F1: Mick Schumacher set to make Ferrari test debut in Bahrain

It has been confirmed that Mick Schumacher will make his Formula 1 test debut for Ferrari in Bahrain next week.

The German, son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, will take part in a two-day in-season test following the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 20-year-old will test the Ferrari SF90 on Tuesday 2 April and then drive the Alfa Romeo Racing car on Wednesday 3 April.

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After winning the European Formula 3 title last year Schumacher is stepping up to Formula 2 in 2019 and has also joined the Ferrari Driver Academy. In Bahrain this weekend he will make his F2 debut for the Prema Racing team.

Schumacher said: “I am obviously more than excited and would like to thank Ferrari and Alfa Romeo for giving me this opportunity.

“I am really looking forward to what I’m sure will be a great experience. 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 a hundred percent on the weekend to come.”

Sky Sports reports that Ferrari will also give British youngster Callum Ilott the opportunity to drive for Alfa Romeo when in-season testing takes place in Barcelona on 14-15 May.

In a statement Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said: “We are firm believers in the value of the Ferrari Driver Academy, 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.

“We are therefore very pleased to be able to give Mick and Callum the opportunity to experience driving a Formula 1 car.

“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.”

The F1 Bahrain Grand Prix takes place on Sunday 31 March at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir (4.10pm start UK time).

Ferrari have confirmed that Sebastian Vettel will be behind the wheel of the SF90 on the second day of testing in Bahrain on 3 April.