Mick Schumacher insists it will be his “achievements”, not his name, which decides his future in Formula 1.
The son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, Mick is the current championship leader in Formula 2 and is widely expected to step up to F1 next season with Alfa Romeo.
In fact, last weekend at the Nurburgring, the young German was set to take part in his first free practice session on Friday morning before rain and fog led to its cancellation.
Of course, attention has been growing on Schumacher ever since he won the European F3 title in 2018 and then joined the Ferrari Academy at the start of last year.
But with that will come the obvious criticism from some that Mick has only got to where he is because of his surname.
“The pressure is always there no matter what your name is,” he responded to The Guardian.
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“You want to show yourself and do a good job but my name won’t put me to the top of the championship.
“It is the achievements, the work with the team behind the scenes that is important.”
Few know the pressure of being a second-generation driver better than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who’s father Jos was Michael Schumacher’s teammate at Benetton.
And he was recently asked about the 21-year-old’s potential and whether he could become a big star in F1.
“It’s hard to say, but Mick Schumacher has done well in Formula 2 so far,” the Dutchman told Germany’s FOCUS.
“When he switches to Formula 1, everything starts all over again. Formula 1 is of course a different matter.
“But Mick has the talent – I think from his dad,” he smiled. “Of course, Ferrari also looks very closely after Mick and then we’ll see what will happen in the coming years.
“It is of course always difficult to compare a driver with Michael Schumacher because he won so much. That’s why I think that Mick shouldn’t necessarily be compared to his father.
“Of course he’s his son, but in the end, he’s Mick too. He has to have his own character and he has that too. But as I said, he has the talent and Mick’s overtaking manoeuvres are pretty good.”
As for his own experience of following in the footsteps of his father, Verstappen explained…
“I learnt a lot from my father, but I am an independent driver,” he said.
“He helped me a lot and supported me from the start. When I was little, he worked on my engines at the go-karts, he was my mechanic and we drove to Italy together. If I had to thank him, it would be for everything.”
