Mick Schumacher has scored his first championship title by wining the 2018 European Formula Three tournament. The 19-year-old wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, the seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS/J. Gasperotti
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By placing second in the second F3 race in Hockenheim on Saturday, Mick Schumacher secured an unassailable lead in this year's Formula Three contest and snatched his first major title as a racing driver. Victory in the key race was claimed by Estonian Jüri Vips.
The 2018 F3 season is set to end tomorrow, with Schumacher's closest rival Daniel Ticktum trailing him by 51 points. The Brit finished seventh on Saturday.
"It still hasn't sunk in, it's incredible," Schumacher said after the race.
The points accumulated by the teenager qualify him for the so-called "super license" which would allow him to compete in Formula One. The driver's father, Michael Schumacher, won the world's fastest car racing tournament a total of seven times between 1994 and 2004.
Mike Schumacher started his racing career in karting under the name of Mick Betsch to avoid media attention Image: picture-alliance/nordphoto/Bratic
Moving to Japan?
The German-born racing legend first retired in 2006, before returning to racing in 2010 and then leaving for good in 2012. In 2013, the older Schumacher suffered a traumatic brain injury while skiing with Mick and has not been seen in public since. The news of the retired champion's health condition has been mostly negative.
Mick Junior started by competing on the karting circuit before entering Formula Four in 2015, and moving to Formula Three last year. He has said he would eventually try to replicate his father's success in the F1. However, the younger Schumacher is not expected to enter the premium racing tournament immediately after winning the F3 contest.
Instead, the driver and his aides have indicated a possible move to the F2 or the Superformula Championship in Japan.
"In the next few weeks we will think intensively about what to drive next year," Schumacher told Germany's n-tv television channel.
More than a famous name
So far, the young German's famous name has drawn new fans and massive media attention to the F3 tournament.
"It opens doors, but you still have to prove what you can do," Schumacher said ahead of securing the title.
The 49-year-old Michael Schumacher won the German F3 tournament in 1990, a year ahead of his Formula One debut. The seventh-time champion's brother, Ralf Schumacher, also competed in Formula One.
Concern for Michael Schumacher
Former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher remains in critical condition following a skiing accident in the French Alps. The seven-time F1 driving champion is being treated in a hospital in Grenoble.
Image: Tobias Heyer/Bongarts/Getty Images
Accident in the French Alps
Schumacher "was suffering a serious brain trauma with coma on his arrival, which required an immediate neurosurgical operation," a hospital statement read. The German legend had reportedly been skiing off-piste with his son in the Meribel resort when he fell and hit his head on a rock. The above photo is archive material.
Image: Reuters
In goods hands in Grenoble
A renowned Parisian neurologist, Dr. Gerard Saillant, arrived at the Grenoble hospital in a police car to provide care for the 44-year-old. Saillant is a close associate of FIA President Jean Todt, once Schumacher's boss at Ferrari.
Image: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images
'In critical condition'
Initially, the director of the Meribel resort said Schumacher, who had been wearing a helmet, was "conscious but a little agitated". But after he had been transported to Grenoble, doctors realized the damage was far worse than first thought.
Image: Reuters
Beloved champion
Schumacher, who definitively retired from motor racing in 2012, is one of Germany's most loved sport stars. He won more F1 titles (7) and races (91) than any other driver in the history of the sport.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Family and friends show support
Schumacher was on vacation with his wife and two kids. In addition to his family, former colleagues from his racing carreer have reportedly arrived in Grenoble. Jean Todt, Ferrari team principal during Schumacher's time there, and Ross Brawn, who worked with Schumacher at Benetton, Ferrari and later Mercedes, arrived at the hospital overnight, reported Sky Sport News.
Image: AP
A career of calculated risks
Schumacher's storied Formula One career was not without incident. Perhaps his most famous crash, this 1994 collision with Damon Hill that ultimately clinched Schumacher's first ever title, was a comparatively minor one. In 1999 prior to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Schumacher broke his leg in the only F1 crash to keep him out of the cockpit for an extended period.
Image: AP
High speeds
Ever the thrill-seeker, Schumacher's first retirement from F1 in 2006 freed him up to pursue other interests. Having left Ferrari, Schumacher took up sky diving and tried his hands at racing on two wheels. In this February 2009 crash in Spain, he seriously injured his neck, ribs and skull - this stopped him from replacing injured Felipe Massa at Ferrari later that year.
Image: Getty Images
Concern for an idol
Millions of fans followed Schumacher's career on the track. And judging by the outpouring of support on social media sites, many are hoping the champion driver will recover from this accident, perhaps his most serious yet.
