Timo Glock has praised Mick Schumacher for giving himself "time" to get ready for a Formula 1 career.
While many rookies make their F1 debuts as teenagers these days, the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher will turn 21 when he almost certainly begins his second season in Formula 2 next year.
Former F1 driver Glock told the German magazine Focus: "Purely from a driving perspective, I support him very much.
"He has approached everything with care, not rushing the process and giving himself time," Glock, now a DTM driver and F1 pundit for German television, added.
"I’m quite sure Mick has the potential for Formula 1 and in the right car can do the job just as well as anyone else," he said.
"In his first F1 tests, he showed that he is right on the pace."
However, Schumacher is just twelfth overall in Formula 2 this year, meaning he needs to improve next year in order to qualify for an F1 super license.
But Glock defends the young German.
"Even in the lower classes, whether you get the title depends on the team. And the difficulty for a young man of his age is that with that name, everyone is watching him so closely," he said.