Timo Glock believes Mick Schumacher joining the Formula 1 grid would boost viewing figures almost immediately, particularly in Germany, but he feels the son of seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher would be best to further develop his career in junior formulae before making the jump into the big league.
The younger Schumacher has momentum on his side in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship at present, winning all three races at the Nurburgring two weeks ago to move to within three points of Daniel Ticktum at the top of the standings before taking pole position for race one at the Red Bull Ring on Friday, and has been linked with rides both in Formula 1, with Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda, and in FIA Formula 2 for 2019.
However, current DTM Series star and former Jordan F1 Team and Toyota F1 Team racer Glock feels he would be better off choosing Formula 2 or even the GP3 Series over Formula 1, even though he acknowledges that having the Schumacher name in the premiere single seater category in the world can only have a positive effect on the sports viewing figures.
“I’ve talked to him a couple of times and I think for him, his best options now are GP3 or Formula 2,” said Glock to German publication Rheinische Post. “Either way, he would be closer to F1.
“If F1 had a Schumacher again, it would boost the interest in Germany. Right now the ratings are good with an average of four million viewers. But at the height of Michael Schumacher, it was more like 10 million.
“The current drop is normal and we saw it when Boris Becker and Steffi Graf finished their [tennis] careers.”
