Apr.27 (GMM) Mick Schumacher won a race during his debut weekend in the FIA-sanctioned German Formula 4 series.
“It’s just amazing to win a race in my first ‘formula’ event,” the shy 16-year-old son of the legendary Michael Schumacher said at Oschersleben.
The victory will only ramp up the already huge media interest in the young German, who until now has been racing with the surname ‘Junior’ or ‘Betsch’.
Now, however, he has the same name, the “same sponsors, same manager, same helmet supplier” as his famous father, the major German daily Die Welt observed.
Nonetheless, Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm is carefully guarding the privacy of her young new charge, just as she has handled the aftermath of his father’s skiing accident and brain injuries since late 2013.
Welt recounts one moment on the weekend when a fan asked Mick for an autograph, to which Kehm replied: “I’m sorry.”
Mick has “No interviews, no appearances at press conferences, no profiles on social networks,” the newspaper summarised.
Indeed, Schumacher jr is backed by his father’s long-time sponsor Deutsche Vermogensberatung, but a company spokesman said: “We expect nothing from Mick.
“No results, no appearances with our company logo, nothing,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, McLaren driver Jenson Button finished the London Marathon on Sunday with a personal best time of 2 hours, 52 minutes.
“Not bad for a racing driver!” he wrote on the GPS-based social network Strava.
And world championship leader Lewis Hamilton headed to Rome in the past days to film a cameo appearance for the forthcoming Ben Stiller blockbuster Zoolander 2.