A TOUCHING rare photo of Michael Schumacher has been released showing him cradling future double world F1 champion Max Verstappen.
Seven-time champ Michael is seen smiling as he sits in a hanging chair with the baby driver in his lap alongside his own daughter, Gina-Maria.
Drive to Survive reveals the closeness between the Verstappens and Schumachers
Michael Schumacher pictured with Max (R) and his daughter Gina-Maria
Michael meets with a very young Max
The photo was released as part of Netflix’s hit F1 show Drive to Survive and features in episode 4 – Like Father, Like Son? – with the series being released tomorrow.
In an exclusive preview granted to SE Online, Max talks about growing up alongside the Schumacher family – including Michael’s son Mick, who also went on to race in F1.
The double world champion – who broke Sir Lewis Hamilton’s four-year stranglehold on the F1 title – is the son of Michael’s former Benetton teammate Jos Verstappen.
The Schumachers and the Verstappens became very close, with Mick, 23, and Max, 25, sharing a bond which endured as they both rose through the racing ranks into the top flight.
The show includes a rare clip showing Jos and Michael discussing if they would let their children became F1 drivers in an interview filmed during the 00s.
The question prompts a laugh from Michael.
“I think this could be the first time we have an argument if our two would be racing,” says the German.
The documentary then shows Max as a toddler hanging out with Michael.
“We used to go on holidays when we were little together, the two families, and these kind of memories will stay with me,” explains Max, who is now a 35-time race winner in F1.
“For both of us to be in F1 is amazing and also for Michael, he’s a very proud dad for sure.”
Drive to Survive then cuts of a picture of Michael holding Max and Gina-Maria that must have been taken in the late 90s.
Gina-Maria, now 26, did not go into motorsport – instead following her mum Corinna’s passion and becoming a horse rider.
The incredibly touching photo – released in full clarity for the first time by Netflix – was revealed as Michael continues his recovery after his horror ski crash in 2013.
Michael has not been seen in public ever since – with any information about his condition tightly controlled by his privacy-focused family led by wife Corinna.
Fans are desperate for news – with the tenth anniversary of Schumacher’s accident coming up in December.
And adding to further heartache for fans of the Schumachers, Mick lost his F1 seat at the Haas team at the end of 2022.
He was replaced by F1 journeyman Nico Hulkenberg – and will have sit out 2023 as a reserve driver at Mercedes behind Sir Lewis and his hotshot teammate George Russell.
Max Verstappen is a two time world champion – winning in 2021 and 2022
Mick Schumacher lost his seat at the end of 2022
Drive to Survive charts Mick’s difficult sophomore season in 2022 – including his horror 170mph accident in Saudi Arabia.
Mick’s rough year saw him outscored by his teammate, the returning Danish veteran Kevin Magnussen.
The show outlines Mick’s struggles – and the pressure that came with racing under the name “Schumacher”.
“Mick has the lineage of one of the greatest driver’s the sport has ever seen,” says F1 journalist Will Buxton.
“But it remains to be seen if [he] has the same character as his dad.”
Haas boss Steiner said the Schumacher name explains the name was “blessing and a curse” for Mick.
But in characteristically non-nonsense fashion, the famously foul-mouthed team principal says at some point the young German will have “stand up” and be his “own man”.
Mick opens up about his struggles with pressure in the show, including the candid admission that “dreams don’t always come true”.
His dad Michael is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, dominating the sport in the early 2000s after rising to power in the 90s.
He raced from 1991 to 2006, and again from 2010 to 2012 – a second act of his career which saw him become instrumental in setting up the dominant Mercedes team.
The German won five world championships with Ferrari and two for Benetton.
Schumacher retired in 2012, but just a year later he was involved in the life-changing skiing accident while on the slopes with Mick.
He was left in a medically induced coma before being released home and then ever since it has been near silence on the driver’s condition.
His family, led by wife Corinna, closely protect Michael’s privacy and offer him a quiet life.
Since then there have only been hints and cryptic rumours about Schumacher’s health with drip fed information from friends and unnamed sources.
But the only people who know for sure are Schumacher’s family and his closest pals.
Mick will be Mercedes reserve driver in 2023 – backing up Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
