Mick Schumacher claims five straight F3 victories
BERLIN: Mick Schumacher, the teenage son of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher, is living up to the famous family name in Formula Three by dominating the drivers’ championship after picking up his fifth straight win on Sunday.
The 19-year- old Schumacher claimed the second of back- toback wins on the Red Bull Ring at Spielberg, Austria.
He now has a commanding 49point lead with three races left this season and later just missed out on a hat-trick of victories in the third and final race when he came second after starting in pole position.
Young Schumacher’s dual wins this weekend in Austria came after claiming a hat-trick of wins on Germany’s iconic Nuerburgring circuit a fortnight ago to seize control of the drivers’ championship for his Italian team Prema Theodore Racing.
Having already won the first race of the weekend in Spielberg on Saturday, Schumacher Jnr started in pole position on Sunday and never relinquished his lead to finish ahead of Prema team-mates Marcus Armstrong of Italy and Russia’s Robert Schwartzman.
“We already showed yesterday that we can withstand the pressure,” a satisfied Schumacher told German broadcaster Sat.1.
However, Schwartzman later fought back in the final race by beating the German teenage into second place for Schumacher’s 12th podium finish of the season.
After winning eight of the 27 Formula Three races so far this season, Schumacher has 329 points, 49 ahead of ahead of second-placed Dan Ticktum of Red Bull.
A top- two finish in the final Formula 3 standings would see SchumacherqualifyforaFIA‘super license’, which is a prerequisite for the jump to Formula One.
However, Schumacher Jnr is reportedly expected to spend at last another season in Formula Three.
Seven-time world Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, 49, continues to convalesce at the family home in Switzerland after suffering serious head injuries suffered in a skiing accident in December 2013. - AFP