What a year it has been for Mick Schumacher, joining the FIA Formula 2 field for the 2019 season and becoming a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Since starting his journey through motorsport, competing under his mothers maiden name as Mick Betsch, Schumacher has had a constant Italian connection (bar one season),
“I feel drawn to Ferrari. I grew up with them and have always driven for Italian teams with the exception of one season.”
Mick Schumacher
“Even early on, when I was in karting, I drove for Tony Kart in a completely Italian team,” Schumacher told Motorsport-Magazin.com in an exclusive interview. “The only year I haven’t worked with Italians was in 2015 when I competed in Formula 4 with Van Amersfoort.
“I’m back now with Italians once again at Prema. The passion they have for motorsport is just terrific. You appreciate that all the more at Ferrari. Walking around Maranello or Fiorano feels really special. It’s just one big happy family. You feel good when you’re there, part of the Ferrari family.”
Being part of the Ferrari family brings its benefits, like being around the Formula 1 team, including four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel.
“I’ve got a great deal of respect for him [Vettel]. We talk a lot about motorsport. I try to get tips from him and put them into practice. He’s been in the sport quite a few more years than me, so every conversation we have helps.
“I think what my dad was to Sebastian, he is for me, someone that I’m close to, with whom I can talk about motorsport.”
The mention of his father, seven-time World Champion Micahel Schumacher leads on to dream cars, “I would say the [Ferrari] 458. My dad contributed a great deal to the 458 Italia. His input was major. He worked a lot with the engineers on its development. I can feel my father’s DNA in every Ferrari. That makes me really proud. And the naturally aspirated engine built into it … Wow! It just sounds so cool.
With one race weekend remaining in the 2019 FIA Formula 2 championship, Schumacher finds himself twelfth place in the championship, with one victory to his name it has been a baptism of fire for the young German.
“I sometimes think, oh sh*t, but also know that it’s a learning process.”
Mick Schumacher on his Formula 2 season
“The hard times make us stronger. If we can manage to turn things around so that it works out positive for us in the end, then we’ve learned more than if everything had gone well right from the start.
“If at some point, you join Formula 1 and then suddenly find that nothing’s going right, then the pressure is enormous. These are situations that can completely break a driver. However, the person who has been through it all before and has overcome hard times is inured to it and can handle the situation better, in my opinion.“
Growing up around race circuits of the world, it comes as no surprise that Schumacher finds himself in motorsport; asked if he wasn’t racing he couldn’t come up with an alternative as to what he would be doing.
“Funnily enough, I was just talking about precisely that recently with a friend. What if we were not allowed to pick a job that had anything to do with motors.
” I didn’t come up with anything. I’ve always been around engines and always will be. But what about a Plan B, you ask? Plan A is working out just fine for me!”
Quotes from Motorsport-Magazin.com. Read the full exclusive interview in the print edition of Motorsport-Magazin.com on 31st October 2019.
