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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and former F1 driver Mick Schumacher have known each other since their childhood. The Dutch driver began his racing career at the pinnacle of motorsport in 2015 after making his debut with Toro Rosso.
Ever since, the 27-year-old has grown leaps and bound in the sport and is currently the reigning four-time F1 world champion with the Austrian team. While Schumacher, who is just two years younger than Verstappen, had a longer route to F1 having competed in several junior categories and won the F2 title before making his debut with Haas in 2021.
However, the German driver had a much shorter stint in the sport as he lost his seat after just two years having failed to deliver consistent results with the American team. He served as the reserve driver for Mercedes in 2023 and 2024 but was replaced by Valtteri Bottas in the role for 2025.
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Max Verstappen and Mick Schumacher share a deeper connection given that the two families were close in the 1990s and 2000s.
The connection between Max Verstappen and Mick Schumacher
Max Verstappen's father Jos Verstappen and Mick's father and seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher were teammates for 1994 with Benetton.
It was the season that Schumacher claimed the first of his seven world titles whilst Verstappen struggled to keep up with the former and was dropped by the team in favor of Johnny Herbert.
However, during their short time as teammates, the two drivers developed a special bond that translated into an off-track friendship. They even holidayed with their respective families for several years, with a young Max growing up in front of Michael Schumacher.
Jos Verstappen recalled the former Ferrari driver never differentiated between Max Verstappen and Mick Schumacher when they were kids.
How did Max Verstappen and Mick Schumacher fare against each other on track?
Max Verstappen and Mick Schumacher did not compete much against each other on track given their cars were often at the opposite ends of the grid in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. However, there were two instances when the two drivers fought for track positions in the two years - Hungary 2021 and Silverstone 2022.
The Dutch driver had a damaged car on both occasions. Despite a massive hole in his sidepods, he overtook the Haas driver in Budapest to get into the points. Whilst in Silverstone, it was a role reversal as it was Schumacher who was attacking Verstappen in the final few laps of the race for P8 and finished a mere couple of tenths behind the Red Bull.
In his post-race interview, thhe world champion was "appreciative" of the battle and called it "fun" despite a damaged floor on his RB18. Schumacher will compete in the WEC with the Alpine Hypercar project for the 2025 season while the Dutchman will look to become only the second driver after Michael Schumacher to win five consecutive drivers' championships this year.
