Schumacher 'ready to race tomorrow' despite limited F1 testing mileage

Mick Schumacher feels ready to make his Formula 1 debut despite there being limited testing opportunities ahead of the new season.

Testing was cut to just three days because the cars are mostly a carry over from 2020 as a result of the technical regulations remaining mostly stable, but also as a way to reduce costs.

Schumacher completed 181 laps across the three days of testing in Bahrain. 

Despite limited time in the car, the German feels ready to make his F1 debut next weekend.

“I would be ready to go racing tomorrow,” Schumacher said. “We did so much analyzing yesterday, Nikita [Mazepin] was able to drive and get those race runs in, so I was able to go through all the data. 

“Looking at today I am able to correlate that to yesterday, the track conditions are different but nonetheless I am able to extract the feeling that I have on track and then really able to feel every little change that I do the changes the way the tyre behaves on track, and how the car behaves on track. 

“I do feel ready, I would go racing tomorrow if it was up to me.”

Even though Haas is expected to be at the back once again in 2021 as it focuses on next year's car, Schumacher's enthusiasm remains the same.

“I have to say it feels even better driving this car than I expected,” Schumacher added. “You drive a car, but this is really fun. It is not something I will quickly get bored of, so looking forward to driving more tomorrow, and the race cannot come quick enough. 

“So I’m really looking forward to the season. I would love to drive every day. I could put in another eight days and go straight into the race weekend.”