"I would go racing tomorrow if it would be up to me," admits Mick Schumacher as he anticipates F1 race debut.

If points were awarded for enthusiasm, Mick Schumacher would probably be leading the championship already.

Despite the fact that Haas' 2021 contender is virtually the same car that continually thwarted the hopes (and careers) of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen in 2020 and will undergo almost no development over the coming months, Mick Schumacher's enthusiasm for the new season is infectious.

"I would go racing tomorrow if it would be up to me," says the youngster. "In general, I think obviously three days testing are not a lot. But I have to say I feel comfortable already now.

"If it was by my liking, I would love to drive every day," he admits. "I would be thrilled to be able to do as many kilometres and drive every single day, because that's my passion, that's my love."

Despite the obvious shortcomings of the VF-21, not to mention reliability issues that meant he only completed 181 laps in Bahrain compared to his teammate's 213, Schumacher refuses to consider the fact that he is facing a baptism of fire this season.

"I have to say it feels even better driving this car than I expected," he insists. "Obviously you drive a car, but this is really fun and it's something I won't get quickly bored of. The race weekend can't come quickly enough, if that makes sense. I'm really looking forward to this season.

"As I said, I would love to drive every day. I could put another eight days to it and just go straight into the race weekend."

While it may be some time before he has any hope of carrying the number 1 that adorned his father's car for so much of his career, the youngster was able to persuade the sport's powers-that-be to assign him the timing screen code MSC previously assigned to his father, seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher, as opposed to SCH as had been originally planned.

"I wanted that MSC," he admits. "I think it is an emotional bond I have to it.

"Obviously I think is quite nice for everybody watching the timing screens and seeing MSC back on the screens as well."

Indeed Mick, indeed.