Mick Schumacher says this weekend will be very special for him and his family, as the German driver heads to Spa-Francorchamps for the first time as a Formula 1 driver. This weekend's race comes just a few days after the 30th anniversary of father Michael Schumacher's F1 debut at the same venue, with Schumacher Senior's first F1 track time occurring on August 23, 1991. Having driven his dad's Benetton B194 at Spa ahead of the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher acknowledged how proud he is to be able to return to the Belgian circuit as a fully-fledged F1 driver in his own right. "Driving my Dad's Benetton in 2017 was a great experience," he said. "Now, five years later I'm driving in Formula 1 myself and that’s thirty years after my Dad made his debut. It's a really special moment for me and my family, so [I'm] very happy to go there and put my mark on that special track too." Michael Schumacher left an indelible impression on Spa, winning the race in 1992, '95, '96, '97, 2001 and 2002. Mick Schumacher isn't likely to be able to add to the family success at the track in the near future, but has won at Spa before in the junior categories. "It was my first win in Formula 3 in 2018 and the first one from a good streak," he said. "It was also my first pole position that year. "It was very good to start off there as it's such a special track to us as a family, and to me, so I'm very happy to be able to go back there and hopefully we'll be able to pull something out of the hat, which would be great." Having been one of the drivers on track during the fateful Formula 2 race in 2019 when Anthoine Hubert lost his life, Schumacher said he'll be keeping his former rival in his mind over the course of the weekend. "It's definitely one of the most challenging tracks; it's super long, there's a lot of undulation in it, it's very historical and definitely one of the most special weekends that we have on the calendar, so I'm really looking forward to going back," he said. "Also, having in mind some difficult times but we always keep everyone, especially Anthoine, in our hearts when we go there."
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