Schumacher's 'tips and tricks' have helped, says son Mick

Mick Schumacher says his legendary father Michael has passed on a few driving tips for him, but believes he has gained more from being allowed to make mistakes and learn from them.

The son of a seven-time world champion was perhaps destined to forge his own racing career and Mick secured his first major junior title last year in European Formula 3.

He has since graduated to Formula 2 and signed a deal with the Ferrari Driver Academy, linking the Scuderia and Schumacher names once again after Michael's run of title dominance at the turn of the century.

And the 20-year-old has the distinct advantage over his rivals of having had the knowledge and wisdom of Formula 1's most successful driver in history to fall back on.

"He did give me tips and tricks here and there obviously," Schumacher told F2's official podcast.

"He also left me freely to make mistakes because through mistakes you do learn the most and it's something he knew.

"Therefore I did the mistakes and from them I learned and grew and then we became what we are now and I think that's pretty OK, it went well I would say!"

Mick now sees the Schumacher name as "an advantage" but did not always use it in his younger days, often using his mother Corinna's maiden name Betsch, or simply 'Junior'.

"It was really to keep the privacy number one and also [to] be able to learn on my own pace," he explained.

"I think that was something that was very positive for me, not having too much media attention and not having too much people looking at me.

"I was really able to just fully focus on what I was doing and I think that really helped myself to become what I am now."

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