Hakkinen: Mick will find a seat in Formula 1 very soon

NewsDesk 2 min read

Mick Schumacher is ticking all the boxes in his second season of Formula 2 on his way to a sure seat in the top flight next year, the son of legend Michael Schumacher won for the first time at Monza and after a strong weekend at Mugello, relative to his title rivals, he now leads the championship.

Young Schumi has been on the radar since he started karting under a pseudonym to disguise his identity as he toiled his way through his rating career through to his two seasons in Formula 3, at the end of which he was champion despite a moderate start in the series.

History is repeating itself, last year Mick was moderate in F2, but this year has been at the sharp end of proceedings all season long.

Some strange luck (fire-extinguisher going off in the cockpit etc) has hardly helped his cause, nevertheless with six points-scoring rounds left in the championship, he is top of the table and heading a class of remarkable talent that are bubbling in the F1 feeder series this year.

Mick has the eye of many, including double F1-World Champion Mika Hakkinen, who said in his recent Unibet column: On the day when Lewis won his 90th Grand Prix, putting him only one race victory behind the record held by Michael Schumacher.

“It was very nice to see Mick Schumacher driving his father’s 2004 Ferrari on a demonstration run. It reminded us how great those V10 engines sounded and the incredible success that Michael achieved with that car and the others with which he won five World Championship titles for the great Italian team” said the Finn.

As part of Ferrari’s 1000th race celebration Mick did laps in his father’s iconic Ferrari F2004, delighting all with its shrill V10-shriek

Hakkinen continued, “It is great to see Mick’s career progressing well, including now leading the Formula 2 Championship, and I am certain he will find a seat in Formula 1 very soon. It will be a special moment for him, the Schumacher family and Formula 1 when it happens.”

Ross Brawn echoed Mika’s words in his post-Mugello column, “It was wonderful to see a car close to my heart – the Ferrari F2004 – get another outing in the hands of Mick Schumacher on Sunday.

“Michael was a force of nature in that car, winning his seventh world title, and it seems Mick really enjoyed his latest demonstration run in it.

“Mick himself is driving superbly at the moment in Formula 2 and is leading the championship after another solid weekend in Mugello. Keep it up and he’ll surely be on the F1 grid soon,” predicted Brawn.

While Ferrari is in crisis, affecting even their customer teams with an uncompetitive Power Unit package, the driver scenario does not stand still for the Maranello outfit who have three Ferrari Driver Academy lads all extremely capable; Robert Schwartzman and Callum Ilot are also hot contenders for a promotion to F1, if not next year for sure not long after that.

But Mick is next in line to pop out of the pipeline into F1 with the expected option being a drive with Alfa Romeo, replacing either Kimi Raikkonen (who is not making retirement noises) and Antonio Giovinazzi who has yet to make the seat his own.

Whatever transpires, it would be a wise wager to put money on Schumi III making his grand entrance next year. Before then there has been talk he will be doing some FP3 sessions before the season ends in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season. Watch this space.