Profile

Mick Schumacher is a German former Formula 1 driver, born in Vufflens-le-Chateau, Switzerland on 22 March 1999.

The first significant steps in the journey that culminated in him gaining an F1 seat with Haas for the 2021 and 2022 seasons came in 2019 when he became a member of Ferrari's Driver Academy and the Formula 2 grid after winning the Formula 3 European Championship the previous year.

While his first season in F2 wasn't particularly successful, he found his feet in the category the following season and ultimately, finished on the podium 10 times, won two races and the World Championship in 2020.

As a member of the Ferrari academy with an F2 title to his name, he was widely expected to be given a seat on the F1 grid for 2021, and, while it initially looked as if he'd join Alfa Romeo, at the start of December in 2020, it was announced that he had signed a multi-year contract with Haas.

He was the third in his family to become a Formula 1 driver after his father, seven-time World Champion Michael, and his uncle, Ralf.

A huge amount of attention and expectation comes with bearing such a surname, which is why, in the early days of his career, he competed as Mick Betsch, using his mother's maiden name.

By the time he turned 15 though, he had started using the Schumacher name and today says that he doesn't feel any added pressure doing so.

Career

Schumacher's first experience driving a modern-day Formula 1 car came in April 2019 as he drove for Ferrari on the first day of in-season testing in Bahrain. The German impressed, making no errors in tricky conditions, completing the fifth most laps and setting the second-fastest time of the day, behind only Max Verstappen.

The following day, he drove for Alfa Romeo and again looked good, finishing in P6 and completing 70 laps. His fastest time was quicker than Antonio Giovanizzi's qualifying lap at the same track that season.

He was supposed to drive for the team again in FP1 of the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, making his F1 race weekend debut. However, due to conditions, the session was cancelled and he was unable to do so.

He did finally get the chance to drive in an in-season session in the final race of the year at Abu Dhabi as he filled in for Kevin Magnussen at Haas in FP1. In the 90-minute session, he completed 23 laps, with his quickest a time of 1:41.235.

At that point, it had already been announced that he would be joining the American team for the 2021 campaign, partnering fellow rookie Nikita Mazepin with Magnussen and Romain Grosjean making way.

He signed a multi-year contract and will be there until the end of 2022 at the least. After that, he'll be hoping for a seat at Ferrari, which Mattia Binotto has stated will most likely happen at some point in the future.

For the 2021 season, Mick failed to score any points in the races, with his highest race finish being 12th - at the Hungarian GP.

He managed to get into Q2 twice but was the driver which gave his team the biggest bill for repairing damages after crashes - a grand total of  €4,212,500. 

He continued with Haas for 2022, as well as being a reserve driver for Ferrari, alongside Antonio Giovinazzi. Sadly, it did not take long for Schumacher to demonstrate that the costly crashes had not dried up as he wrecked the VF-22 in a qualifying shunt in Saudi Arabia.

Another big incident arrived during the Monaco Grand Prix, Schumacher struggling to extract the performance expected from a now more competitive Haas car. He was without a point in the opening nine rounds while Magnussen, who returned in pre-season to replace Mazepin, was collecting points with a best result of P5.

Team boss Guenther Steiner did not shy away from making his disappointment public, both in relation to Schumacher's crashes and his continued absence from the top 10, but with pressure growing, Schumacher responded in ideal fashion with a P8 finish at Silverstone and P6 in Austria, getting himself off the mark as a Formula 1 driver.

Those proved to be Schumacher's only top-10 finishes of the season, but as the Haas challenger slipped down the pecking order, Schumacher was now taking the fight to Magnussen, leading to strong calls for Schumacher to be retained for 2023.

Alas, Haas chose not to do this, believing the experience of Nico Hulkenberg alongside Magnussen could lead to faster progress. That left Schumacher without a place on the grid for 2023 and finding safe haven with Mercedes in a reserve driver role.

History

Schumacher started his motorsport career in karting at the age of nine and stayed there for six years. While he didn't win any major titles in that period, he did finish in the top three of the German Junior Kart Championship twice and also claimed P2 in the European and World Championships in 2014.

At the end of that year, he was given the chance to test drive a Jenzer Motorsport Formula 4 car, and soon afterwards he was handed a full-time drive in the ADAC F4 series for the 2015 season with Van Amersfoort Racing.

After winning a race and claiming two further podiums that year, he was signed by Prema for the 2016 season, and it was a move that proved to be the start of his rise to the top.

Competing in the ADAC and Italian F4 Championships, he won a total of 10 races over the course of the year and finished as runner-up in both standings. Impressed by his performances, Prema opted to give him a Formula 3 seat for 2017.

He struggled in his first season, failing to win a race and finishing on the podium just once, ended the year in P12. In his second year though, he excelled winning his first-ever World Championship thanks to a stunning run of form which saw him take five victories and finish P2 three times in the final nine races.

He was rewarded not only with a title but also with a Formula 2 seat with the team for 2019. Like in F3, he wasn't hugely successful in his rookie season. While there were glimpses of his talent, such as his win in Hungary, he failed to provide them on a regular basis and again finished the season down in P12.

There were question marks over his ability following this, but they had gone away by the end of 2020. That year, he won the F2 Championship, taking two victories and eight podiums.

Becoming the F2 champion meant that he wouldn't be able to drive in the category again, but there was no cause for concern as Haas quickly signed him up for the 2021 Formula 1 season.

Networth

Schumacher was among the lowest-paid drivers on the grid, yet he is still reported to have earned around £800,000 in 2022 from his Haas salary, with a net worth in the region of $4million.

Endorsements and sponsorships also play a major role in Schumacher's finances, with Under Armour, Richard Mille, Deutsche Vermögensberatung and Schuberth all partners of the German racer.

And with his father earning a huge amount of money during his career - around $800million - there's little doubt that, before even driving in an F1 race, he was already rather well off.

Family

The Schumacher family needs no introduction.

His father, Michael, is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the sport, winning 1 races and seven World Championships, tallies only matched by Sir Lewis Hamilton.

In December 2013, Mick and Michael were skiing when the latter fell and suffered serious brain damage. He is alive and conscious, but little else is known about his condition today.

His wife, and Mick's mother, is Corinna, an animal rights activist and professional horse rider who won a European Championship in 2010.

As well as Mick, the couple have one daughter, Gina, who shares her mother's passion for horse riding.

Uncle to Mick is another former F1 driver, Ralf Schumacher. While he never reached the heights of his brother, he enjoyed a successful career in the sport himself, competing in 182 races, winning six of them and getting 27 further podiums.

Ralf's son and Mick's cousin is David Schumacher, who currently drives in Formula 3 and has hopes of making it to the F1 grid himself.

News