As Michael Schumacher continues his road to recovery, his son Mick Jr. might be trying his hand at racing.
Motor Sports Talk reported that the seven-time Formula One champion's son spent one day in the middle of December 2014 secret testing a Formula 4 single-seater car at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain. Austrian newspaper Osterreich revealed the news that the younger Schumacher drove through the 120,000-seat track, which is frequently used as a test facility by F1 teams. It seems the 15-year-old had the potential to be a racer.
The F4 secret test may actually serve as a tryout for an F4 competition in 2016, but Mick is expected to remain in the karting circuit for one more year.
Pete Mucke, team owner of Mucke Motorsports, told Osterreich, "Mick is certainly talented." However, he stated that kart driving is different from F1 racing, "You cannot say absolutely that a good kart driver will be fast in a Formula One car. It is no good only having a great name as a driver, you have to be fast." He did not provide further comments on Mick's potential and talent, "After a day of testing, no assessment of Mick is possible yet."
Mick Jr. is not entirely new to the racetrack. Drive Spark reported that he was recently named World Karting Vice-Champion in the FIA KF-Junior category World Championships in Essay, France in September, second only to Enaam Ahmed of England. He used the name Mick Betsch, the maiden name of his mother Corinna, during the race to avoid distractions and maintain the privacy of his father, who is still recovering from a skiing accident in December 2013.
Bleacher Report wrote that the FIA KF-Junior category World Championships is the highest level in junior karting. During the grand final, Mick started in eighth place but immediately battled it out with other kart drivers to win second place. The youngest son of Michael Schumacher was kept away from the F1 circus while he was growing up but developed into a good kart driver, finishing in the top 3 in previous competitions since 2010.
Schumacher said about his accomplishment in the same report by Motor Sports Talk, "Of course I am proud of such an important result. But it is also clear that it is my goal to be world champion. This is only the beginning of my career."
Sabine Kehm, Michael Schumacher's manager refused to say anything about Mick Jr.'s F4 trials.
"I don't want to say anything," she said in a report by F1 Today.
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