Mick Schumacher’s attitude changes the moment I catch one of his answers to my question. I asked him how he spends his free time and among the usual answers related to going to the gym and cycling, there was an extracurricular activity that caught my attention. “I also like skydiving,” he told me casually as we chatted during the Canadian Grand Prix.
Schumacher downplayed the term “like” as he went on to explain how jumping out of planes is a part of his life.
The former Haas driver, who still hopes to return to Formula 1, enthusiastically spoke to Motorsport.com about his hobby: “My first parachute jump, if I remember correctly, was when I was eight or nine years old. Obviously it was a tandem jump. Basically, going up, I didn’t like it very much, but then my sister did it and I said to myself: ‘Damn, if my sister did it, now I have to do it.'”
“So I jumped in with my eyes closed, but I liked it so much that I immediately got back on. When I was old enough, I started jumping on my own, at the age of 16. Now I have 1,600 jumps and a license.”
Schumacher says that his adrenaline-filled pastime, which is also enjoyed by Lewis Hamilton, with whom he has even had the opportunity to do some launches, also allows him to improve his preparation as a driver.
Mick Schumacher, Reserve Driver, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
She explains: “For me it’s not only an opportunity to learn more about my body, but it’s also an opportunity to understand what my feet, hands, body, head and eyes are doing. It gives you an idea of what to do in a race, but it also gives you an understanding of the weather and the winds.”
“Sometimes you get pushed into a particular position and have to act quickly, which I knew how to do from racing, but it’s useful to point it out from time to time, especially when you don’t have any confidence around you, like in a racing car. I like to do that because it was something I shared with my dad.”
After a frustrating stint at Haas, Schumacher now finds himself as Mercedes’ reserve driver and contests the World Endurance Championship with Alpine.
His performance at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours was cut short when both Alpine hypercars suffered engine problems after just six hours and were forced to retire. However, he says that experience with another team and racing in the WEC is helping him become a more complete driver.
He hopes his time with Alpine and his partnership with Mercedes will allow him to find a way back into F1 after just two seasons at the back of the grid with Haas, in which he failed to impress.
Claiming he still has a lot to prove and wants to silence his detractors, he added: “Working with Alpine is an opportunity for a team on the F1 grid to get to know me better. It allows me to be a more complete driver and try different disciplines, because it could give me more possibilities, even if it’s 1% more. It could help me.”
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
Photo by: Marc Fleury
“With my background, I would be able to bring value to a team. You have to go through difficult times to show what you’re made of, but I can enter the paddock and still have a smile and be motivated.”
“I will keep trying until I succeed and I see no reason to give up. My goal is to return to F1, it’s been my dream since childhood and I don’t intend to give it up.”
“I still have a lot to prove. A lot of people who know me have seen it in the training classes, but those who only know me for what I did at Haas haven’t seen it. I want to prove that their judgment of me is wrong.”
“I don’t think I need to hand out a resume, people have seen what I’ve done. But what they don’t know is how I work internally, because that’s kept behind the scenes. If people knew how hard I work, they’d have a different opinion.”
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