Nov.3 (GMM) Mick Schumacher has revealed new details about the tough lessons imposed by his father Michael – and admitted that turning down an early Ferrari opportunity may have hurt his Formula 1 career.
Speaking in Alfred Weinzierl’s new book, ‘Uber Michael Schumacher und die deutsche Ara in der Formel 1’, the 27-year-old described his father first and foremost as a parent rather than the seven-time world champion.
“He’s a racing god, but for me he’s Dad,” he said.
“And because he’s such an amazing person as a dad, that far surpasses the rest, the racing driver.”
Mick recalled one karting event at Sarno where he performed poorly against a field that included future F1 drivers Lando Norris and Lance Stroll.
The family had planned to contest the world final in Bahrain shortly afterwards, but Michael cancelled the trip.
“Dad said, ‘We’re not going to Bahrain, you weren’t good enough in Sarno.’,” Schumacher recalled.
“I was hurt and sad. But then I told myself I just had to work on improving so that this wouldn’t happen again.”
Mick said even his mother Corinna backed the hard-line approach, telling him: “You’re not going to get what you want right now.”
“I always knew he did things for a good reason,” the former Haas driver added.
“Not as punishment, but to learn. The way he handled those situations was always incredibly fatherly.”
Mick now jokes that the lesson may even have prepared him for his famously difficult relationship with Haas boss Gunther Steiner.
“In this case, perhaps my father wanted to prepare me for a team principal who is a bit more complicated and makes decisions I don’t like,” said the German.
Schumacher says his two seasons at Haas left him convinced that a different environment might have produced a very different outcome.
“So much went wrong right from the start that our relationship was very strained, and this tension remained until the end,” he recalled.
“A lot of things just weren’t right.”
Only after joining Mercedes as reserve driver, he says, did he understand how differently a team could work with a driver.
“That’s why I’m now firmly convinced that I could have performed differently at another team,” added Mick.
He also admitted one major career decision still bothers him.
Ferrari offered him a test driver role in 2019, but he declined in order to concentrate completely on Formula 2.
“Perhaps that was a mistake.”