Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher on Monday paid tribute to his father, legendary driver Michael Schumacher, for his 53rd birthday.
The 22-year-old, who is still relatively new to the sport, shared a personal photo of himself with Michael on his Instagram handle, with the caption, “Happy birthday Dad. Days like these were important to my growing passion for Motorsport, and still affects it 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.”
A seven-time F1 world champion, level with Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher is regarded as one of the greatest ever to have graced the sport. After a remarkable career, most of which he spent with Ferrari, Michael was involved in a major skiing accident in December 2013 that left him with considerable brain damage. He was initially placed in a medical coma, but has since then been discharged and is still receiving medical treatment and help with rehabilitation at his home.
Mick Schumacher joined F1 in his father’s footsteps in 2021, and had a rather difficult debut season with Haas and its uncompetitive car. Yet, commentators have observed “similarities” between father and son, and Mick has been chosen as Ferrari’s reserve driver for the 2022 F1 season.
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The point has not been lost on Mick either, who told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, “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.”
Ferrari, who have not won a driver’s championship since Kimi Räikkönen’s win in 2007, will be hopeful of Mick eventually growing into his father’s shoes.
The 2022 F1 season, consisting of 23 races, is set to commence on March 20 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
