Michael Schumacher's ultimatum to son emerges during heartbreaking admission

Mick Schumacher revealed the message his father Michael Schumacher used to push him further in his racing career. Inspired by his Formula One icon dad, Mick spent two seasons on the F1 grid with Haas and currently races hypercars for Alpine in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Being the son of a seven-time F1 champion, it was almost inevitable that Mick would pursue a career in motorsport. The 26-year-old's family background provided the perfect schooling and also the ideal mentor. Mick began karting from a young age, competing under pseudonyms to help avoid comparisons to his father. While it was natural for another member of the Schumacher family to pursue the sport, following Michael and his brother Ralf's respective F1 careers, Mick shared the ultimatum his dad used to motivate his son in training.

During his time as a reserve driver for Mercedes, Mick spoke to author Matt Whyman as part of his book 'Inside Mercedes F1', which was released exactly 12 months ago. It was during this conversation that Mick reminisced about training alongside his dad.

"Whenever he felt like I was not taking it seriously, he would say, 'Mick, would you rather go and play football with your friends? If so, we do not need to do all of this,'" Mick recalled to Whyman.

"I insisted that I wanted to race and he said, 'Okay, then let's do it properly'. So we started doing more European karting and I was getting better."

The young Schumacher was only 14 years old when his dad Michael sustained life-altering injuries while skiing in the French Alps in December 2013. The 56-year-old was rushed to the hospital and placed in a medically induced coma for six months.

Michael returned home in September 2014 but updates on his health have been scarce. He reportedly made a rare public appearance at his daughter Gina-Maria's wedding in September 2024.

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In Whyman's book, Mick spoke about idolising his dad from a young age as he began karting at the age of three. Michael encouraged Mick to pursue any activity he wanted, though his son's priority was always racing. Following his father's injuries, Mick made the heartbreaking admission that he was suddenly forced to find his own way in the sport.

"Then my dad had his accident," Mick recalled to Whyman. "I started racing in the Formula classes the year after and from that point onwards, I had to find my own feet.

"But I definitely learned a lot of technical points from him that I still use today, as well as from his coaching. And I have always been very resilient. Whenever I got hurt I would jump like on, and I am still like that, in fact."

Mick made 43 F1 starts for Haas across the 2021 and 2022 seasons, achieving a career-best sixth place at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. He subsequently joined Mercedes as a reserve driver before representing Alpine in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Schumacher and Alpine have achieved two podiums so far this year, with the season concluding with the 8 Hours of Bahrain this weekend.