F1 fans spot Mick Schumacher’s lovely tribute to dad Michael ahead of new season
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Mick Schumacher paid a special tribute to his father and F1 legend Michael with his latest helmet design.
After losing his seat at Haas following two underwhelming seasons, Mercedes signed him as their reserve driver. In conjunction with the launch of Mercedes’ new W14 car for 2023, Schumacher posed for photos in his new team’s colours while holding his new helmet.
The choice of headwear is significant as it is very similar to one his father wore while racing for Mercedes. The seven-time champion raced for the Silver Arrows from 2010-2012 – the final years of his illustrious F1 career.
READ MORE: Mick Schumacher shares photo with dad Michael as battle with health continues
Over the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Schumacher wore a specially designed gold helmet to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his first F1 race. Now his youngest child and only son has paid his respects to his father in a fitting way with the helmet design, and it was received well by his fans.
“Ohhhhhh that helmet!,” one fan exclaimed alongside a fire emoji, while another wrote: “I’m in love with the helmet design.” It is clear what Schumacher’s role is for 2023, but he is already looking ahead to 2024 as he seeks a spot back on the grid.
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A series of expensive crashes and a lack of points scored during his time at Haas left them convinced the young German was not the right man for the job moving forward.
Speaking at the Mercedes W14 launch, he claimed he has already been the subject of "interest" from F1 teams for 2024. "There's obviously no guarantee, but I'm in a comfortable position where I feel I can learn, I can extract the maximum from this year even though I'm not driving,” the German told reporters.
"But with the results I've shown in the junior categories, but also in F1, I'm sure there will be opportunities. Over the winter a few people have already mentioned that there is interest, so in that sense I'm not too worried."
Despite the slim chance of him contesting an F1 race this year, the 23-year-old still plans to "take a very similar approach" to how he prepares for each Grand Prix weekend. "I will be going into the weekend thinking as if I was going to race, to keep myself sharp," he added.
"But also, because it is a very different year, I will try and see what I can learn from it, take away from this experience, and be as much of a help to the team as I can be. Partly because I have the experience of driving, but also, I have the mentality that I know how it is to approach a weekend. I will for sure keep the same approach and keep the excitement at a high."
Mercedes’ new W14 motor has seen them return to the iconic black livery showcased in 2020 and 2021. Part of the reason for the colour change is that the silver livery would mean using an extra few grams of paint.
Following their struggles to keep pace with the leading pack last year, Mercedes are well aware it will need every marginal gain in an attempt to close the gap. “We were overweight last year,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said.
“This year we have tried to figure out where we can squeeze out every single gram. So now, history repeats itself. You will see that the car has some raw carbon bits, along with some that are painted matte black.
“Of course, when we changed the livery in 2020, the main driving factor was to support the diversity and equality causes which are always close to our heart. The colour black became part of our DNA at that point, so we are pleased to return to it.”
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