Former Formula 1 chief marketer Bernie Ecclestone would have wanted Mick Schumacher to plan his career differently.
“He would have been in good hands in a team like Red Bull with its junior program, where young drivers are helped to achieve victories. That spoiled a lot of things for him,” Ecclestone told the German Press Agency.
According to the Brit, Mick’s father Michael Schumacher’s work in the paddock would have been very beneficial. “If his father had been there with him, he could have had a completely different influence on him,” said Ecclestone, who was replaced as managing director of Formula 1 after the takeover of Liberty Media in 2017.
Mick Schumacher 2024: Mercedes replacement and World Endurance Championship
Red Bull has three-time world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez under contract as their regular duo. The racing team supported Verstappen as a teenager, and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel also comes from the youth program.
Formula 1 record world champion Michael Schumacher has lived away from the public since his serious skiing accident at the end of 2013. Son Mick drove for the defeated Haas team in Formula 1 in 2021 and 2022. In 2023 he lost his cockpit to compatriot Nico Hülkenberg and worked as a substitute driver for Mercedes. He will retain this role and will also compete for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship in 2024.
Schumacher wants to show that he belongs in Formula 1
“I will remain very closely connected to Formula 1, and hopefully I can prove to the people in Formula 1 that I still deserve a chance in the premier class of motorsport and that I belong here,” said Schumacher at the end of last year. For 2025 he believes he has a chance of winning a Formula 1 regular cockpit.