Mick Schumacher missed out on only the second podium of his promising career after a fire extinguisher exploded in his cockpit at the Formula Two Styrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The son of Formula One legend Michael was in third place for Prema Theodore Racing with almost half of the race gone when he was covered in foam after a freak incident.
21-year-old Schumacher was distracted and ultimately forced out of the race by the blast, which was caught on camera at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
Rising star Schumacher later explained: ‘Statistically, once every 10 years it can happen that a piece of rubber from the tyres hits this little emergency switch that starts the fire extinguisher.
‘It happened to me today while running in third position. Really unfortunate, but our race pace was strong again.’
Schumacher joined Formula Two last season, winning one race and earning another podium finish after honing his skills at the Ferrari Driver Academy.
He finished fourth in the sprint race at the Red Bull Ring last season and looked on course for his first podium of this campaign in the third race back.
Schumacher has named his father as his hero and made his debut in a Formula One car in 2019, piloting a Scuderia Ferrari SF90 during the first day of in-season testing.
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