Mick Schumacher is “crossing his fingers night and day” for rain at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The German’s father Michael Schumacher was a master of Spa-Francorchamps in the wet, with three of his six victories coming in rain-affected races.
This weekend also marks three decades since the seven-time world champion made his Formula 1 debut in Belgium, and Mick is delighted to be walking in his footsteps.
“Obviously it is [special], yeah. Not just because of the history of my dad but I’ve had a few good races here,” he said.
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“I had my first pole position, my first race win in 2018 with F3 which became a streak of multiple race wins.
“It’s a track that I enjoy a lot and I enjoy coming back here. It’s close to home, a lot of fans come here and people support me for numerous years now. It’s a great place.”
To commemorate that 30th anniversary, Schumacher is using the same helmet design that his father had in 1991, and it may not just be a one-off either.
“It’s beautiful. I’m very much considering keeping it for the rest of the season, so we’ll see what I can do with it and maybe keep it,” he told Formula1.com.
Friday practice would be difficult for Schumacher however, as he was outpaced by teammate Nikita Mazepin in both sessions.
Even so: “It was definitely good to be back on track after the summer break and coming back to a track like here. It’s definitely special,” he said.
“I was hoping for it to stay wet, but unfortunately every time, it dried up just as we were going out.
“Nonetheless, I think that we learned a lot and we have a few ideas of what we want to try for [qualifying], and we’ll see how it goes.”
And with the weather forecast looking dodgy for the entire weekend, Schumacher is encouraging Spa to do its worst.
“I’m hoping for rain, I’m crossing my fingers every night and day that it will keep on raining,” he smiled on Thursday.
“I was a bit scared when I arrived yesterday because it was sunny, so hopefully the rain will stay and that should give us an opportunity here.”