F3: Mick Schumacher, a gifted young man!

For more than four years, now, Mick Schumacher (PREMA Theodore Racing has been a motor racer and in two of these years he raced in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.

The young driver visited India a couple of years back and raced at the Madras Motor Sports Club Track (MMRT) Chennai, and instantly became a cynosure of all eyes. Over 70 journalists descended at the track and tried to catch a glimpse of the man, who sports the famous name, Schumacher. He did not disappoint them with a couple of good races, but it was just a beginning. Within two years, the rookie proved that he has is on his way up.

The experiences he gathered in his two F3 seasons turned the previously inexperienced rookie into a top driver who won eight 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship rounds and proved to be invincible, in the end. Therefore, even a difficult start into his second F3 season couldn’t prevent him from securing the title.

For Mick Schumacher the season didn’t start as he had hoped it would. He set the fastest lap times on two of the official days of testing prior to the season but in the first qualifying session of the season kick-off at Pau, Southern France, he hit the crash barriers. “I was the clearly fastest in the free practice session and then, my suspension broke in the incident,” said the frustrated German who scored just four points in the first race meeting of the season, in the end. Afterwards, he slowly worked his way up by finishing third to secure one podium each at the Hungaroring and Zandvoort. The next race venue was Spa-Francorchamp’s legendary Ardennes Rollercoaster. And just at this particularly challenging circuit the Prema driver clinched the first pole position in his FIA Formula 3 European Championship career. And although he wasn’t able to make perfect use of this pole by winning the race he made it to the top step on the following day and celebrated his first FIA F3 European Championship race win. On the way to this win the thrilled the crowds with a great overtaking manoeuvre for the lead. “The weekend at Spa definitely was my season highlight,” the German reveals beaming. “There I could see that all my hard work paid off.”

This race should turn out to mark the turning point in his 2018 season. Since then, Mick Schumacher regularly was among the front runners. In the following 10 races he failed just twice to make it to the podium and finished fifth in these two races. Furthermore, he celebrated five consecutive race wins and even won all the three rounds of the Nürburgring race meeting. Thanks to these successes, the 19-year old also took the championship lead – to defend throughout the rest of the season. “I think that my self-esteem had to be re-invigorated, following my poor start into the season,” Schumacher admits. “And it goes without saying that successes such as podiums and wins were helpful on the way to doing so. I generally learned a lot, this year. I matured both as racing driver and as character. This season also shaped me, in a way. I understand the collaboration with the team even better than I already did prior to this season. I learned quite a lot when it comes to driving and how to deal with pressure. Furthermore I know even better what I do need to be successful.”

On the track, Schumacher convinced with clever moves. It seems as if he has got what it takes to well assess the risks he can take in different situations. And the fact that these assessments can result in spectacular manoeuvres such as the one at Spa-Francorchamps demonstrates his racing intelligence.

Outside of his racing car Schumacher shuns the public and doesn’t like to take centre stage. “It goes without saying that I like the huge backing and support of the fans. But on the race weekends I try to ignore this as far as possible to be able to fully focus on the racing,” he says. But although he’d prefer to do without public appearances he copes with this kind of duties in slick style and with aplomb. In the paddock he also proves to be a kind and well-behaved young man who just pursues his passion: motor racing. Therefore, his motto comes as no surprise: “Have fun and do what you like wholeheartedly. People often seem to forget the fun. But I think that you should do everything you do with passion and put your heart and soul into your efforts.”