It’s been 30 years since Michael Schumacher raced for the first time in F1 at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix.

Getting a Taste of Father’s Machine

Mick Schumacher gave the machine that belonged to his father a trial run. Micheal, who won seven Formula1 championships, had made his debut in the same car in the 1991 Grand Prix. Mick drove that car for a brief period at the Silverstone on Tuesday. The machine was a green-liveried Jordan 191.

Paying Homage to Seven-Time Championship Winner

The car show demonstrated was shot to be featured on TV. Sky Sports F1, the U.K.-based broadcaster, filmed the demonstration which will be aired during the next coming Belgian Grand Prix. It is a way to tribute Michael Schumacher’s 30 years of Formula1. The Belgian race will mark 30 years since he made his debut at Belgian Grand Prix in 1991.

The Roller Coaster Journey of Michael Schumacher

Micheal was pulled in for his debut at Formula 1 in 1991 at Spa Francorchamps with Jordan. Micheal had qualified seven in the season but sadly has to retire because of a clutch failure.

However, it was Schumacher’s only ride with Jordan, as he later hopped onto Benetton for the upcoming race. He raced in Benton through 1995 – and also won two out of his seven world titles.

Michael raced through 306 races. He was at his peak, enjoying the wins during his 11-year reign with Ferrari. His last race was in 2012, where he bid adieu to his career. He was with Mercedes during that time.

Michael suffered some critical injuries because of a ski accident in 2013 and has not made a public appearance since.

Taking a Look at the Previous Demonstration of the Car

It won’t be the first time Mick rode his father’s machine. He has previously demonstrated the car on a few occasions at Grand Prix. He drove his father’s 1994 Benetton B194 in 2019 at Spa Francorchamps. He demonstrated 2004 Ferrari F2004 in 2019 at Hockenheim and at Mugello to mark Ferrari’s 1000 Grand Prix celebrations.

The visionary brand Mercedes has undergone an intriguing modification in its F1 line, which seems to give it an extra benefit on the turf. They have turned their rear suspension system to boost top speed by reducing drag. For this, while on the straights, the back end of the car drops down at high speed. According to the Red Bull team, this effective change played a key role in Mercedes’ advantage at the recent Turkish Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s Observation

According to Christian Horner, the Red Bull team boss, the venue of Istanbul of the recent Turkish Grand Prix, was actually perfect for the new Mercedes concept. The turf of Istanbul had long straights and a lot of medium-speed corners. In this specific type of circuit, Mercedes’ modified rear suspension optimized a straight-line device. The way in which the rear of the car lowered on the circuit, was the defining moment. It was the Turkey track, which played to the strength of the brand and its new innovative modification.

Future Possibilities

Horner believes that some upcoming venues on the calendar will be undoubtedly perfect for this modified Mercedes idea, with their specific straights of the circuits. But this is not necessarily the case on American circuits. As per Horner’s assumption, the rear suspension will have lesser influence here as the higher speed turn is much harder on the US track, due to lack of enough variation between straights and the top corner speeds. But on the tracks like Jeddah, the same technic could be quite powerful with the straight-lined car.

Legal Tussle

The Red Bull team is quite confident in believing that this new rear suspension design of Mercedes doesn’t break any F1 regulation. As Horner recollects, this is something that has been used in past a number of times. Though they admitted that, an extreme version of the technique was witnessed on the Turkey circuit, which is almost not allowed. Historically in this super-competitive sport, even small marginal gains have been added to bring out the best possible performance, and Mercedes has probably overpowered its competitors this time.