This article was first published 7 years ago

PHOTOS: Schumacher's son Mick takes father's 1994 car for a spin

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August 28, 2017 10:59 IST

Mick Schumacher

IMAGE: Mick Schumacher drives his father Michael Schumacher's Benetton Ford B194 on track before the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Photograph: Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Mick Schumacher, the son of Formula One great Michael, marked the 25th anniversary of his father's first Grand Prix victory by driving a lap in the German's championship-winning 1994 Benetton car ahead of the Belgian race on Sunday.

 

The Belgian Grand Prix is inseparably linked with the seven-time world champion as he made his debut there in 1991, won his first race at Spa-Francorchamps in 1992 and delivered many spectacular races in the often damp conditions at the winding hillside track.

Mick Schumacher

IMAGE: Mick Schumacher drives his father Michael Schumacher's Benetton Ford B194 on track before the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Photograph: Dan Mullan/Getty Images

For the excited spectators in the grandstands it was an opportunity to again see Michael's car in which he clinched the 1994 title in a nail-biting finish in Adelaide, pipping Britain's Damon hill by one point.

"I never experienced so big an audience in motor sports. I'm very happy that I was allowed to drive here," said 18-year-old Mick after parking the 1994 Benetton.

Mick, ranked 11th in the European Formula Three Championships after a more successful stint in Formula Four, said the 23-year-old car felt unfamiliar.

"You feel that it fits differently, it is not adapted to me. Everything is just that little bit different," Mick said.

Mick Schumacher

IMAGE: Mick Schumacher drives his father Michael Schumacher's Benetton Ford B194 on track before the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Photograph: Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Michael left the public limelight after a near-fatal skiing accident in 2013 in which he sustained severe head injuries.

Mick did not discuss his father's health on Sunday.

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