Schumacher Jnr 'super proud' to make it to Formula One with Haas

Reuters Videos
Updated

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS:

MANAMA, BAHRAIN (DECEMBER 2, 2020) (SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE / MICK SCHUMACHER - NO RESALE. NO ARCHIVE. MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY: TWITTER @SCHUMACHERMICK)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICK SCHUMACHER SAYING:

"Hey guys, so yes, super proud to be able to officially announce that I'll be racing for Haas F1 team next year in 2021. Obviously, I just really want to say thank you to everybody involved - Scuderia Ferrari, FDA (Ferrari Driver Academy) Gene (Haas) and Guenther (Steiner), thank you for taking me on board. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to next year's challenge and next year's work. It's really been a dream that I've always dreamed about and now it's finally come true so I'm really really, really happy and just emotionally exploding really, so I'm really looking forward to it and thank you to everybody for the great messages and great support."

STORY: Mick Schumacher, son of Ferrari great and seven-times world champion Michael, said he was "super proud" after he was announced on Wednesday (December 12) as a race driver for the U.S.-owned Haas team.

The 21-year-old German, who has signed a multi-year agreement, is leading the Formula Two championship ahead of this weekend's finale at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit.

"It's really been a dream that I've always dreamed about and now it's finally come true so I'm really really, really happy and just emotionally exploding really," he said.

Schumacher, a member of the Ferrari young driver academy, will form an all-new line-up at Haas along with Russian Nikita Mazepin whose signing was announced on Tuesday (December 1).

The pair replace Frenchman Romain Grosjean, currently recovering from a fiery crash in the Bahrain Grand Prix last Sunday (November 29), and Denmark's Kevin Magnussen.

Schumacher will be in the car next week with Haas slotting him in for Friday first practice at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

He will also take part in a young driver test at Yas Marina on Dec. 15.

Schumacher has a 14-point lead in the F2 standings with two races to go.

Michael Schumacher retired in 2012 after a three-season comeback with Mercedes.

The Ferrari great has not been seen in public since suffering severe head injuries in a skiing accident in the French Alps in 2013.

(Production: Iain Axon, Mike Brock)