Mick Schumacher will drive the Mercedes W14 for the first time next week during a Formula 1 tyre test.
The German is a reserve for the Silver Arrows this season having been dropped by Haas in favour of the more experienced Nico Hulkenberg. Schumacher has two years of full-time F1 experience under his belt and is keen to return to a race seat at the first opportunity.
Between now and then, he is focussed on his responsibilities at Mercedes. And one of them will be to get behind the wheel of their W14 car at a Barcelona test next week organised by tyre suppliers Pirelli after the Spanish Grand Prix.
Mercedes confirmed the plan in a social media post on Wednesday. George Russell will be driving the car on Tuesday before Schumacher gets his chance behind the wheel for the second part of the two-day test, in place of Lewis Hamilton who is not scheduled to take part.
Schumacher's time with Haas came to an end after several expensive crashes and not enough points scored. But he was quickly snapped up by Mercedes who see potential in the German and also liked the romantic aspect of bringing him to the team which his legendary father Michael helped to establish in F1.
Despite his struggles during his first F1 spell, Schumacher proved his talent by winning the Formula 2 championship and showed flashes of his pace in his second Haas season. Nevertheless, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has admitted it will be tough for the 24-year-old to land a race seat for 2024.
The Austrian said: "It's a difficult situation because [Mercedes] is closed, and I would wish for Mick to get a seat, and he deserves it. The situation in 2024 is unfavourable, in 2025 a few doors will open again, but we have to wait and see how things develop at Williams, so it's not easy.
"We have to be careful, because if we support Mick too much, then of course there are critics who would like to make things difficult who then come crawling out of the woodwork."
Hamilton is expected to sign a new Mercedes contract while the likes of Red Bull, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Alpine and McLaren all have their 2024 driver line-ups confirmed. A Haas return is extremely unlikely, meaning only AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo and Williams are potentially realistic destinations for Schumacher next season.
