Daniel Ricciardo still remembers the day he first competed against Michael Schumacher; a decade later, his son is challenging him.
Daniel Ricciardo is among the veterans of the sport, serving several teams in his overall time in Formula 1. At the beginning of his career, the Australian competed against arguably the greatest driver of all time Michael Schumacher.
And now, a decade later, Schumacher’s son Mick Schumacher is competing against Ricciardo. The 22-year-old driver is in his rookie season with Haas after winning the F2 championship in 2020.
The 32-year-old also recalled an experience with the former world champion, and he confessed it took some time to realize its magnitude.
“To know I was once in the same field of drivers as Michael Schumacher in Formula 1 is amazing for me,” said Ricciardo during an interview with Sport Bild.
“I remember one of my first races at Suzuka, I had a short duel with him. It was like a game of cat and mouse on the track. That was really unreal. I enjoyed every second.”
“Michael had already won seven world titles. He is the god of this sport. After the race, my father took me aside for a moment, talking about the duel. He said ‘do you have any idea what just happened?’ I had to let that sink in first.”
Also read: Former F1 driver shocked at Daniel Ricciardo’s form this season
Daniel Ricciardo wanted to be nice to him
After meeting then 17-year-old Mick Schumacher, Ricciardo felt he should be nice to him, and he should feel his deep respect as he is the son of an F1 legend.
#turkishgp mick schumacher parks his car behind daniel ricciardo’s, gets off from it & goes straight to daniel’s 🥺 first a very cute fist bump, then chatting about the race… it’s honestly so beautiful & emotional for me to see daniel becoming a big bro to him, just like seb 💙 pic.twitter.com/XbO6Aq7t6n
— ece (@ricciardopics) October 13, 2021
“I met Mick in 2016 at his charity soccer game. Somehow I immediately had the feeling I just wanted to be nice to him,” Ricciardo added. “He should feel my deep respect, his father is such a legend.”
“So there was a good chemistry between us right from the start because he’s a really nice boy too. Nobody should think Mick is in Formula 1 just because of his name.”
“Everything I see of him shows me he deserves his place here with us. He works so hard and I’m impressed with the way he has done.”
