Mick Schumacher, son of seven-times world champion Michael, made his Formula One test debut for Ferrari in Bahrain Tuesday and lapped second fastest behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen. On a surprisingly wet day at the same track where his father won the first Grand Prix in the Middle East with Ferrari 15 years ago, Schumacher was 0.597 seconds slower than the 21-year-old Dutchman. The 20-year-old German, who made his Formula Two debut at the Sakhir circuit over the weekend and finished eighth and sixth in the two races, had been top with five minutes remaining. That was the first time since 2012 that a Schumacher had led an official Formula One time chart. His time of one minute 29.976 seconds was set on the softest, and fastest, C5 tires — softer than anyone else's — and he completed 56 laps on a day where track time was limited by bad weather washing out much of the middle of the day. The reigning European F3 champion will also test with the Ferrari-powered Alfa Romeo team (formerly Sauber) Wednesday. Tuesday's test in the SF90 was Mick's first experience of a modern F1 car, although he did drive his father's 1994 title-winning Benetton at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit before the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher, who still holds the record of 91 Grand Prix wins, won five of his titles with Ferrari in a golden period from 2000 to 2004. He last raced for the team in 2006 before a comeback with Mercedes from 2010-12 and has not been seen in public since he suffered severe head injuries in a skiing accident in the French Alps in December 2013. Mick, who joined the Ferrari academy in January, was the only debutant on track in a rain-hit opening session that followed Sunday's second grand prix of the season. F1 doubles prize money for virtual championship Formula One has more than doubled the prize money for this year's esports world championship, with the virtual teams racing for a very real pot of $500,000 compared to last year's $200,000. The series, which starts on April 8 and has New Balance as title sponsor, will also have more races than last year's competition which the sport said was watched by 5.5 million viewers. The Pro Draft, from which teams must select at least one of their drivers, will take place in July with four live events — one more than last year — between September and December to decide the champion and winning team. Britain's Brendon Leigh has won the title for the past two years, in 2018 with the team of real life world champions Mercedes. The top team in 2018 took home $50,000, with the runners-up $40,000 and third placed outfit $34,000. Nine of the 10 teams — all but Ferrari — took part. Formula One did not give details for the breakdown of the 2019 prize pot. (Writing by Alan Baldwin in London; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Pritha Sarkar)
