When Papa Michael made his sensational comeback eleven years ago on March 14, 2010 in the Sakhir desert and raced to sixth place in a Mercedes, a ten-year-old named Mick Schumacher was also there, “but I don’t really have any special memories I was absolutely unaware of what that moment meant “, recalled the German, who turned 22 on Monday.

Now it’s his turn. 30 years after Michael Schumacher joined Formula 1 – another number that makes the debut of the record world champion son even more special. “It has something of a happy ending, even if Mick’s only really getting started now,” said his manager Sabine Kehm. The former journalist began at the end of 1999 as the spokeswoman for father Michael Schumacher, before she also became his manager around ten years later and now takes care of Mick.

The return of the Schumacher name to the premier motorsport class acts like a PR accelerator in the corona crisis. “An enrichment,” said the new Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali Mick Schumacher – the 55-year-old Italian was at Ferrari when Michael Schumacher was in the title. “That is the name that has to be in Formula 1,” emphasized former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone at Sport1 on Sunday evening.

Mick Schumacher stands like no other for the new generation of Formula 1, said sports director Charly Classen from the pay-TV channel Sky, which has the sole broadcasting rights in Germany this year: “In the coming season, motorsport will be in the focus of sports fans more than ever creates a spirit of optimism in Formula 1 in a way that Formula 1 has not experienced since the rise of his father Michael Schumacher. “

But what can fans really expect from Mick Schumacher? Ecclestone says he inherited much of his father Michael’s genius. He didn’t have much time to get used to his new team and car on three days of testing, which he also had to share with his Russian team-mate Nikita Masepin. The global corona measures made the process of getting to know his crew more difficult. And his Haas bolide is also one of the weakest in the field. The focus is already on 2022, 2021 has to be survived somehow.

Experts warn in unison to let Mick Schumacher drive once and give him time. Time that he already needed in his previous stations. In Formula 3, after a moderate debut year with a final position twelve, he won the title in 2018, and it was the same in Formula 2, which he won in 2020.

“It will be a pure year of training for him. Accordingly, we shouldn’t expect too much,” said Mick’s uncle Ralf Schumacher Sport1.de recently. “I’m sorry for him, because he has great qualities with which he could achieve more than with the people he is now,” said 90-year-old Brit Ecclestone, wishing Mick Schumacher on a team capable of winning like Red Bull.

Ever since Mick Schumacher was accepted into Ferrari’s junior academy at the beginning of 2019, many have been expecting that the path will sooner or later lead the son of the seven-time champion and former Ferrari superstar to the famous Scuderia in Maranello. To be called Schumacher alone will not be enough. Just as it wasn’t enough to win the Formula 2 and Formula 3 titles.

“The name Schumacher is of course an advantage in the world of racing. The doors open faster. At the same time, it is also a disadvantage: the observation and assessment from outside, the pressure and expectations are much higher,” assured manager Kehm with a view to the procurement of the first regular cockpit for Mick Schumacher in Formula 1 from Ferrari partner Haas.

Mick doesn’t want to copy his father’s driving style. Kehm listed the characteristics of the 22-year-old from his now 53-year-old father Michael, who disappeared from the public eye since his skiing accident at the end of 2013: “The fun of racing and the fun of other people. The knowledge that Talent is wasted if you don’t work on it and constantly refine it. The willingness to work hard on yourself and to constantly improve. “

He will also need these virtues, because Ecclestone is expecting hard early years for Mick Schumacher in the premier class. As is well known, the US team Haas was only penultimate in the constructors’ championship last year and did not make a better impression on the most recent test drives in Bahrain. “He won’t have anyone who can teach him anything,” emphasized Ecclestone, who is however certain that Mick Schumacher has what it takes to be a champion: “We just have to wait and see.”