The remarkable story behind an 80-year-old driving Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari

Alongside David Coulthard’s demo runs, the Ferrari 310B turned out to be one of the main attractions at The Racing Day in Assen. It is the Formula 1 car in which Michael Schumacher won the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix.

Nowadays, the car is owned by 80-year-old Erich Zech. The German was already in Assen last year, but back then the car was not ready for action. Earlier this month, the 310B could finally be seen on track.

“It was phenomenal,” admitted Zech. “What I loved the most and what touched me was the reaction of the fans. They stood up and applauded, which was great to witness.

“What I love most is being able to show this car to the people again. My main goal is to make the experience as close as possible to what it was back in the day with Schumacher.”

Part of that experience includes Zech driving with a replica of Schumacher’s helmet. The combination of car and helmet is very reminiscent of what it looked like decades ago, with the man behind the wheel being the main difference.

Schumacher drove this car at the age of 28. Zech is 80. “Sadly so!”, he laughs while talking to Motorsport.com. “But that’s special, isn’t it? Driving such a car is a challenge, but I still feel incredibly fit. I had to get the official [racing] licence to drive it and, for that, I had to pass a health check. It was also a surprise to me that I am still so fit.”

Even more striking than the age is that until last year, Zech had never driven a single-seater.

“I only started driving race cars in May last year, but I always said: if I buy a Formula 1 car, then I would like to drive it one day. In that respect, I owe everything to Ingo Gerstl,” the Austrian Boss GP driver who holds the lap record at the TT Circuit Assen with his Toro Rosso STR01.

“He got me this far and said ‘We’ll do a health check and if it goes well, then we’ll go for it’. I bought a GP2 car from him and that is my training car now.

“I started in that car and in May I drove Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari for the first time. Last year, we already presented the 310B here in Assen, but it wasn’t moving back then.

“Many data appeared to have been erased. Ingo Gerstl has great contacts in Italy and thanks to him the car could run in his own workshop for the first time in March. That was a phenomenal moment for all of us. This is the only historic Ferrari that is running without ‘F1 clienti’ support from Maranello.”

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