Jos Verstappen says he once gave a piece of advice to Corinna Schumacher that paid off nicely for her son Mick during his formative years in motor sport.
Verstappen Sr. who raced alongside Michael Schumacher at Benetton in 1994 remained close to the seven-time world champion and his family even after he retired from the sport in 2003.
After Mick Schumacher's maiden season in 2015 in the ADAC Formula 4 championship which he finished tenth, Corinna consulted Verstappen to ask the Dutchman how her son should progress up the ladder.
"I had a chat with Corinna after his first year in Formula 4 and she asked me which way he should go," Verstappen told Sport1.de.
He told her that Mick should migrate to Italy and join the winning Prema Powerteam "because they were the best in Formula 4 and Formula 3 at that time. And that’s what they did."
The change immediately boosted Schumacher's performances and improved his learning process, and yielded 25 race wins across the 2016 ADAC and Italian F4 competitions.
Schumacher than remained with Prema for his successful campaign in the European Formula 3 Championship, the German moving up to the FIA Formula 2 Championship the following year and winning the series outright in 2020.
Although Schumacher is bringing up the rear in his rookie season Formula 1 with Haas, the 22-year-old is doing a good job in difficult circumstances according to Max Verstappen's father.
"Mick is doing a good job, the car is difficult to drive," added the 49-year-old. "He will learn this year, next year there will be new cars. We have to give him time.
"I think next year Haas will be more supported by Ferrari. I already think there is hard work going on behind the scenes."
Verstappen also believes that Schumacher clearly has the upper hand over his Haas teammate Nikita Mazepin.
"He is better than Mazepin," said the former Grand Prix driver. "He spins less, he is better in dealing with the press. Mazepin gets in the way more in qualifying and in the race."
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