Mick Schumacher completed an afternoon of testing with Ferrari at Italian circuit Fiorano ahead of his rookie Formula One season.
Schumacher, son of seven-time world champion Michael, is part of the Ferrari driver academy and will race for American team Haas this season. Ferrari has booked out its Fiorano race track for a week of testing with its 2018 car, the SF71H.
On Thursday afternoon, Schumacher completed over 50 laps in the car.
M.Schumacher 🇩🇪
Great to see @SchumacherMick back in action this afternoon! 🤩 https://t.co/aDJZQefhf3#FDA @ScuderiaFerrari pic.twitter.com/YrLVEGS8hs
— FerrariDriverAcademy (@insideFDA) January 28, 2021
After the test, Schumacher said: “We managed to get through the entire programme that we had scheduled without any problem and it was clearly very useful to be able to get through so much mileage at the wheel of a Formula 1 car in view of the coming season that will be starting in about a month and a half with the pre-season testing.
“The SF71H is a car from 2018, but its behaviour on the track and the feelings that it gives to the driver are very similar, both in terms of how it behaves on the track and physical stress to a current car.
“That makes it an excellent base when it comes to preparation for the new season.”
The German driver won last year’s Formula 2 championship. He has joined Haas’ all-rookie lineup with Russia’s Nikita Mazepin.
Schumacher took over from new Ferrari signing Carlos Sainz on Thursday afternoon. Sainz had completed a day and a half of testing, having taken over from new teammate Charles Leclerc, who drove on Tuesday.
Friday will conclude the test, with Schumacher driving in the morning before handing over to Ferrari test driver Callum Ilott on Friday afternoon.
The official F1 pre-season tests will take place in Bahrain between March 12-14, down from six days last year.
The opening race of the season is the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 28.