Schumacher jnr to follow champion dad by making Ferrari F1 test debut

Mick Schumacher will test for Ferrari and Alfa Romeo next week. Picture: AP

The 20-year-old, who signed to the Ferrari academy earlier this year, will drive for the Italian team in Bahrain on Tuesday 2 April – before testing for Alfa Romeo at the same venue a  day later.

Schumacher jnr, who begins his Formula Two campaign – the feeder championship to F1 – at the Sakhir Circuit later this week, said: “I am obviously more than excited and would like to thank Ferrari for giving me this opportunity.

“I am really looking forward to what I’m sure will be a great experience,” added Schumacher jnr, who will race for the Prema team in F2.

“But for the moment, I am consciously putting all thoughts of the test to one side, because I am also very much looking forward to competing in my first F2 race and would like to focus 100 per cent on the weekend to come.”

Schumacher jnr’s participation in next week’s first in-season test will be seen as another major stride to following in his father’s footsteps.

Schumacher snr, pictured, won five of his seven world titles racing for Ferrari at the turn of the century. He also won a record 91 grands prix.

The German, however, has not been seen in public since a dreadful skiing accident more than five years ago. He suffered a catastrophic head trauma during the incident on a family holiday in the French Alps in December 2013.

The Schumacher family have always asked for their privacy to be respected and Michael’s recovery continues amid tight security and close privacy at the family home in Switzerland. Only a handful of official updates on his recovery have been released in recent years.

Ferrari also revealed  yesterday that their young British driver, Callum Ilott, will be handed his F1 debut in a test with Alfa Romeo at  Barcelona’s Circuit de  Catalunya in May.

Ferrari team principal, Mattia Binotto said: “We are firm believers in the value of the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA), as a high-level training programme for talented youngsters and the decision  to give Charles Leclerc a race seat with our team is proof  of that.

“Mick, who joined the FDA in January, and Callum, who has been with us since 2017, are definitely drivers on their way up and I believe that driving the SF90 in an official setting such as the tests in Bahrain and Barcelona can be very useful at this stage in their career.”