Mick Schumacher did his father proud in a Ferrari F1 car

By topgear, 03 April 2019
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A poignant moment for F1 fans, this. The son of Michael Schumacher - F1’s most decorated driver - has driven a fully-fledged F1 car for the first time. And fittingly, it was a Ferrari, the team which Mick Schumacher’s dad won five of his seven world titles, from 1999-2004.

This was no tourist outing either. Mick, who has driven in the F3 and F2 feeder series to motorsport’s premier single-seater championship, was quick. During the post-Bahrain GP test session, the 19-year old completed 56 laps, and made it to second on the timing sheet, slower only than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Because in F1 testing, we don’t know how light each car is on fuel, or what engine modes it’s running, we can’t directly compare Mick Schumacher to the rest of the F1 field, but there’s no doubt that jumping into a strange and advanced racing car and pumping in a time only 2.11sec slower than Charles Leclerc’s pole position effort is nothing short of impressive.

Of his time in the Ferrari SF90, Mick said: “It felt like home in the garage from the very first moment with a lot of people that have known me since I was very young. The SF90 is incredible because of the power it has, but it is also smooth to drive, and that’s why I enjoyed myself so much.

“I was impressed by the braking power an F1 car has. It seemed to me you could brake later and later and the car would have made the turn anyway.”

Mick Schumacher will also test with the Alfa Romeo team today. It’s not as simple as this test being an audition for an F1 seat, but if Schumacher Jnr’s times can impress, in and out of F1, then just maybe, one of the most honoured names in motorsport could make a return to Formula One.