Formula 1: Michael Schumacher and his relationship with Max Verstappen, the most emotional moment of the premiere of “Drive to Survive”

“Drive to Survive” the documentary series of Formula 1 on Netflix, premiered this Friday ten chapters that manage to retrace the 2022 season of the premier category of motorsport, the one in which the Dutchman was the champion of convenience Max Verstappen after winning 15 of the 22 races contested on the year and adding two more podium finishes.

Toto Wolff, director of Mercedes, and Otmar Szafnauer, of the French Alpine team, are some of the protagonists of this fifth season, together with the drivers who shone in the fight for the great title. However, all eyes were on one who is already retired and who, on full reserve from his family, is fighting for his life after suffering a skiing accident in 2013: Michael Schumacher.

- Advertisement -

The image of the legendary German runner appears in the fourth chapter, which they have chosen to entitle “Like father, like son?”. He focuses on his son Mick Schumachera member of the Haas team and struggling to try and emulate some of the good his father did.

Anyway, what is striking here has nothing to do with the competition itself, but with two images that portray the seven-time world champion together with Max Verstappen as a child. In one of those photos you can also see Gina-María Schumacher, the daughter of Schumi who is now 26 years old.

The first shows the Dutch in the arms of the German. Yes, as it reads: the current two-time Formula 1 champion, as a child, raised by who at that time was already a recognized figure of the sport worldwide and who currently shares the label of “biggest winner in history” with Lewis Hamilton with 7 titles.

Then, another image, Verstappen already a child of about 5 or 6 years old, in the box of an F1 race. In those years he was already beginning to get passionate about the world of engines and to feed what would become his great passion for him, to appear today in the foreground and shine on wheels.

The explanation of that meeting is clear. Max Verstappen is the son of Jose Verstappen, who was Schumacher’s teammate at the Benetton team, which explains these images which soon went around the world and are a true work of art for lovers of motorsport in general, and of Formula 1 in particular.

This fourth chapter of the new season delves into the relationship between Verstappen and Schumacher, which was very close in those days. Sons Michael and Jos grew up with engine noise the best music to their ears, giving context to the figures they are today: Max is the current two-time Formula 1 champion and Mick is the reserve driver for the Mercedes team.

“Drive to Survive”Furthermore, it enters the privacy of both families and reveals how they spent their holidays together, with the two future drivers, now aged 25 and 23 respectively, together thanks to their parents. She even shows a conversation between Michael and Jos where they discuss whether they would let their sons be pilots.

“They are very similar in age and will compete with each other if they grow up and decide to go karting”, the Dutchman says at one point. Quite visionary. The German did not seem to agree with that idea and went so far as to propose that “horse riding or golf are the best sports for our children”, although, obviously, the present of both is marked by the adrenaline rush of the fastest single-seat in the world.

Looking back, Max recalled those moments: “I was three or four years old. I only knew it was Uncle Michael, a very nice man who was a family man. I had no idea what a great champion he was.”told to F1 Insiders. In 2022 he surpassed him by winning 15 races in the season, two more than his “uncle’s” 13 in 2004.