The Christmas vibes are here! As the F1 season drew to a close, all the drivers and personnel paddock started to prepare for the festivities. For the past few years, F1 has started a nice trend towards the end of the season – Secret Santa! While many drivers get a nice or quirky gift, the gift that Mick Schumacher got this year might be the most unusual.

Mick who will be out of a full-time seat in 2023, received a Lion Adoption as a Christmas gift. Apparently, it was the Dutch Lion Max Verstappen who was the German driver’s Secret Santa. And to Mick’s credit, he quickly guessed it would be the Verstappen behind this purchase.

As per the Express, in the F1 Secret Santa video, Schumacher said, “It’s a stuffed bear. No, it’s a lion. So a lion, the first thought would be Max.” He read the adoption certificate, “This is to certify that Mick Schumacher has adopted King the lion.”

The certificate was from an animal conservation charity Born Free. So, animal adoptions are quite common and come at a nominal cost of $43 (36 GBP) a year. It might be bizarre for the $200 million-worth 2-time champion to give such a gift. Although Mick still appreciated it, as the Lion also symbolizes the Red Bull driver’s Dutch Lion-like persona.

Read More: Mick Schumacher Given Brutal “Not a Max Verstappen” Wake Up Call as Haas F1 Seat Slowly Slips Away

Max and Mick have similar backgrounds with both their fathers having raced in F1. While there is a stark contrast between their fathers’ records in F1, Michael and Jos were quite good friends.

When Max Verstappen and Mick Schumacher may not have been allowed to enter F1

There was a famous interview of Michael Schumacher and Jos Verstappen, Mick and Max’s fathers respectively that gets a layered meaning years later. At the 2002 Belgian GP, Michael and Jos got together for a quick off-beat chat.

During this interview, they addressed how they would not want their children to race in F1. Both Michael and Jos spoke about how their sons are of similar age and might end up competing with each in F1. Jos explained how they could have a rivalry from their go-karting days till F1.

Michael too had similar opinions as he cited that Horse Riding, Tennis, or Golf might be better sports for their sons. Both veterans were quite scared to make either Max or Mick race in F1. Nonetheless, Jos said how he would support Max to get into whichever sport he wishes to play.

About 2 decades later, Max and Mick have raced in F1 together without much conflict. But, when Mick comes back to F1 in a competitive car, no one knows whether their nice friendship will turn into a hard-fought rivalry or not.

Watch This Story: Mick Schumacher shines in Turkish GP F1 Qualifying

Whether Max Verstappen and Mick Schumacher fight each other in the future or not, they will always have that connection of their fathers being friends like them. What do you think? Will we ever see Mick fighting Max for a championship in F1?