Mick Schumacher took his maiden FIA European Formula 3 Championship victory at Spa-Francorchamps last Saturday, with the German leading home a Prema Theodore Racing one-two-three ahead of team-mates Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong.
The son of seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, a six-time winner at Spa during his F1 career, took over the lead after a great double move on his team-mates on the tenth lap, first on Armstrong at Eau Rouge and then on Shwartzman on the Kemmel Straight.
The nineteen-year-old knew the move on Armstrong was going to work after pulling off a similar move during Friday’s opener, and he was pleased to finally take his first European Formula 3 win at the forty-fifth time of asking.
“Winning at Spa is a great feeling after I unfortunately wasn’t able to convert yesterday’s pole position into a race success,” said Schumacher on Saturday. “As it seems, Spa is a good venue for the Schumacher family.
“When I saw the rain this morning, I was already happy: I very much like rain and mixed conditions. In the overtaking manoeuvre against Marcus, I was able to attack him from the slipstream. I already made a similar move in race one and therefore I knew that it would work out.”
After finishing fifth in race one, which became fourth with Daniel Ticktum was handed a penalty, Schumacher was obviously disappointed to collide with team-mate Guan Yu Zhou at turn one on lap one having started from pole position in race two, with the contact causing the Chinese driver out and he to pit with a damaged front wing.
“Obviously I’m disappointed about what happened in the second race,” said Schumacher. “Starting from my maiden pole, having to retire due to a puncture following a contact with a team-mate obviously isn’t ideal.”
