Mick Schumacher takes early Italian F4 lead

Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael, holds the Italian Formula 4 Championship lead after winning two of his three races at the Misano opener.

The 17-year-old is contesting both the Italian and German F4 series initially with Prema Powerteam this year, before deciding later in the season whether to focus on just one.

The Italian series has adopted a heats-and-final format for 2016 due to an enormous 41-car entry, with drivers split into groups and each contesting two of the three heats before average results set the grid for the last race.

Schumacher quickly overcame polesitter Marcos Siebert to win his first outing on Saturday morning, then led throughout the wet second heat later that day. That earned him pole for Sunday afternoon's final, and though he stalled on the grid he was able to fight back through to fourth place.

The combination of results gives Schumacher an early four-point lead over Mexican Raul Guzman, who won heat three. Siebert won the final and is third in the standings, nine points down.

Schumacher's German F4 campaign starts at Oschersleben next week. Last year he made his car racing debut with Van Amersfoort Racing in his domestic F4 championship, taking a win in the reverse-grid leg of the season opener. That proved to be his sole victory of 2015, though he finished 10th in the championship. He was also a podium-finisher on a one-off appearance in India's MRF Challenge earlier this year.

Originally on Autosport.com