Mick Schumacher back behind the wheel of an F1 car at Pirelli tyre test

Mick Schumacher has been back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car as part of a wet weather tyre test for Pirelli, though his running was curtailed after conditions ultimately proved too difficult to continue in.

Schumacher – who has acted as a reserve driver for Mercedes since losing his seat on the grid with Haas after the 2022 season – participated in the testing session held at the Magny-Cours circuit in France on Tuesday as part of development work on next year’s tyres.

READ MORE: Doohan explains ‘strange’ shootout test with friend Schumacher before landing Alpine seat

While the day was intended to be focused on wet weather tyre testing, there was actually too much rain for the test to be able to proceed – as such, Schumacher managed just 29 laps in the W15, with a fastest time of 1m 39.172s.

Testing continued on Wednesday, this time with George Russell at the wheel, and while there was further rainfall amid cool conditions, the work that had not been able to be carried out on the first day was completed.

Russell amassed a total of 86 laps, putting in a quickest effort of 1m 28.428s as development work continued on Pirelli’s extreme wet and intermediate tyres.

Another testing session will be held next week on October 8-9 at the Mugello track in Italy, where Red Bull and Ferrari are set to work on the 2025 tyres.

READ MORE: Vowles apologises to Mick Schumacher as he clarifies ‘foolish’ comments that German driver ‘isn’t special’

McLaren, meanwhile, will become the second team to support Pirelli’s development of the tyres for 2026, following on from Aston Martin giving the prototype its debut running at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in September.