Mick Schumacher: “My father told me to do what I want”

pilot for Hass but his future is up in the air. It is not yet known what his seat will be in 2023 and he may not renew his contract with Ferrari Drivers Academy. Despite being the center of gossip, Mike Schumacher (March 22, 1999, Genolier, Switzerland -German Nationality-), in the middle of his second F1 campaign, wanted to attend the World of sports before determining your future.

With his start in karts, he started competing in Catalonia, in OpenRacc, with the help of Genís Marco. How about that stage?

Exactly. I remember my first race. I think it was driving an FA Kart (Fernando Alonso’s chassis). It is a single championship, with men of different ages, women, etc. I raced in two races and they were two great races and events. I’m so happy.

How important is Genís Marco to you? It was very important to the rise of Fernando Alonso.

I did those two races and moved on to the national championship in Germany with Tony Kart, but looking back, those two races were really a good first test that taught me what it would be like to start racing and I thoroughly it was satisfied. It is great.

He did two races competing as Mick Betsch, with his mother’s last name, to avoid being noticed and compete in secret, away from the press spotlight. as usual?

Yes, I think people in karting always knew of course that my father was there, but on the other hand it was a way to keep the media away to have a chance to grow as a young man without all the attention on me. I was a child and my parents wanted to avoid any kind of media coverage, pictures, but well, it happened anyway. I’m proud of how my parents handled that situation and they wanted to make sure I felt the same as any other driver and that I grew up with my friends.

And he began to compete, as he rightly said, in a chassis owned by Fernando Alonso, who was his father’s rival. Weird, right?

Well, I think that time it was a good championship to start with, very close and everyone had the same material. It was just a way to see if I could test, drive fast and if I could be competitive. And after those two races we moved on and chose Tony Kart.

But even the stranger should be sharing the F1 grid with a driver who competed against his father and contested world titles, like Fernando Alonso, at 41 years old. You are 23 years old and he is still there at the highest level.

He is still ‘young’! (smile). In 2020 you did a test with young drivers (Abu Dhabi), correct? (laughs). Jokes aside, Fernando Alonso is a great personality, huge, he has achieved everything in this sport and I wish him great luck in his next chapter of the future with Aston Martin. I think it will be very interesting to see how he works with the team and how they move forward. I am looking forward to fight him. We’ll be seeing a lot more of him this season, for sure.

Another veteran, who will retire on this course, is Sebastian Vettel. Over the years, he became one of his biggest supporters in F1, a friend.

Sebastian, I can say he is a great friend. It was fun spending a lot of time together and it was like my family. I am so proud of everything he has done for me.

Was it always clear to you that you would make it to Formula 1?

Nope. Everything that happened in the past is history. I wouldn’t change anything that happened in those years and the years that followed and I’m very happy that I reached my goal of reaching F1. But now I want to achieve my next goal: to become world champion.

What advice did your father, Michael Schumacher, give you at that early stage?

My father has always supported everything I do in karting. Of course. I think he tried to give me different strategies to see what was best for me, and in the end he always told me: “do what you want”. And for me, my favorite has always been running, I’ve always loved what I’ve done and every time I go to more big events, bigger races and for me it’s always wonderful that he occupies his time with me always in the motorhome, discussing racing. They are good times.

In his career in the junior categories, we always saw him learn in the first year and win in his second season. It happened for example in Formula 2. In F1, obviously, you need a winning car which you don’t have. However, he received a lot of criticism this year due to the lack of results before Silverstone. But perhaps you should consider that in his second year in F1 everything is more difficult because the cars have completely changed. What do you think?

apparently not. Even if the rules have changed, that really doesn’t matter. It is very difficult for people to get under our skin and see what is really going on. I can drive much better than last year but maybe nobody will see it because you can’t compare it as the cars are so different. It’s really hard to see how much I’ve improved or not. I think you can see that we have taken a step forward and I want to continue on the upward line trying to get points.

What do you think of the criticism received?

People will always criticize you, no matter what you do. I don’t care, really. I know what I’m doing, I know what I’m doing and I know what kind of driver I am. Any criticism I receive is positive and in preparation, to learn how to take the pressure up close when I’m fighting for a championship. I have to take them as a motivation (use the word ‘petrol’) to become a faster driver.

From the lower categories, he always had to drive with the added pressure of being Michael Schumacher’s son. Have you ever thought that you want to be invisible and fly without anyone seeing you? It must be hard to have the pressure of Michael’s son.

Nope. It’s not difficult (laugh). This is something that motivates me. It’s great to have pressure that no one else has and I always carry it. I love being compared to my father, in this case, the best driver in the world.

MD chatted with you a few years ago at an F2 test and told me his goal was to become “a more complete driver”. What is your goal now?

Obviously it remains to be the most complete driver possible. I feel that until you fight at the front or for championships, I will continue to need information and experience. I’m still chasing that. One of my goals is that one day, when I can fight for a podium or I can fight for the title, I will achieve it.

I have to ask him about his future. Esteban Ocon says he wants you to be a partner in 2023 at Alpine. Does that answer?

There was a lot of gossip and a lot of talking. I will try to do well in these races, that’s what I want.

But do you think you have a guaranteed seat for 2023?

My head is in piloting. Now comes Monza and then comes special races like Suzuka which will be amazing to race there. I look forward to running there.

Well, this will answer it for me… Ocon is a good friend of yours, isn’t he?

Esteban is a great man, a very good ‘uncle’.

This week I was in Maranello before going to Monza. I want to know how he grew up as a driver with the help of Ferrari as part of the Ferrari Drivers Academy.

It turned out very well. I have learned a lot from them since I accepted this opportunity and it can be seen in my results, for example in Formula 2 (he is champion). I was able to grow, learn from them and become a very good person.

They said his contract with the Ferrari Drivers Academy will expire this year. Do you think the time has come to fly solo? After all, there is life beyond Ferrari in F1.

Well, I mean… (hesitates) you see… there are some contractual concerns and I can’t talk about them.

What plans do you have for the end of the campaign?

I want to get the best possible results and get the highest number of points.

Do you still think that you can become world champion in the future?

What will happen in the future I cannot predict. But I’m trying to build everything to one day become a world champion. I did it in Formula 3 and Formula 2, as well as in karting and in Formula 4 (he was second in German F4 in 2016). I feel like I have every opportunity to achieve that goal and I think I just need to be in the right car at the right time.

Thank you very much for attending Mundo Deportivo. And you can do that.

Thanks a lot.