F1 News: Fernando Alonso gives Mick Schumacher advice on what to do next

What's the story?

The big story following the 2018 F1 season, apart from the driver changes, was the announcement that Mick Schumacher, son of 7-time F1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, signing for Ferrari's Young Driver Programme.

Former Ferrari driver, Fernando Alonso, had some advice for the 19-year-old racer, who will be competing in the F2 Championship in 2019.

In case you didn't know...

Mick Schumacher finished second in the Italian Formula 4 Championship as well as the ADAC Formula 4 Championship in 2016 following which he joined Prema Powerteam for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. In the 2018 F3 season, Mick won the Drivers' Championship, dominating the second half of the season.

Schumacher will take another step closer to F1 by competing in the F2 Championship in 2019 for Prema Racing, and was also signed with the Ferrari Driver Academy.

The heart of the matter

Fernando Alonso, who won the 24 Hours of Daytona last month, spoke about the advice that he would give to the junior Schumacher.

"The weight of that last name and his history, it will be very hard. I have some advice for Mick though, and that is to learn to walk before you start running.

"Michael (Schumacher) stopped racing when he was 43, so you don't always have to look at your expiry date. It's about realising when somebody is stronger than you. This can happen when you're 25 or when you're 48. Again, age has nothing to do with it," said the two-time World Champion to Corriere della Sera.

What's next?

Schumacher will compete in the F2 Championship which will begin at Sakhir, Bahrain on 30th and 31st March, running alongside the F1 race.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso will be competing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), with the next race the iconic 1000 Miles of Sebring.