Max Verstappen, the newly crowned World Champion, recalled his time together with Michael Schumacher when he was a child.
Max Verstappen’s father Jos Verstappen and Michael Schumacher had a close relationship dating back to their time together at Benetton. Both the families enjoyed family holidays together. Max Verstappen has been pictured with Schumacher in his early years in the F1 paddock.
Revisiting the memories, Verstappen said that he was not more than three or four years old, so he did not who Schumacher was. He did not know that he was enjoying his trips with the multiple-time world champion. To him, it was simply “Uncle Michael.”
Verstappen told F1-insider.com, “I was three or four years old at the time. I just knew that was Uncle Michael, who was very nice, who was an extremely big family man. But I never saw him as a record World Champion, I didn’t know that.
“You can see that in the old photos and videos we have at home, Mick [Schumacher] was always there or Gina [Michael’s daughter]. It was great. I still have positive memories of those weekends today. We always drove two-seater karts, Michael, with Mick or Gina, my father with me.”
Verstappen said that while Schumacher and Verstappen Sr did at times hand over the controls, “if it became too dangerous, the fathers took over very quickly.”
Also Read: Former World Champion talks about the moment he met Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen thinks Mick faced more pressure along the F1 ladder
Of course, both Mick and Max are Formula 1 drivers of their own now. While Verstappen has won the 2021 championship, Mick struggled with Haas to score points.
2021 was Schumacher’s rookie year in F1 with Haas, where he remains for 2022. Verstappen thinks despite go-karting together and being in touch for so long, Schumacher’s journey to F1 has been different to his.
Verstappen thinks that with Michael’s career coming to an end, Mick experienced a lot more pressure along the F1 ladder.
Also Read: Mick Schumacher reveals best experiences from his rookie season in F1
