned his first win in Formula 2. He finished 8th in the feature race earning a reverse grid position in the sprint race. He held his pole position to win the race. Although he qualified 6th at Spa-Francorchamps, both races were cancelled due to the death of Anthoine Hubert in an accident.
At Monza, Schumacher was forced to retire from the feature race due to power problems. He came back strongly in the sprint race to finish 6th. In Russia, Mick was forced to retire in both races. In the feature race, he had engine problems while in the sprint he collided with Guiliano Alesi.
In the last race of the season at Abu Dhabi, Schumacher finished 9th in the feature race and 11th in the sprint race. He finished the season placed twelfth in the rankings with 57 points but well ahead of his teammate, Sean Galael.
In 2020, Mick was joined by the reigning Formula 3 Champion and a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, Robert Shwartzman. At Austria Schumacher went of while battling for the lead position while his fire extinguisher went off during the sprint race.
He earned double podium positions at Hungaroring in Hungary. Schumacher followed it up with five consecutive podium positions from Spain to Monza. At Mugello, he got the Championship lead and kept.
Schumacher won the feature race at Sochi in Russia. He followed it up with the third position in the sprint. When Schumacher arrived in Bahrain he had a 24 point advantage on the second-placed Illiot. Mick Schumacher clinched the 2020 Formula 2 Championship at Bahrain with 215 points 14 points ahead of the second-placed Illiot.
Mick Schumacher’s Career In Formula 1
Michael Schumacher spent the best part of his career with Ferrari, first as a driver in Formula One and then as an advisor in various capacities. Mick Schumacher had spent time with his father with the team as well as the technicians and the mechanics.
When in January 2019 Ferrari offered Mick a position as a test driver, Mick admitted that Ferrari was a part of his heart. The test took place in Bahrain, where it rained during the session. Mick completed his 56 laps with a time of 1:29.976 which was the best till Max Verstappen surpassed it five minutes later.
Mick said “I really enjoyed. It felt like home in the garage from the very first moment as a lot of people have known me since I was very young.” His mother was watching from the pit while several mechanics who had worked on his father’s car were now working on Mick Schumacher’s car.
In the beginning of December 2020, Haas Formula 1 has announced that they have revamped their driving team. They have included Mick Schumacher and the Russian, Nikita Mazepin to replace Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.
‘I would love to thank the Haas F1 Team, Scuderia Ferrari and the Ferrari Driving Academy for placing their trust in me. I also want to acknowledge and extend my love to my parents-I know that I owe them everything’, said an elated Mick Schumacher.
The most famous name in Formula One racing is set to make a comeback in the 2021 FIA World Driver’s Championship. The news made headlines in the international news as expected. Schumacher fans will be waiting to welcome the new Schumacher to the F1 circus.
‘I am very pleased to announce that we are able to confirm Mick Schumacher in our line-up for the next season and I look forward to welcoming him into the team’, said Guenther Steiner, the Hass F1 Team Principal.
Michael Schumacher was racing in Formula One at about the same time as Jos Verstappen. Their sons Mick and Max are about the same age and will be competitors for the FIA world Driver’s Championship. While Michael and Jos were good friends while time will tell how Mick and Max will compete and get along on the World Driver’s Championship Circuit.