‘We don’t need to do this’: Schumacher son’s honest reveal over ‘challenging’ childhood
Michael Schumacher’s son Mick has candidly opened up on life after his dad’s devastating ski accident in a rare interview.
Schumacher’s family have been fiercely private when it comes to Michael’s health since he sustained life-changing injuries in the French Alps in 2013, as The Sun reports.
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His long-term wife Corinna has even created a so-called inner circle made up of a selective group of Schumacher’s family and closest friends.
Mick, who was only 14 at the time of his dad’s accident, pursued his dream of reaching F1 without the icon’s guidance.
He raced with Haas for two seasons before becoming a reserve driver for Mercedes in 2023, the team his dad came out of retirement to race for between 2010 and 2012.
In a new book “Inside Mercedes F1”, author Matt Whyman, who had unrestricted access to the team, includes a conversation with Mick about his father’s influence.
The 25-year-old told Whyman: “I was a crazy kid — everything my dad did, I did.
“He was really supportive and a lot of fun, but could also be challenging.
“One time in a karting race I braked very late going into a corner and gained a lot of time.
“When I told him about it, he said, ‘Yes, but you should have braked like that in every corner!’.
“Whenever he felt like I was not taking it seriously, he would say, ‘Mick, would you rather go and play football with your friends? If so, we do not need to do all of this’.
“I insisted that I wanted to race and he said, ‘Okay, then let’s do it properly’. So we started doing more European karting and I was getting better.”
Mick later explained that he learned “a lot of technical points” from his dad that he “still uses today”.
He added: “I started racing in the Formula classes the year after the accident and from that point onwards, I had to find my own feet.
“I started karting aged three. I was six when I first went scuba diving. Aged 10 I was skydiving.
“My dad was always very open to me trying out whatever I wanted to do and racing is all I wanted to do, because I enjoyed it the most.”
Schumacher fell metres away from a popular ski slope that resulted in critical head injuries when his skis struck a rock hidden beneath the snow.
The F1 legend fractured his skull on another rock and was left with a brain injury.
He was given the best possible treatment as he was put into a medically induced coma after surgery on his brain.
The coma ended up lasting 250 days — more than eight months.
After he woke up in June 2014, he was discharged from hospital and sent to his home in Lake Geneva, Switzerland to get further treatment.
Since then Corinna and his inner circle of friends have expertly avoided almost anything leaking out about his health status.
Schumacher hasn’t been seen publicly since the accident or even heard from.
But he is said to have recently broke cover to attend his daughter’s wedding that was held at the family’s £27m mansion in Majorca.
Mick, who also attended his sister Gina’s nuptials, is dating model Laila Hasonovich.
The Bosnian-born social media star was forced to rubbish the rumours surrounding her and the Mercedes reserve driver’s engagement this week.
In a post on her Instagram showing off her jewellery, she wrote: “And no it’s not an engagement ring u guys.”
Hasonovich, 23, has reportedly been let into the inner circle of people who are able to see Schumacher.
The lingerie model was given the vote of confidence before Gina Schumacher’s wedding.
Meanwhile, unlike the successes enjoyed by his dad, who shares the record with Lewis Hamilton (seven) for the most titles, F1 has proven an unforgiving environment for Mick.
He looks set for another season on the sidelines after failing to win a permanent seat for the upcoming campaign.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission
