Mick Schumacher ‘very similar’ to father Michael after debut F1 season

Schumacher raced for Haas in the 2021 season

Mick Schumacher says he’s been told he’s similar to his father and Formula 1 legend Michael after his debut season.

Schumacher raced for Haas in his first F1 campaign and finished 19th in the drivers standings. The star is in awe of his father, who won seven world titles in his career.

The 22-year-old told Frankfurter Allgemeine: “I have the utmost respect for what he has achieved, all his hard work to achieve his victories and titles. Nothing was easy for him.

“The energy and strength he showed, his focus, always giving 100 per cent at work, impresses me. I really believe I inherited something in that sense.

“I don’t usually compare myself to others. I prefer to go my own way. But I do look for comparisons with my father. I’ve been told that we are very similar.”

There will be another similarity between father and son in the 2022 season as Schumacher has been named as a reserve driver for Ferrari - the team his father won his world championships with.

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto heaped praise on Schumacher, who was a part of the team’s academy, at the time of the announcement.

Binotto said: “He’s had already one season in F1, which is important. Mick through the season did well, he improved himself not only in terms of consistency, but as well in terms of speed.

“If you look at the last races, he was a lot closer to the cars ahead, and Haas didn’t develop the car at all. The fact he was closer proved he had a good improvement on the speed itself.

“He will be driving 2022 cars next year, they will be a lot different to the current one in terms of driving style. It will be important to have one driver who knows those cars being reserve.”