The inside story of Schumacher's rise
Mick Schumacher's meteoric rise became widely known in his late dominance of the Formula 3 European Championship. But that signs of his potential were clear in an under-the-radar showing a year ago
It was literally a footnote in Autosport magazine's in-depth coverage of last year's Macau Grand Prix, and that's because Mick Schumacher's pace had been scuppered by an incident that pretty much put him out of contention before the race had even begun.
But in hindsight, his performance on the famous streets exactly 12 months ago was the launchpad to the 2018 form that ended with him wresting the Formula 3 European Championship title with Prema Powerteam.
Share Or Save This Story
Marcus Simmons is the Deputy Editor of Autosport magazine. As a child he was a regular on the chalk banks of Thruxton – hence his unhealthy obsession with 1970s Formula 2 and F3 – before he became an MSA timekeeper at the age of 17. At 19, his reporting debut for Motoring News arguably overshadowed Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal as the sporting moment of June 1986, and he joined the staff in 1990 after graduating from his degree course in Plymouth. A parallel Formula First career – which was as incident-packed as his childhood exploits in show-jumping and hunter trials – finished when he wrote off his car and put himself in hospital in 1991.
Marcus moved to Autosport in the summer of 1996. Since then he has had two stints as a freelancer and a brief spell as editor of Motor Sport magazine, during which the revered green cover was revived, before he rejoined Autosport in 2008. He lives in Teddington with his wife (who, gratifyingly, grew up within earshot of Castle Combe), daughter, stepson, dog, cat and guitars, and additionally has an adult daughter and stepson.
More from Marcus Simmons
Why the BTCC isn't concerned by its smaller 2024 grid
Magazine: Saudi Arabian GP review
Hard stays in BTCC after all in surprise U-turn
One Motorsport takes ‘pause’ from BTCC
How Red Bull's next British star earned a fast-track to F3
Alliance further develops Focus for Sutton record-breaking BTCC bid
BTCC race winner Moffat joins Speedworks Toyota line-up
Why F1's junior logjam isn't entirely a product of current issues
Latest news
Snorkel exhausts “more relevant” for rainy-season WRC Safari
McLaren will “protect” Piastri from busy Melbourne F1 schedule
Alpine F1 driver Gasly becomes co-owner in French football club
The key MotoGP change that has gone under the radar in 2024
Autosport Plus
Why F1's junior logjam isn't entirely a product of current issues
Ranking the top 10 drivers on F1's undercard in 2023
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.