A photo showing off Michael Schumacher has left the Formula 1 world in awe, but it’s who he’s holding that truly stunned fans.
Max Verstappen has shared never been seen photos of Michael Schumacher with the world.
The back-to-back Formula 1 world champion is ramping up his preparations as he sets out to capture a third straight crown for Red Bull in 2023.
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But before the season gets underway, F1 fans are being treated to an inside look behind the curtain as Netflix’s smash hit Drive to Survive releases season five.
Verstappen features heavily throughout the fourth episode in the new season — which was released to the world on February 24 — that focuses primarily on former Haas driver Mick Schumacher.
The episode titled Like Father, Like Son? shines a light on the struggles the famous youngster endured before he was ultimately let go by the Haas team.
It’s Verstappen however who once again steals the show as he talks about growing up alongside the Schumacher family.
Max’s father Jos was teammates with Michael at Benetton, with an old interview showing the pair being asked if they would let their children became F1 drivers in an interview filmed during the noughties. The question prompts a laugh from Michael.
“I think this could be the first time we have an argument if our two would be racing,” says the German.
But it’s what comes next that will leave hearts around the world swooning. As Max talks about the relationship between the two families a clip of Max as a toddler is shown engaging with Michael before a never before seen photo flashes on the screen.
“We used to go on holidays when we were little together, the two families, and these kind of memories will stay with me,” explains Max, who is now a 35-time race winner in F1.
“For both of us to be in F1 is amazing and also for Michael, he’s a very proud dad for sure.”
The photo shows Michael sitting on a hanging chair with a baby Max on one knee and his daughter, Gina-Maria, on the other.
Mick was replaced by F1 journeyman Nico Hulkenberg – and will have sit out 2023 as a reserve driver at Mercedes behind Sir Lewis Hamilton and his hotshot teammate George Russell.
Drive to Survive charts Mick’s difficult sophomore season in 2022 – including his horror 170mph accident in Saudi Arabia.
Mick’s rough year saw him outscored by his teammate, the returning Danish veteran Kevin Magnussen.
The show outlines Mick’s struggles – and the pressure that came with racing under the Schumacher name.
“Mick has the lineage of one of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen,” says F1 journalist Will Buxton.
“But it remains to be seen if [he] has the same character as his dad.”
Haas boss Steiner said the Schumacher name was “blessing and a curse” for Mick.
But in characteristically non-nonsense fashion, the famously foul-mouthed team principal says at some point the young German will have “stand up” and be his “own man”.
Mick opens up about his struggles with pressure in the show, including the candid admission that “dreams don’t always come true”.
His dad Michael is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, dominating the sport in the early 2000s after rising to power in the 90s.
He raced from 1991 to 2006, and again from 2010 to 2012 – a second act of his career which saw him become instrumental in setting up the dominant Mercedes team.
The German won five world championships with Ferrari and two for Benetton.
Schumacher retired in 2012, but just a year later he was involved in the life-changing skiing accident while on the slopes with Mick.
Like Father, Like Son. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC and Patrick HERTZOG / AFP)
He was left in a medically induced coma before being released home and then ever since it has been near silence on the driver’s condition.
His family, led by wife Corinna, closely protect Michael’s privacy and offer him a quiet life.
Since then there have only been hints and cryptic rumours about Schumacher’s health with drip fed information from friends and unnamed sources.
But the only people who know for sure are Schumacher’s family and his closest pals.
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