05/03/2021
NEWS STORY
Mick Schumacher insists that bringing the family name back to F1 is an honour not a burden.
Unlike many other sports, over the years we have seen a number of young racers follow in the footsteps of title-winning fathers, some with more success than others.
Damon Hill was the first to emulate his father in winning the title, with Nico Rosberg subsequently going on to repeat the feat.
However, there were many that failed, and while in most cases this could be put down to a lack of talent or decent machinery, others clearly suffered from the burden of trying to live up to the family name.
Ahead of his much-anticipated debut, Mick Schumacher - son of seven-time world champion, Michael - insists that he feels no such pressure. Indeed, the young German says it is an honour to bring the name back to F1.
"I have never said that it was pressure, I don't think I'll ever say it," said the German in an open media call following today's reveal of the Haas team's new livery.
"I'm very happy to carry that surname and very happy to carry that name back into F1," he added. "I'm very proud of it, I'm happy to have it. It's like a boost for me and it gives me motivation every single day to work as much as I can and as hard I can."
Looking ahead to his debut season, which, considering the fact that the VF-21 is basically a carry-over of last year's dog and will see almost no development over the course of the coming season, promises to be a tough one, the German said: "Definitely there are a few different factors to dealing with. Obviously, for me the biggest one which I've done already is you want to have a very strong bond to the team. That's what I aim for and I have, which I'm very happy about that.
That's one of the strengths, and being as mentally strong as we can be in every situation is really important. Then basically just starting off the season on a high and hopefully we'll be able to carry through everything I've learned in my past years and perform in a high level of what we need."
However, even before he's turned a wheel, the youngster has faced problems, falling foul of the COVID restrictions in the UK.
"It hasn't been easy, travelling to England has been very restricted," he said. "We had a plan and then the rules changed and I had to self-quarantine, so I had to find a spot where I could give up ten days basically to give myself the room to go to the team for one and a half days.
"It was a very long day," he said of the actual fitting. "We started I think, at eight in the morning, and then we finished at ten-thirty in the evening. But it was worth it. We managed to get a seat done, which was really good.
"It feels good," he said of the seat, "a seat is always very special. I'm pretty sure I've got a good seat."