Haas reserve driver Jack Doohan has opened up on the influence seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher has had on his career, reflecting on their unique relationship as neighbours and the gift of his very first go-kart.
Doohan, who joined Haas as its reserve driver in 2026 after parting ways with Alpine, wrote about the German driver in a column for F1.com ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. The race weekend at Monza will feature a tribute to Schumacher via the Ferrari liveries, and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel will complete an honorary lap in the F2002.
"My father and Michael Schumacher were very close friends," Doohan wrote. "After 1994, they both won their first world championships and somehow were neighbours – one winning on two wheels and one on four wheels. The relationship started there and all my very early years were crossed over with Michael.
"I would spend time around the house, so, on four wheels, Michael has never been out of the equation for being my idol. I also received my first go-kart from him – for me and my sister – and that was really the start to getting where I am now."
For a young Doohan, Schumacher's dominance on track was secondary to his presence as a family friend. He stressed that experiencing the human side of top athletes shaped his own approach to F1.
"The magnitude of him as an athlete definitely didn’t hit early on," he continued. "I was a three, five, seven-year-old kid coming home from school and he was just with my father – whatever it might be. When these people are close to you, they’re just another good human like we all are. That’s the basis that gets lost sometimes in the F1 paddock.
"At the end of the day, drivers are just normal people. I always say that – apart from being a performer, which essentially we are, right? Athlete performers, no different to the circus!
"You’re just another Joe Blow. You’ve got the same routine, you wake up, you have your coffee, you do your stuff, you go to work and you come back home."
He concluded: "For me, regardless of winning seven world championships over two different decades – with different machinery and different types of vehicles – it’s incredibly inspiring to keep so strong for so long. And then to rejoin in a different time again with a new team fresh off the bat.
"There are multiple aspects to praise him, but for me there is so much more beyond his performances inside the car that make Michael Schumacher my F1 idol."
