Mick Schumacher 'very similar' to Michael, say Ferrari

Mick Schumacher is already showing signs of working like his father, Michael, according to Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto. The current Scuderia boss was previously part of the engineering team in Michael's time at Maranello, having now ascended to the top job.

The 20-year-old son of F1's most successful driver of all time was signed to Ferrari's Driver Academy for 2019, having won European Formula 3 last year to bolster his reputation further.

Stepping up to Formula 2, Mick has been linked with a future Ferrari seat and Binotto sees the youngster already walking in his father's footsteps.

"The first time I saw him [Mick] after many years when he came back, I looked at him and don't think he really looked similar to Michael," said Binotto.

"But the way he's behaving is very similar – the approach, the way he's interested in the car, discussing conditions.

"He was always looking at the car, speaking to the mechanics. That's very similar to his father."

Schumacher Jnr drove current F1 machinery for the first time following the Bahrain Grand Prix as he took part in testing with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo.

His run in the SF90 prompted understandable excitement, but Binotto says giving him the drive was not about assessing his suitability for a future F1 drive.

"The objective was not really to assess the performance in the very first day in an F1 car," said Binotto.

"More important for him is the learning phase. Day by day he is advancing a completely new challenge in his F2 season."

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