The Schumacher is returning to Formula 1 as Michael Schumacher’s son Mick makes his F1 debut in the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Nine years after legendary Michael Schumacher’s final Grand Prix, his son Mick Schumacher will make his debut with the Ferrari-engined Haas team at the season-opening race in Bahrain – an event won by Michael in its inaugural season in 2004. It will be the first time a member of the family has been involved directly in a Formula 1 race since Michael Schumacher made his impressive debut for the Jordan team at Belgian Grand Prix in 1991.

“I have never said that carrying the family name is pressure, and I am pretty sure I will never say that because I am very happy to carry that name back into Formula One,” said Mick Schumacher at Haas F1 Team 2021 online launch.

Mick’s renowned father won 91 races for Benetton and Ferrari, with five of his world titles coming with Ferrari and two with Benetton.  He held the record of highest world titles till Britain’s Lewis Hamilton surpassed him and captured an unprecedented eighth world title in 2020.

Michael Schumacher met with a fatal accident in 2013 when he was skiing across the Alps and has not been seen in public for nine years. 14-year old Mick witnessed the accident closely as he was skiing along with his father. Mick was already into Motorsport and Karting at that time but raced under the pseudonym Mick Betsch to avoid attention because of his famous surname.  

In 2014, after almost one year in coma, the doctors were successful in pulling Michael Schumacher out of unconsciousness. The family moved him home to Gland in Switzerland where he continues his rehabilitation. It was indeed a tough time for Mick with his family shifting and relocating, but he continued his search for greater prospects.

In 2015, Mick Schumacher started racing in formula classes, his first Formula 4 race using the Schumacher name was ADAC Formula 4. He entered the Italian F4 Championship in 2016 and finished runner-up.

In November 2016, Schumacher made his first appearance in Formula 3 making his debut in MRF Challenge, a championship based in India. In 2017 and 2018, Mick Schumacher participated in FIA Formula 3 Championship. He ended the 2018 as champion, taking eight wins, fourteen total podium finishes, seven pole positions and four fastest laps.

During his Formula 3 days, Mick collaborated with Prema Powerteam with whom he moved up to Formula 2 in 2019 and in 2020 Mick was declared FIA Formula 2 Champion. In between he was announced as a driver for the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2019. Having special ties with the Ferrari team since his childhood days, Mick felt at home at the garage. After his first drive with a modern Ferrari car Mick said, “I really enjoyed today. It felt like home in the garage from the very first moment with a lot of people that have known me since I was very young.”

He is finally up in Formula 1 on the back of a title-winning season in Formula 2. Though he had a gearbox issue on the first day of pre-season testing at Bahrain limiting him to just two half days in the new Haas VF-21, Mick Schumacher is excited about his debut. “It’s been a long wait since last year – obviously we had the test session last week, so it’s like you get a bit of it and now you want more obviously,” Schumacher said.

With this race, Mick Schumacher will start competing against some of his father’s greatest contemporaries. Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are already in line along with Fernando Alonso who is returning to the circuit after three years. “It’s going to be nice starting on the same grid as them and being amongst the top 20 drivers in the world. I’m really happy about that. I’m just really happy that things are getting underway now and I’m close to starting my first season in Formula 1,” Mick Schumacher said to Sky Sports.