Michael Schumacher’s Son Changed His Name To Honour Father
Mick Schumacher is looking to follow in his fathers footsteps and join Formula 1 royalty. The 21 year old is currently driving for Prema Powerteam in Formula 2, which is feeder series for F1. He is also a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, which is where his father, Michael Schumacher, plied his legendary trade.
You’d think that starting your racing career with a surname like Schumacher would come with a lot of perks, but not for Mick – while he uses the Schumacher name now, he used to race under the name of ‘Mick Betsch’ (Betsch being his mothers maiden name) so as to avoid a fuss. In a recent article Mick wrote for Under Armour he opened up about his preference to stay undercover:
“I’d used different names to sort of race undercover, improve without too much of the notoriety of being ‘my father’s son.’ But, honestly, I don’t feel any pressure to carry on the family name or do exactly what my father did. Most of the stress comes from what I put on myself, thinking about what I did wrong and how I can improve.”
His father, Michael Schumacher, is known as as one of the worlds greatest Formula 1 drivers and won a record breaking seven F1 titles for his teams Benetton and Ferrari.
However, sadly, in 2013 he suffered a severe brain injury during a skiing accident and was placed into a medically induced coma until June 2014. Since then, very little information about him or his condition have been published officially.
Back in July last year, former Ferrari manager, Jean Todt, was interviewed by Radio Monte Carlo and mentioned that Schumacher’s recovery was making ‘good progress’ and he was able to watch Formula One on the television at his home in Switzerland.
In September, it was also reported in Le Parisien that Schumacher had gone to Paris for treatment by the renowned cardiovascular surgeon, Philippe Menasché, a pioneer in cell surgery. The treatment involved Schumacher receiving an ‘anti-inflamatory stem cell perfusion’. Very few people know the affect the treatment had on Schumacher, but we can only hope it was successful.
Here at Grand Tour Nation, we want to wish Michael Schumacher a continued recovery and Mick all the best with his Formula 1 career.
