Talk about following in your father’s footsteps
Mick Schumacher, the 19-year-old son of the GOAT Michael Schumacher, has won the European Formula Three championship with a staggering 347 points and a race to spare.
Yeah, he might just have a bit about him behind the wheel, just like his father.
Schumacher, who finished 12th in his debut season last year, built up an unassailable lead that ensured that a second place finish at Hockenheim, in his native Germany on Saturday, was enough to secure the title with one race remaining.
Of the 12 races so far this season, Schumacher has won eight, including a remarkable streak of five in a row.
His father won the title in 1990, before making his debut in Formula 1 the following year for Jordan. Mick is now qualified to do the same but with few racing seats currently available in the highest racing class, could instead progress to Formula 2.
Lewis Hamilton, a four-time champion and Britain’s most successful driver ever, also won an F3 title in 2005 and then the F2 championship the following year, so the omens are good for the young German.
As if having Michael Schumacher’s blood coursing through your veins wasn’t enough of a sign you were destined for great things anyway.
“It’s a slightly unreal feeling. I’m absolutely delighted, I still can’t quite believe it” said Schumacher, whose first win came at his father’s favourite Spa circuit in Belgium. Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff also stated that he believes the teenager to have great potential.
His father suffered life-threatening injuries after a skiing accident in France in 2013 with Mick – who was only 14-years-old at the time -present. He has not been seen in public since and his physical condition, after being gradually withdrawn from a medically-induced coma in 2014, is unknown.
He remains the most successful driver of all time, the only driver with seven World Championships, and also holds the all-time records for most wins (91), most fastest laps (77) and most races won in a season (13).
Whatever he goes on to achieve, Mick Schumacher has already done his father proud.
