Wearing red overalls, a Schumacher was entering the cockpit of a Ferrari again after 13 years. Only this time, it wasn't the legendary Michael Schumacher but his son Mick Schumacher driving the Formula 1 car at the Bahrain test earlier this week. The 20-year-old is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and has been carving out a name for himself in the world motorsport. Mick made his F1 test debut with Ferrari, almost completing a circle for the Schumacher family.
Mick Schumacher made his Ferrari F1 Test debut at the Sakhir circuit wearing the number '29'
The first day of the test at the Sakhir circuit saw him complete 10 laps with the fastest time of 1m32.552s, and was the eighth fastest before the teams took an early lunch due to the heavy downpour. The second test day saw the Formula 2 driver complete 56 laps and was set to be fastest before being pipped by Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Schumacher Junior set the fastest lap time of 1m29.976s on the softest compound available, while Verstappen managed to post a time of 1m29.379s, 0.597s faster than Mick, set on the C3 tyre.
Aside from being a Schumacher, Mick has proven his mettle in F3 and F2 series
It's interesting that Mick Schumacher is not an official test driver for Ferrari, but was rated high enough by the team to be given a testing opportunity over reserve drivers including Antonio Fuoco, Brendon Hartley, Davide Rigon and Mahindra Racing Formula E driver Pascal Wehrlein.
However, Schumacher Junior does emerge as a promising F1 driver of tomorrow. The racer is currently part of the Formula 2 series with Prima Racing and finished eighth and sixth respectively in the first two races of the 2019 F2 season. He also won the Formula 3 championship last year. In addition to the Ferrari F1 car, Mick Schumacher will also be testing the Alfa Romeo F1 car.
Mick Schumacher set the second fastest time behind Verstappen in the in-season testing at Bahrain
Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher is recovering from his skiing incident in 2013 and has not been seen in public since. The Schumacher family and friends have been closely guarded about his health's condition and Mick too avoided the question pertaining to his father's health during the pre-test press conference.
One of the most icnoic names in the world of Formula 1, Michael Schumacher won five consecutive F1 drivers' titles with Ferrari between 2000 and 2004, in addition to the winning championships with Benetton in the 1990s. The racer drove a Ferrari for the final time at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2006 at the Interlagos and finished fourth, which marked his first retirement from the sport. He returned to F1 in 2010 with Mercedes along with mentor and friend Ross Brawn, but had a disappointing three seasons bagging just one podium and no race wins.
