Verstappen on 'Uncle Michael's' son: 'It's different for me than for Mick'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
With Mick Schumacher, a familiar name returns to Formula 1, after Max Verstappen had previously ensured the return of his family name. It is therefore remarkable that exactly these two names are returning to the sport.
Uncle Michael
Jos Verstappen and Michael Schumacher were teammates at Benetton in 1994, when Schumacher would drive to the world title. The two families got on well together and Max already knew Michael before his glorious period at Ferrari. To him, Michael was always 'Uncle Michael'.
''I was three or four years old at the time and only knew him as 'Uncle Michael'. He was very kind and a huge family man. I never saw him as the record holder of world titles, because I didn't know that at all. In old photographs, you can also see that Mick and Gina (Mick's sister) were often with us. That was fun. I still have positive memories of those weekends,'' Verstappen told Sport1.de.
The name Schumacher
''Yes, I didn't speak German at the time, so I don't know how we spoke to each other, but kids of that age never have a problem communicating with each other, even if you don't speak the same language,'' says the Dutchman, who will understand like no other the pressure Mick is under as a 'son of'.
''It is different for Mick than it is for me. His father is a record holder in Formula 1 with seven world titles, that is already a different position. Even in karting, there was a lot of attention for him and in Formula 4 and 3 that hype only increased. But he has a good environment around him, with good people looking after him. They are doing a very good job'', concludes the Red Bull Racing driver.