Schumi-2: The son also rises

London, April 27

Mick Schumacher bettered his promising Formula Four debut on Saturday with his first ever victory on Sunday as the son of seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher took to the top step of the podium after the third and final race at Oschersleben.

Having driven his Van Amersfoort Racing Formula Four to ninth place after starting 19th on Saturday, Schumacher was only able to muster a 12-place finish in race two, but that set him up nicely for the final race of the weekend as the reverse grid meant the 16-year-old would start in second.

A lightning start saw him hit the front and despite three separate safety car incidents, the teenager was able to keep his nerve each time to win under yellow flags and secure his first ever victory in the category.

The result means Schumacher leads the rookie standings after the first round, and sits in fifth position overall with visits to iconic tracks still to come such as Spa-Franchorchamps, Hockenheim and the Red Bull Ring.

Speaking after the final race, Schumacher was keen to keep a lid on celebrations, demonstrating a maturity that belies his tender years and adds weight to the possibility that he could go all the way to the top of the sport in the years to come.

“All in all I am pretty satisfied about how the race went. We had three safety car phases and (I had) pretty good restarts, so all in all I am quite happy about the race,” he said.

His father Michael continues to be looked after at the family home near Lake Geneva in Switzerland after suffering a severe head injury in a skiing crash in December 2013. Schumacher was placed in an induced coma after hitting his head on a rock while skiing with Mick in the Meribel ski resort in France, and was treated at the Grenoble University Hospital before being transferred to a hospital in Lausanne and eventually back to the family home, where a state-of-the-art medical facility had been set up to look after him.

The former Benetton, Ferrari and Mercedes driver, who won back-to-back Drivers’ Championships in Formula One in 1994 and 1995 before winning the title five times between 2000 and 2004, continues to be looked after around the clock in the hope that he will make a recovery.

The Independent