Mick Schumacher is eager to see what the future holds for himself and childhood friend Max Verstappen, with the Dutch driver winning his first F1 World Championship title in 2021. Schumacher and Verstappen's lives have been intertwined from birth, with their fathers racing together at Benetton in 1994 before the two sons were born. Having spent plenty of time together as children as fathers Michael and Jos maintained a friendship, Schumacher said he never expected himself and Max to end up in F1 together. "Yeah, it's great. Obviously, I'm happy for him. He deserves it!" Schumacher told RacingNews365.com in an exclusive interview, when asked about watching his childhood friend win the title. "He's been in a sport for some time now, and he's always done well, so it's interesting to see what the future holds for him, but also for me." Schumacher added that he wants to follow suit, and emulate a title win like his father Michael managed on seven occasions. "I think I wouldn't have expected, as children back then, that this would be the case," he explained. "But I [have] never given up on that dream, I'm living in it!"
Schumacher's simple plan to emulate Verstappen
Another overlap between Schumacher and Verstappen is that their first single-seater experience came at the wheel of a Van Amersfoort entry, with Mick driving for the Dutch team in ADAC Formula 4 in 2015. "It was good, they essentially brought me into formula racing," Schumacher explained of that period in his career. "It [was a] great year working with them, I was able to visit Amsterdam as well and spend some time in Holland, and I definitely had a good year there." Of the two sons, it's currently Verstappen who is the more successful of the pair – ironically, a role reversal of the dynamic between their two fathers. Asked whether he has any specific plan in mind on how to follow in Verstappen's footsteps and win a maiden F1 title, Schumacher said his aim is particularly straightforward. "The goal is to do well, in every form and every way, to present yourself to potentially top teams, so then you can make the jump forwards."
Most read
