Schumacher needs ’time’ to speed up in F2 - Rosberg

Mick Schumacher needs more time to adjust to life in Formula 2.

That is the view of Nico Rosberg, the retired 2016 world champion.

In Bahrain, just days ahead of his maiden F1 tests for Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, 20-year-old Schumacher qualified tenth and finished his first F2 race eighth.

"That was definitely a good start, even though I am still learning a lot each time I’m in the car," the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The young German finished the race eighth, meaning that with the reverse grid rules for Sunday’s race, he will actually start from pole.

Rosberg said: "I also finished eighth in my first race in Formula 2 and then started from pole. So that’s a good omen.

"Formula 2 is a strong series, so we have to give him time," Rosberg added. "We can already see that in terms of speed he is still missing something."