Michael Schumacher’s son Mick to make F1 practice debut

Formula 2 Prema Racing driver Mick Schumacher of Germany, center, celebrates his win after the Formula 2 feature race, at the Sochi Autodrom circuit, in Sochi, Russia, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. The Russian Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, Pool)

MARANELLO, Italy — Michael Schumacher’s son, Mick, will have an official Formula One drive during a race weekend for the first time next week at the Nürburgring, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari said on Tuesday.

Schumacher gets the practice drive in an Alfa Romeo on Oct. 9 on his home track in Germany as a member of Ferrari’s young driver program, taking over Antonio Giovinazzi’s car for the first session of the weekend.

“I am overjoyed to get this chance in free practice,” Schumacher said in a statement. “I’m going to prepare myself well, so that I can do the best possible job for the team and gain some valuable data for the weekend.”

The 21-year-old Schumacher leads the Formula 2 standings after winning races in Monza and Sochi. He won the European Formula 3 championship in 2018 and tested a Ferrari F1 car in Bahrain in April 2019. He’s also done demonstration runs in his father’s old cars, most recently this month ahead of the Tuscan Grand Prix in a championship-winning 2004 Ferrari.

Ferrari said two other drivers in its academy program will also get practice drives.

Callum Ilott, a British driver who is second to Schumacher in F2, will drive a Haas at the Nürburgring on the same day as Schumacher. Russian driver Robert Shwartzman will drive in practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Dec. 11, though Ferrari hasn’t said for which team.

The German round was added to the F1 schedule after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the season and will be officially known as the Eifel Grand Prix after a nearby mountain range. The Nürburgring last hosted F1 in 2013.