Mick Schumacher described it as “amazing” to follow his father Michael into Formula 1 after being confirmed at Haas for 2021 on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old has been linked to a promotion to F1 for some time as an impressive season in F2 has him leading the championship by 14 points with just one round to go this weekend.
Initially, it was thought Schumacher might join Alfa Romeo – which has a seat specifically for youngsters in the Ferrari Driver Academy – before Haas became the only realistic option.
But still to be bringing the Schumacher name back to an F1 grid nine years after Michael retired is a great honour for Mick.
“It’s great to be in the same sport and it’s a sport that we both love so much. To be able to go on a similar path, to get to know the sport inside out, really it’s amazing,” he said in a press gathering on Wednesday.
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“To have finally reached my goal – everybody’s goal is Formula 1. All the junior drivers want to reach F1 eventually. So to be able to be one of those 20 drivers is something incredible.
“I’m just really a bit overwhelmed and happy that everything’s confirmed and that I’m really going to be standing on the grid next year.”
Schumacher has also confirmed he’ll race with in F1.
“Four and seven are two of the numbers that I really like,” he told RaceFans. “Obviously four for F3 and the seven because obviously, seven is a number that is very close to me as well.
“As both of them were taken, I think 47 was the best choice.
“Then at the end as well, which is quite, let’s say, ‘unblinded’, was the fact that if we calculated all the birthdays of our family together it would equal 47. So it was a pretty nice feature to it and I think it just underlined that we should choose that number.”
Asked if seven was a reference to the number of F1 titles won by his father Michael, Mick replied: “Definitely seven is partly because of that, but it’s also just a number that I generally like personally and I guess also our family we like the seven.”
Having been confirmed by Haas for next season, it was suggested to Schumacher he could stand in for Romain Grosjean at next weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if the Frenchman hadn’t recovered enough from the injuries he sustained in the terrible crash last Sunday.
“It’s great if you are considered to be ready to do that, I feel like I am,” Mick said.
“Obviously you have three free practices which you have time to learn [in]. It would be a challenge but definitely I think I would be able to get to know the car more to be even better prepared for next year.”
