Schumacher found an “excellent base” for maiden F1 season in Ferrari test

Mick Schumacher says his test outing for Ferrari provided him with “an excellent base” for his upcoming rookie Formula 1 season.

The German will make his debut this year with Haas and logged over 50 laps on Thursday afternoon as he ramped up his preparations for the 2021 season by driving Ferrari’s 2018-spec SF71H car at Fiorano.

It handed Schumacher the opportunity to rack up some further mileage and get up to speed ahead of pre-season testing next month in Bahrain, following his previous F1 outing with Haas at the end-of-season Abu Dhabi test in December.

"Finally sitting in a car again is a feeling I was missing a lot," said Schumacher after his return to the cockpit. "I think today has definitely been a positive day at the track.

"We managed to get through the entire programme that we had scheduled without any problem and it was clearly very useful to be able to get through so much mileage at the wheel of a Formula 1 car in view of the coming season that will be starting in about a month and a half with the pre-season testing.

.@SchumacherMick returns to Fiorano #FDA @ScuderiaFerrari pic.twitter.com/2ubLyJNBbc

— FerrariDriverAcademy (@insideFDA) January 28, 2021

"The SF71H is a car from 2018, but its behaviour on the track and the feelings that it gives to the driver are very similar, both in terms of how it behaves on the track and physical stress to a current car. That makes it an excellent base when it comes to preparation for the new season.

"Driving at Fiorano is always great anyway because the track is technical and demanding.

"It's been a pleasure to meet up once again with the engineers and mechanics I worked with last September, and I can't wait to get back into the car.”

The 21-year-old reigning Formula 2 champion will get more time behind the wheel of the SF71H this morning before Ferrari test driver Callum Ilott rounds out the five-day test in the afternoon.