Former Ferrari boss Ross Brawn recently explained why Max Verstappen had an easier F1 journey than Mick Schumacher.
Verstappen made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso back in 2015 when he became the youngest to ever be a full-time driver in the sport. Since then, he has gone on to establish himself as an F1 great and has 31 race wins to his name at the age of just 24 years.
The Red Bull ace is the son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen. He was seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher’s teammate during their time at Benetton. The latter’s son Mick too, is an F1 driver today, having made his debut in 2021 for Haas.
Mick Schumacher is currently in his second full season and has struggled to live up to the expectations. The young German had a great junior career and even won the F2 Championship in 2020. However, he has been outperformed by teammate Kevin Magnussen this season and may be on his way out of Haas after six races.
Verstappen and Schumacher are sons of former F1 drivers and were considered immensely talented in their junior careers. Despite that, the former has fared much better. Michael Schumacher’s former boss Ross Brawn shared his thoughts on why that is so.
Max Verstappen does have Jos’ expectations weighing him down
The Schumacher name is arguably one of the most famous in F1 history. Michael Schumacher is the driver with the most number of World Titles (alongside Lewis Hamilton) with seven, and dominated the late 20th and early 21st century.
Jos Verstappen meanwhile was not massively successful in his F1 career, having just two podium finishes in his nine years. As a result, when his son Max made his F1 debut, he was not compared to his father and set his own standards by exceeding expectations. Mick Schumacher on the other hand, had to deal with the expectations surrounding his surname.
Brawn was the head of technology at Benetton when Schumacher and Verstappen’s dads were teammates.
“Max’s big advantage over Mick is that his father was also a hero in the Netherlands,” he said to Sport1. “But he didn’t win. Wasn’t world champion seven times and isn’t an icon like Michael in Germany.”
Verstappen is currently 116 points clear at the summit of the Drivers’ Standings. With just six races to go, he’s the sure-shot favorite to win his second successive World Championship. Schumacher meanwhile, is currently in P15 with 12 points to his name.
