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Mick Schumacher is about to make his debut in the IndyCar Series. His uncle and Sky expert Ralf Schumacher doesn’t understand why Mick is now driving in the USA.
Ralf Schumacher simply “cannot understand” his nephew Mick’s move to the American IndyCar series and considers it “unnecessary”.
The “benefit-risk question” arises, said the former Formula 1 driver in a Sky press conference a few days before the Formula 1 start about the 26-year-old’s move to the USA.
Ralf Schumacher about Mick: “With this step, this door is also closed”
What Mick Schumacher’s uncle says: “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that average speeds of 360 km/h on an oval are more dangerous than normal Formula 1 races.”
In the USA there is great racing in a completely different way than in Europe. But Schumacher also spoke to Alpine boss Flavio Briatore, for example, about the dangers of the IndyCar series: “He immediately said: ‘I got Fernando Alonso away after a year.'”
Ralf Schumacher would therefore have preferred to see Mick continue at Alpine, in the World Endurance Championship or even in Formula 1. However: “With this step, this door is also closed. New talents are always coming,” says the 50-year-old.
“With a different team boss, Mick would still be in Formula 1 today”
Even if his nephew “deserved a place in Formula 1”. “When I see one or the other, Mick is definitely better,” says the Formula 1 expert about the former Haas driver.
“Whether that would have been enough to become a seven-time world champion is not the issue here,” says Ralf Schumacher about a discussion that he also had just a few weeks ago with Briatore, brother Michael Schumacher’s former team manager.
“With a different team boss, I am firmly convinced that Mick would still be in Formula 1 today,” Ralf Schumacher is certain. As a young driver, he simply needed support and not someone who was constantly arguing with the media.
Mick Schumacher’s IndyCar premiere in Florida
Mick Schumacher left the Haas team after the 2022 season under team boss Günther Steiner. Steiner let Schumacher’s contract expire and instead relied on Nico Hülkenberg. The relationship between the two was considered tense.
Mick Schumacher will celebrate his debut in the IndyCar series on Sunday (6 p.m./Sky) on the street circuit in St. Petersburg in the US state of Florida. He still thinks a return to Formula 1 is conceivable. Schumacher explained after his move that there were “already great drivers” in his new home series who were connected to Formula 1.
