Schumacher continues winning ways in Austria as Ferrari looks on

Mick Schumacher followed up his Saturday win in the European F3 series with a fifth consecutive victory and a second place finish on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring.

The 19-year-old Prema driver started his day at Spielberg with a seventh win in nine races, dominating the field of young chargers and extending his lead in the championship following a costly retirement for challenger Dan Ticktum.

On Sunday afternoon, Race 3 saw Schumacher's impressive winning streak come to an end, the German vanquished by Prema team mate and Ferrari protégé Robert Shvartzman who conquered his first win of the year.

The two men were in a league of their during the 22-lap race, with Ticktum coming home fourth and conceding more ground to Schumacher who now leads the Brit by 49 points in the championship with three races to go.

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There is obviously no doubting Schumacher's good genes, but the son of F1's legendary seven-time world champion appears to have broken through a level lately, and his performances haven't gone unnoticed over at Maranello.

"The recent results were very, very good and I wish to him a great career," commented Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene last weekend in Singapore.

"But let the guy have fun. I always repeat this: [young drivers should be] focused, concentrated, but at the same time have fun and grow up slowly but certainly.

"Then we will see about the future. How can you say no, in Maranello, to a name like this?”

Sauber's Fred Vasseur, a man whose reputation as a talent spotter is firmly establisehd, is keeping the Schumacher hype in check however, insisting on the massive step that exists between F3 and F1.

"Honestly, I think there is a huge step between F3 and F1, and with the small number of test days we have during the winter, I think it’s… I don’t want to say impossible because we will see, but it’s quite difficult to do the step," said Vasseur.

"It will make sense probably for him to do Formula 2 or something like this. But he could have a link with a Formula 1 team, he could do some FP1s. There are many ways to prepare for F1."

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