Mick Schumacher is headed for Abu Dhabi and - you can be in no doubt - Formula One.
You heard it right: not seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, of course, but the next generation of the famous motorsporting name, who, as it turns out, is a chip off the old block.
The son of the seven-time F1 world champion and Ferrari racer was supposed to make his own debut at the Eifel Grand Prix first practice in Germany last month.
Taking his F1 bow on the track where his father was deified would have been more than perfect. But life’s not like that, is it?
Nurburgring is notorious for the low fog, clinging wet clouds, plunging temperatures and weather that rolls off the Eiffel mountains and falls like a lake.
If the opening race in Melbourne in the glorious Australian sunshine, is the high point of every season, muddy Nurburgring is usually the low.
This year was no different. Weather so bad F1 cars were not allowed to run. Despite his exhaustive preparations, Schumacher Mark II was robbed of his chance.
And the calendar is so intensive, track time so precious, Ferrari say the next opportunity is Yas Marina Circuit, on December 11, for the season-ending Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Given Ferrari is partially owned by Mubadala, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund and sponsored by national airline Etihad Airways, the date is hardly surprising.
Those who have followed my writings will know that much as I wouldn’t wish his current plight on my worst enemy I was no particular fan of Schumacher senior as a racer.
Remarkable driver he may have been but my feeling is that he may well have been able to win on talent and application alone but all too often resorted to dirty tactics (let’s call it that rather than something more damning).
That he also had one-sided contracts so the only driver on the grid with an equal chance - his teammate - was contractually barred from racing him, is shameful.
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Fog ends Mick Schumacher's F1 debut
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I interviewed Schumacher a couple of times and despite our press conference run-ins he was nothing less than professional. Actually very likeable. Of course he had an agenda because this was at the height of his battles with Damon Hill and he wanted to get in the Williams driver’s head through the British press.
When I publicly asked him after Ferrari’s 2002 Austrian Grand Prix debacle if he wanted to win because he was the best driver or the one with the best contract my interview privileges were summarily revoked and never returned.
And I’ve always viewed parking his Ferrari on a blind hairpin, in an effort to win the 2006 Monaco GP, nothing less than dastardly.
All that said, I would love to see his 21-year-old son crack F1. His dad was no monster, he just let ruthless ambition get the better of him. The signs are that this Schumacher has the tools and is prepared to do it the right way.
He has risen through the ranks of the Ferrari Academy on merit even if his name gave him a leg up.
In an interview with formula1.com, Mick said: “[I was] trying to have as much freedom for myself as possible. It gave me the opportunity to grow on my own and understand how to be a normal kid.”
His move through the formula, even today, is methodical and calculated when he could easily have taken short cuts.
“If you take your time to go into the detail, to learn things right, in the long-term it will work out better than if you rush things,” he added.
He was runner-up in the German and Italian F4 series, clinched the European F3 title and now heads the F2 championship by 22 points with four rounds to go.
That the race cars, unlike F1, all have the same chassis, engine and tyres and are, ostensibly, utterly equal, speak volumes for Schumacher’s talent.
But the spanner in the works came just last week when Alfa Romeo re-signed former world champion Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi.
That leaves two seats at English-based Haas, with one likely to go to Russian billionaire’s son Nikita Mazepin.
So Schumacher is battling to win the final F1 feeder series - with equal equipment - against another Ferrari Academy racer, Britain's Callum Illiot, and a place on the 2021 F1 grid the likely prize.
For most that would be the ultimate goal but the truth is that for Schumacher junior the battle will only just be beginning. Having the legendary Michael Schumacher as a father cuts both ways.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
Sleep Well Beast
The National
4AD
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
AUSTRALIA%20SQUAD
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Company%20profile
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UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
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The Gandhi Murder
- 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
- 34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
- 7 - million dollars, the film's budget
Revival
Eminem
Interscope
Results:
6.30pm: Maiden | US$45,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres
Winner: Tabarak, Royston Ffrench (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap | $175,000 (Turf) | 3,200m
Winner: Dubhe, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
Winner: Estihdaaf, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor
8.15pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,800m
Winner: Nordic Lights, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Group 2 | $450,000 (D) | 1,900m
Winner: North America, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm: Handicap | $175,000 (T) | 1,200m
Winner: Mazzini, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
10pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,400m.
Winner: Mubtasim, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh289,000
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
Itcan profile
Founders: Mansour Althani and Abdullah Althani
Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India
Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce
Size: 70 employees
Revenue: On track to make Dh100 million in revenue this year since its 2015 launch
Funding: Self-funded to date
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
New schools in Dubai
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
