Michael Schumacher's teenage son to make car racing debut

Michael Schumacher's son has signed up to take part in Formula 4, a series for junior drivers. Mick, who is 15-years-old, will drive for Van Amersfoort Racing.

In the announcement made on their website, the Dutch auto racing team explained how they first got in touch with Mick last autumn and were impressed by his skills.

"He spent a full day in the simulator at our headquarters in The Netherlands," company owner Frits van Amersfoort said. "Then we witnessed him during a test session at Valencia and eventually, we reached an agreement to compete together in this year's ADAC Formula 4 series."

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The company traditionally approaches the runner-up from the German Junior Kart Championship to come for a test session, which happened to be Mick last year.

The talented teenager is the first confirmed youngster to drive for Van Amersfoort Racing in the single-seater category, while talks are in place to secure other young drivers.

Mick will make his Formula 4 debut on 25 April in his native Germany, in the town of Oschersleben.

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At the time of his runner-up triumph last year, Mick revealed that he hoped to follow in his father's footsteps, saying: "Of course I am proud of such an important result. But it is also clear that it is my goal to be world champion. This is only the beginning of my career."

His famous father Michael, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time, holds seven Formula One World Champion titles.

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Michael and his son Mick were skiing together in the French Alps when the racing legend suffered an accident in December 2013. Since then 46-year-old Michael has faced a long road to recovery, having been placed in a medically induced coma and finally regaining consciousness in June 2014.

He was then transferred from Grenoble Hospital to the University Hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland – a few miles from his home – and eventually moved to his family home to continue his recovery process.

According to his friend and former racing driver Philippe Streiff, Michael remains paralysed and in a wheelchair, and cannot speak. "He is getting better but everything is relative," said the Frenchman. "It's very difficult. He can't speak. Like me, he is in a wheelchair paralysed. He has memory problems and speech problems."