The private contest between the two rivals and friends has been taken to the next level. On the penultimate weekend of November, just seven weeks after Joey Mawson (20, Australia, Van Amersfoort Racing) and Mick Schumacher (17, Germany, Prema Powerteam) picked up the 2016 ADAC Formula 4 championship and runner-up trophies respectively, they came up against each other again in competitive circumstances.

The son of record Formula 1 championship winner Michael Schumacher won Races 2 and 4 in the MRF Challenge on the Bahrain International Circuit and secured a further podium in the third race. Mawson made it onto the podium in the first three races, only missing out in the fourth due to a faulty gear shift.

Several more of the 2016 ADAC Formula 4 crop of drivers were vying for honours: Juri Vips (16, Estonia, Prema Powerteam) and Felipe Drugovich (16, Brazil, Neuhauser Racing) as well as Kim-Luis Schramm (19, Germany, US Racing Team) who finished the season in fifth place.

Schumacher tops the table after the first race weekend on 75 points ahead of second-placed Ralf Aron (18, Estonia) on 72 and third-placed Mawson on 61. There is one more fixture on the MRF calendar before Christmas: the formula racing stars of tomorrow will be battling it out in Dubai on the weekend of 8th -10th December. Eight more races follow in the New Year: Delhi (27th - 29th January) and Chennai (17th - 19th February).