Mick Schumacher, the teenage son of the seven times Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, has announced that he will be returning to Formula 4 in 2016, but has switched teams from Van Amersfoort Racing to Prema Powerteam.
However; it’s undecided whether he’ll focus on the German or Italian F4 championships, with Prema prominent in both.
With the outfits links to Formula 3 and GP2, the young German could be setting up a relationship that he hopes will propel him up the order in years to come. There had been rumours of a move to European Formula 3, but as one of the top rookies from last year, Schumacher will be hoping for title success in the year to come.
Schumacher said: “Prema Powerteam for me is the perfect next step on my way to go for the best performance and to become a complete driver. The team is very experienced and open, and everybody is really good in working closely with us drivers – plus there is Angelo who is behind every detail.”
“It already is a lot of fun to work with the team, and I look forward to this challenge and to sharing a cool experience together. I am very proud to be a part of Prema.”
Prema founder Angelo Rosin added, saying that: “I am proud to welcome Mick Schumacher to our team. As a driver, he is showcasing a constantly improving potential and he already has one year of experience in Formula 4.
“In his maiden season in single-seaters, he quickly showed he has all it takes to aim for the top. We always kept an eye on him because he was a perfect prospect for Prema – he is quick, smart, determined and likes to work hard with the team in the quest for the highest possible level of performance.”
Last year, the team decided to mainly focus on the Italian Formula 4 series, but with the addition of the German, the priorities could change for the team and for Schumacher’s team mates Juri Vips and Juan Manuel Correa.
Schumacher scored one win throughout 2015 at Oschersleben, the opening weekend of the season, and finished tenth in the championship.
