After retiring from Formula One and switching to the DTM, David Schumacher also occasionally showed his talent in the GT3 car in the first half of the season. But the 20-year-old son of ex-Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher is still aiming for the pinnacle of motorsport – even if the road is rocky.
“My goal is still to get into Formula 1 one day,” said Schumacher in an interview with ‘Motorsport-Total.com’. “The only question is how to get there. That’s not possible without Formula 2 and Formula 3. But you need sponsors for that.”
For a competitive Formula 2 cockpit, you have to pay more than two million euros per season these days – twice as much as in the DTM – without being able to offer the sponsors any media equivalent, explains Schumacher.
David Schumacher’s Formula Criticism
“The FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 are doing a really bad job there,” the youngster criticized the marketing of the formula junior series. “So there is almost no sponsor interest in these championships, where you need so much money. Nobody looks at it.”
Formula 1 is broadcast on free TV in numerous countries, but not the formula series. According to Schumacher, there is a problem: “You need pay TV – and you have to pay to watch it. How many people do it for two series? I turn on the TV and watch Formula 1 on free TV.”
Postscript: “It definitely needs to improve a bit to make these championships more interesting.” Because Schumacher himself had to experience at the beginning of 2022 that the series were not attractive for financiers.
“My name doesn’t provide lap times“
“After Formula 3, my plan was to go to Formula 2. Then we looked for sponsors but couldn’t find any. Or we found a few, but that wasn’t enough to cover the entire season. It was just too expensive.”
With the help of his father Ralf Schumacher, David Schumacher managed to get a place in the Mercedes junior program and in the DTM. What role did the well-connected father play? “Through my father it was possible to get in touch with these people. That was pretty good,” replies Schumacher.
“But in the end I have to deliver the lap times. My name doesn’t deliver lap times. I think I managed that,” he says confidently – and refers to the young driver test of the Mercedes-AMG teams in Le Castellet at the end of 2021 , in which, according to his own statements, he convinced the Mercedes decision-makers. “Then we got a great contract from Mercedes.”
Schumacher: DTM “much more interesting for sponsors”
Is he planning to work with Mercedes in the long term? “It’s always on your mind,” he admits. “But it’s up to Mercedes if that’s really an issue, not up to me.”
The same applies to the DTM. “That’s a good question. I don’t know. We’ll see,” he replies when asked if he can imagine a long-term DTM future. “I’m in the DTM this year – and that’s what I’m concentrating on. We’ll see what happens next year. Whatever happens – I’m open to it.”
The fact is, however, that the DTM is “much more interesting for sponsors” than the junior formula series. “The platform is very large – and there is a lot of media attention,” said Schumacher. “After Le Mans and these events, this is one of the biggest in racing. It’s a very interesting championship.”
Will the leap into Formula 1 succeed via the DTM?
But is it still possible today to make the leap into Formula 1 via the DTM, like Paul di Resta did in the days of a manufacturer series? The familiarity of the DTM is “a great help” in this regard, says Schumacher, “but I’m not sure whether the car will help me learn something for single-seater racing,” he says, referring to the heavy GT3 cars.
Because unlike the Class 1 cars, which despite the coupe silhouette were thoroughbred racing prototypes and were comparable to a Formula 3 car in terms of driving style, the current DTM cars are near-series sports cars that hardly generate any aerodynamic downforce. “It’s a different world,” Schumacher knows.
Nevertheless, last year Alex Albon managed to get a Formula 1 cockpit with Williams after a year in the DTM, but the signs were different for him than they used to be for drivers like di Resta: the Red Bull driver was already a Formula 1 driver before that -1 driver – and was only parked in the DTM to stay fit for the race.