The 50-year-old watched Schumacher Jr in action alongside staff from the Ferrari Driving Academy as he completed laps in his Formula Two Prema team car, prior to getting into the cockpit of the iconic red Ferrari on Tuesday. Corinna has been fiercely protective of her husband ever since he sustained serious head injuries in a skiing accident five years ago after hitting his head on a rock, with the family releasing few details about his current condition. However, she was clearly keen to see young Mick in action, and looked happy and relaxed as she arrived at the track.
F1 fans are excited at the prospect of seeing Mick compete for the Italian team with which his dad won five of his seven world titles.
The youngster – who looks remarkably like Schumacher, who turned 50 this year – admitted: “For sure there are going to be emotions,” while insisted he was “totally confident” and “really prepared, 100 percent ready”.
Mick, who was with his dad when the accident happened, told reporters: “I wouldn’t be the person I am now if it wasn’t for him.
“Obviously it’s a part of me, I’m his son. He’s my dad and I’m happy.
“He’s the best ever in F1, which is something I look up to. I’m happy to have him as a dad.”
Mick previously downplayed the suggestion that being the son of the sport’s greatest ever driver increased the pressure on him as he prepares to launch his own F1 career.
He told told German newspaper the Siegerland Kurier: “I think I’m pretty good at putting it away, having my head 100 percent focused on Formula 2 and putting all my energy into it.
“I’m also very happy about being compared to my dad.”
Ross Brawn, long-term friend and mentor of his father, said of Mick: He said: “It’s so exciting, I often very much see Michael in Mick.
“The people who know him and spend more time with him than I say that he has made impressive progress in the past twelve months. He is a nice young man.”
Ever since his accident on December 29, 2013, Michael Schumacher has received specialist treatment at his home in Switzerland, although the exact nature of his injuries has never been revealed.
However, after the accident Professor Stephano Charades said he had operated to removed hematomas from his brain, and Schumacher was placed in an induced coma for six months after the accident.
A family statement issued via Facebook to mark Schumacher’s birthday on January 3 said Schumacher was in the “very best of hands”.
The Schumachers stressed that “everything humanely possible” was being done to help his recovery.
They added: “Please understand we are following Michael’s wishes and keeping such a sensitive subject as health, as it has always been, in privacy.
“At the same time, we say thank you very much for your friendship and wish you a healthy and happy year 2019.”