Mick Schumacher pays tribute to his father ahead of Australia’s F1 debut

Mick Schumacher’s legendary father Michael owns the Albert Park lap record, and he recalls visiting Melbourne as a boy to watch his father race.

The 23-year-old, who is now a Formula One driver, will race at the Australian Grand Prix for the first time this weekend, following in his father’s footsteps.

“I’m quite excited, I’m looking forward to getting to know the track and getting to know the city as well,” said the Haas driver.

“I’ve been here with my dad and have watched him race in Melbourne, that was really cool, and I’m excited to drive here myself and make my own experiences of driving in Formula 1 in Australia.”

After surviving a horrific crash in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix two weeks ago, Schumacher feels fortunate to be in Melbourne.

After clipping a kerb at high speed, he had to be taken out of his wrecked car and airlifted to the hospital for precautionary testing before being declared out of the race.

The Swiss-born German remarked afterwards that he felt “fine” and that his focus is now entirely on conquering Albert Park, like his seven-time world champion father did in his Ferrari in the early 2000s with four victories.

“In a 2004 Ferrari, my father owns the lap record. I had the opportunity to drive the car, and it is an incredible vehicle “Schumacher remarked.

“Actually, we’ll do our own laps in a car that looks identical. It’ll be intriguing since the cars have gone back in time and look a little more like they used to with the big front wing.”