Mick Schumacher posts emotional message to father Michael on F1 legend’s 53rd birthday

The German, who has recently been named as Ferrari’s reserve driver, shared an personal picture with his legendary father

Mick Schumacher paid tribute to his legendary father Michael on his 53rd birthday with a personal message and a picture of the pair.

Schumacher, who has been appointed as Ferrari’s reserve driver, with the Italian team eager to one day see the young German follow in the footsteps of the F1 legend.

A seven-time world champion, with his tally level with Lewis Hamilton, Schumacher won five of those titles with the Scuderia.

And on his birthday, 3 January, his son Mick took to Instagram with a touching message.

“Happy Birthday, Dad,” the 22-year-old wrote, adding a heart emoji plus the picture of Michael holding and hugging his son.

“Days like these were important to my growing passion for Motorsport, and still affects me to this day.

“I am grateful for all the experiences you have given me and I’m excited to be making new ones in the future.”

Schumacher, 22, joined Haas for his debut campaign in F1, and despite a difficult rookie season with an uncompetitive car, he has heard there are “similarities” between himself and his father.

He 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.”

While Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto added: “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.”