Toto Wolff has congratulated Mick Schumacher after the German secured became the 2018 FIA European Formula 3 Championship champion after a runners-up spot in race two at the Hockenheimring on Saturday afternoon.
Schumacher had been the odds-on favourite for the title heading into the weekend but failed to score in the opening race on Saturday morning after contact with Prema Theodore Racing team-mate Marcus Armstrong on lap one that required a pit stop for a new nose cone, but the nineteen-year-old finished second to Jüri Vips in race two to take an unassailable lead into Sunday’s final race of the season in Germany.
Wolff, the Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, was full of praise for Schumacher, who claimed his first major single-seater championship in Germany a few races after being responsible for the five-hundredth victory for Mercedes in Formula 3 at the Red Bull Ring, which came amid his five-race winning run that ultimately saw him secure the title with one race to spare.
“Congratulations to Mick on winning the FIA Formula 3 European Championship title,” said Wolff. “Attention was focused on the youngster right from the start, and he was under a lot of pressure.
“It’s not easy coping with all that, especially if the season does not get off to the best of starts, as in this case. His performance in the second half of the season was therefore all the more impressive.
“He has shown that he has what it takes and that he can become one of the greats in our sport. We are also obviously delighted that he registered a 500th race win for Mercedes in F3 and that he secured the title in a Mercedes-powered car.”
