Sakhir (Bahrain) (AFP)

Nine years later, the name of Schumacher returns in Formula 1: Mick, the son of the seven-time world champion Michael, will take over from his father in the premier class in 2021 and for "several years" with the Haas team.

The shadow of this legendary father - who competed in his last GP in 2012, whom we have not seen since his skiing accident in December 2013 and whose state of health is virtually unknown -, Mick will probably never feel her as present as on his first Grand Prix laps next year, but she has followed him since his debut.

If the 21-year-old driver, born March 22, 1999, now races under his last name, he first protected himself by registering in karting in 2008 under that of his mother, Betsch, then as Mick Junior.

At the announcement Wednesday of his signature with Haas - which has not been a secret on the paddock for several weeks - Mick has on the other hand assumed his parentage.

"I also want to recognize the role of my parents and send them my love: I know that I owe them everything", he commented in the press release issued by the American team.

"Being compared to my father has never been a problem," he said in March 2019, when making his debut in Formula 2, the antechamber of F1.

"To be compared to the best driver in history is the goal to achieve and that it is my idol and my father is very special. I am honored because I can learn and try to improve."

- "It's always been a part of me" -

"It's always been a part of me, so I had the time and the chance to get used to it," he added. "I also have a lot of people behind me who have helped me."

Starting with the omnipresent Sabine Kehm, who has been managing her father's press relations since the 2000s.

This status of "son of" is not new, far from it, in the history of F1.

However, it often comes with suspicions of favoritism, especially as "Schumi Jr" is supported by Ferrari (the Haas engine manufacturer), with whom "Schumi Sr" dominated F1 between 1996 and 2006.

"The FDA (Ferrari Driver Academy, Ferrari's youth sector, editor's note) plan for Mick is to see him progress with the ultimate goal of one day driving for the Scuderia," said the famous team in a statement.

Haas, his future employer, nevertheless recalled that Mick is at the top of the F2 standings one round from the end of the season, this weekend in Bahrain, with 14 points ahead and 48 at most still to be taken. .

"He won races (2), offered podiums (10) and shone against quite exceptional talents. I am convinced that he deserved the opportunity to be promoted in F1", justifies the team principal Guenther Steiner.

The driver started in single-seater in 2015 in the German F4 championship, before progressing to European F3 in 2017 and winning the title there in 2018, then joining the Ferrari youth sector and F2 in 2019. .

- Test in Abu Dhabi -

He first tested modern F1 cars that year, with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, and also had the privilege of doing exhibition laps behind the wheel of the single-seater cars that thrilled his father seven times in 1994. , 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

And we won't have to wait until 2021 to see Mick at the wheel of his new car: he will participate in free practice 1 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 11 and in the end-of-season tests on this same Yas Marina circuit on December 15. .

Next year, he will be associated with another novice, the Russian Nikita Mazepin, also promoted from F2.

They replace the French Romain Grosjean, released Wednesday from the hospital where he was recovering from burns suffered in his accident on Sunday during the Bahrain GP, ​​and the Dane Kevin Magnussen.

The Schumacher dynasty may not be done with F1 either: Michael's brother Ralf drove in the premier class between 1997 and 2007 and his son David (19) spent the 2020 season in F3. .

© 2020 AFP