Schumacher was at the peak of his powers in 2001, taking his fourth F1 world drivers’ title - his second wi💖th Ferrari.

A 16-year-old Lewis Hamilton was currently rac🐓ing in karting during this time, racing alongside childhood friend and futu🅘re F1 teammate, .

The three drivers - all of whom would write their names in the F1 history books🎐 as world champions - took to the German karting track of Kerpen in the World Championship Karting final.

Both Hamilton and Rosberg were set to make the move up the junior ladder to cars for t𒉰he following year, so it was a last chance ꦚopportunity to impress, particularly as Schumacher was also competing.

Schumacher topped the practice sessions but could only manage 22nd in qualify༒ing, losing oᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚut in the wet conditions.

The German was put in the same ra𒁏ce as Hamilton in the afternoon, with the Briti🌳sh driver finishing second behind Vitantonio Luizzi - who would also make it into F1 in the following years.

Schumacher recovered from 22nd to finish 💞eight, 9.5s behi💜nd the Italian.

Fast fo🐻rward to the second heat, Schumacher qualified 🐟16th, while Hamilton only managed 26th.

The Ferrari driver then showed his class in the finals, moving up to third from 16th on the grid, but his hard work was undone by ꦦan uncharacteristic mistake, spinning on lap 15 which dropped him down the order.

Hamil💞ton far♛ed better, finishing seventh after starting down in 26th.

The action didn’t stop there as during the final race, Schumacher, Rosberg and Hamilton all enjoyed str🦩ong finishes.

Schumacher ran fourth ahead o🗹f Rosberg in sixth, and Hamilton in ninth.

The🦩 trio ben꧃efitted from an incident between the two leaders, allowing Schumacher to be promoted to second - once Maro Ardigo was disqualified.

Schumacher was 🔯ultimately classified second, with Rosberg ﷽third and Hamilton seventh.

After 𓆉t𝓰he event had come to a close, Hamilton admitted he was disappointed not to have battled Schumacher.

• Three times Michael Schumacher and Lewওis Ha༒milton went head-to-head

“I never really had a chance to get near Schumacher, which was a shame because I’d have like to have beaten him around a few corners,” Hamilton 🍎said. 

“I could see him in the distance in🌌 the second race, but to be fair it didn’t really💎 make much of a difference to me.”

While the pair didn’t have too many encounters on track, Hamilton’s performances that da🐬y did catch the attention of Schumacher.

“He’s a quality driver, very strong and only 16,” Schumacher explained. “If he keeps this up I’m sure he will reach F1. It’s something special 🌜to see a kid of his age out on the circuit. He’s clearly got the right racing mentality.”