Mick Schumacher has given an emotional account of how he did “everything my dad did” as a child – still relying on advice given to him by the Formula 1 legend.
Michael Schumacher, who shares the all-time F1 record with Lewis Hamilton as a seven-time champion, suffered life-changing injuries in a skiing accident in the French Alps in December 2013, just a year after his second and final retirement.
His condition has been closely guarded since then, with his wife Corinna fiercely protecting his privacy. Mick, who was only 14 at the time of his father’s accident, had to continue pursuing his dream of reaching F1 without his father’s guidance.
He achieved his goal and raced for Haas for two seasons before losing his seat at the end of the 2022 season. He is now a reserve driver for Mercedes, the team his father came out of retirement to race for between 2010 and 2012, helping establish the squad on the grid.
Author Matt Whyman, who spent 18 months embedded within the team for his new book ‘Inside Mercedes F1’, which was published this week, was given unrestricted access to all of the famous faces involved in the project, including young Mick. A conversation with the German about his father’s influence is included in the book.
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Reflecting on his wild childhood and the influence of his father, he shared with Whyman: “I was a crazy kid – everything my dad did, I did,” adding, “I started karting aged three. I was six when I first went scuba diving. Aged 10 I was skydiving. My dad was always very open to me trying out whatever I wanted to do and racing is all I wanted to do, because I enjoyed it the most,” reports the Mirror.
He fondly remembered his father’s support and challenges: “He was really supportive and a lot of fun, but could also be challenging. One time in a karting race I braked very late going into a corner and gained a lot of time. When I told him about it, he said, ‘Yes, but you should have braked like that in every corner!'”
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Mick recalled how his father pushed him to take racing seriously: “Whenever he felt like I was not taking it seriously, he would say, ‘Mick, would you rather go and play football with your friends? If so, we do not need to do all of this’. I insisted that I wanted to race and he said, ‘Okay, then let’s do it properly’. So we started doing more European karting and I was getting better.”
Despite having one of the sport’s legends for guidance early on, Mick faced a new reality after his father’s accident: “Then my dad had his accident,” he continued. “I started racing in the Formula classes the year after and from then on I had to do it all on my own.
“But I definitely learned a lot of technical points from him that I still use today, as well as from his coaching. And I have always been very resilient. Whenever I got hurt I would jump like on, and I am still like that, in fact.”
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In addition to his commitments with Mercedes, Schumacher has also been taking part in the World Endurance Championship, driving hypercars for Alpine’s emerging team. In this year’s campaign, he partnered with the French pair Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere in car #36, achieving an inaugural podium finish for the outfit during the Six Hours of Fuji event.
Despite his ventures, Schumacher has found it challenging to secure a comeback position on the F1 grid. With the 2025 roster nearly full, his chances are dwindling.
Although there was speculation surrounding Audi potentially picking him for their Sauber venture, the team has now confirmed the recruitment of Brazilian Formula 2 front-runner Gabriel Bortoleto to team up with Nico Hulkenberg for the next season.