Verstappen as 'son of': "For Mick Schumacher it's different than for me"

Now that Mick Schumacher is making his debut in Formula 1, perhaps the biggest name in the history of the sport is returning. That is certainly true in Germany. The only other driver on the 2021 F1 grid who is the son of a former F1 driver is Max Verstappen and the two know each other well.

Fathers Jos and Michael were good friends in their time as F1 drivers. They already knew each other from the kart track and were briefly teammates in 1994 and maintained that relationship the following years. It was also agreed that their two sons would race against each other on the kart track. To F1-insider.com [Max] Verstappen tells about his memories of this.

"I was three or four years old at the time. Mick or Gina [Mick's sister] were always there. It was great. I still have positive memories of those weekends," says Verstappen, who at that age was totally unaware that he was on the road with the most successful F1 driver of all time.

Mick Schumacher will experience greater pressure because of name

"I just knew it was Uncle Michael. He was very nice and an extremely large family man. But I never saw him as a record world champion, I didn't know that. You can see that from the old photos and videos we have at home."

Mick must not have been aware of that then either. Now that will definitely play a role when he makes his debut with Haas. "It's different for Mick than it is for me. His father is the record world champion, with seven world championships. That's a difficult starting position, but he has a good environment, good people who take care of him," says Verstappen.