Mick Schumacher completes family circle with eagerly awaited Ferrari test drive

Mick – then just 14 – was skiing at his father’s side when Michael suffered the accident that changed his life. The emotional torment must have been horrendous, but a career in motorsport already beckoned, and with it the need to find a way to navigate the inevitable attention that comes with being his father’s son.

Those close to him have worked hard to protect him, create an environment in which he could grow, and at the same time prepare him for what they knew was to come. His mother, Corinna, and his manager, Sabine Kehm – who used to be Michael’s manager – have been key. But there have been others, too, offering advice along the way.

“I’ve known him since he was little boy,” says Ross Brawn, the engineer who worked with Michael pretty much throughout his F1 career. “It’s been fascinating. There was a period where he wasn’t sure but he’s now got the bit between his teeth.

“He’s a very determined young man and it is fascinating how his competitiveness kicked in last year in Formula 3. People who know him or spend more time with him than I do say it has been impressive progress in his driving career in the last 12 months or so.

“He is a very nice young man and staying like that with the pressures and challenges that come will be one of the things that will be challenging for him. But I’m sure he will.

“He’s got a very balanced family and they’ve all known the experience from Michael so they’ll know how to handle it if Mick is successful.

“It’s very exciting. So many times I see Mick and I see Michael in him very strongly. It would be wonderful. But there is tremendous pressure on the lad, so I hope people can keep that in perspective and not put unrealistic expectations on him.”

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, who first had Michael as a hero and later became his friend, has known Mick for many years. He adds: “The name brings some expectations but to end up in F1 you need to prove you have the speed. so far he has done really well.

“The way he has developed in the last years deserves where he is now and we should give him the time and peace to do his job. It is not easy for him. On the other hand, he is used to it.”

Mick dabbled in go-karts from a very early age and started racing seriously at the age of 12. In 2015, aged 16, he took the step into cars, but at that stage, according to those who knew him, he projected a sense of simply having a lot of fun rather than a laser focus on F1.

People grow up at different rates, and Mick would not have been ready for a move to F1 at the age of 17, like Max Verstappen, a family friend – Max’s father Jos was team-mate to Michael at Benetton in 1994, and they remained close afterwards.

Ask Mick when he realised he wanted to make a career in motor racing, and he says: “I guess you can’t really say it’s a certain moment. Already in go-karts I said: ‘OK, that’s what I really want to do professionally, as a career, as a job.’ And so it started pretty soon that I took it quite serious and it worked out well and I’m happy to be here.”

There seems, though, to have been a step change over the winter of 2017/18, as Mick prepared for his second season in European Formula 3.