Comeback of Michael Schumacher

[V12-Power]

There have been many rumours during the last weeks, now it seems that they turn into reality. The german newspaper Bild reports on it's website, that Michael Schumacher signed a one-season-agreement with Mercedes GP. Usually this newspaper is informed very well in those things, they were also the first who knew Schumacher would try to give his comeback in the Ferrari.

Now I wait for an official press-release, I guess it will come very soon. Then I'll be really happy!

I just hope that his neck has healed completely and there are no further problems with it. Otherwise the whole thing would become an absolute desaster for MSC, Mercedes and the fans! All in all Schumi has my biggest respect, he shows that he is absolutely addicted to this sport, a true champion. I hope he can prove once again, that he is the best, what would consequently lead to the title. At least that would be what he deserves for this great decision.

[MaxD]

Have to say when it was first announced he would replace Fillipe Massa in Valencia. I was dissapointed that Michael wanted to comeback for just one, maybe just several races. But, with there being the possibility of him racing for A WHOLE SEASON, Im excited and hope that all goes well with the neck check. Having him back would be fantastic - he was my favourite driver for many many years, his sheer artistry behind the wheel was something to behold and I will be VERY interested to see how he goes up against the current crop of F1 drivers.

[AAS]

Hmmmm??, I'm not really happy.
It's interesting to see how he will manage this.
But now the german TV Station will talk about Schumi, Schumi, Schumi and Schumi.

This should be the year of Vettel, Rosberg, and other drivers from Germany and other nations.
The year with a great duel between two english champions. New teams. New rules. .............

But in german Tv it will be the year of SCHUMI'S COMEBACK.

And Nick? My hope was to see him in that car.

[MaxX]

Personally I like the comeback, hopefully he will do better than Mansell, but I have no doubts about it

....
But in german Tv it will be the year of SCHUMI'S COMEBACK.
....

That`s the downside, you`re right. RTL always made their reportage 99% Schumi

[Gabriele]

I'm a Ferrari supporter since day one. I've seen very bad seasons (1992, 1993, 2009...) and I've seen wonderful seasons (1990, and all the Schumi's ones).
But there has never been a driver that I liked most. Schumi was simply the kaiser, the jack-of-all-trades, the one who picked up Ferrari from the dust in 1996, and brought it back to glory in 2000. The man of records, the devil in red, the ONE and ONLY. I'm speaking about ME, but I guess the bigger part of the tifosi, at least the younger ones (I'm 30...) thinks of him like that.
But.
MS was also the driver that gave "eternal loyalty" to Ferrari, became consulent and ambassador of the brand in the world. The first choice when Massa had to stop. The man who helped develop the California and the Modena. That, most of all, renewed this kind of partnership at the end of 2009 championship.
And now.
He's back on track. With a Mercedes. And after this year he will be the "face" of Mercedes in the world.
He's suddenly became the most utter piece of s**t I've ever seen in Formula One. He'll be hated, he'll be criticized, he'll be - probably - again number one, and this will make him even more hated now that Ferrari seeks revenge on track with Alonso and Massa. Every win for Ferrari will turn to be glorious if in front of the Traitor, and everytime he'll be in front of the red cars he will just be the Traitor who stole again something to Tifosi's hearts.
Again, I'm speaking about ME, but I guess the bigger part of the Tifosi thinks of him like that.

And scr** that "Tifosi" thing. "Tifosi" in italian means "supporter", "fan". You can be supporter of anything, it is not the name of the Ferrari-fans. So I will not call the Ferrari fans "Tifosi" anymore. It was the Traitor who gave us this name, just because he did not understood this thing at all.

[MaxD]

Gabriele, I understand your 'personal' opinion will always be swayed by the fact you are an avid Ferrari fan but so what if Micheal signs and races for Mercedes? He was after all, JUST an employee of Ferrari, he wasn't as revered by the Tifosi as Alesi was, Villeneuve or in my opinion, even Mansell (who they nicknamed Il Leone).

Schumacher did a brilliant job with Ross Brawn and others in dragging the Prancing Horse out of the mess it was in and now there is the opportunity to work with Brawn again and - a little underlooked point, to repay his gratitude to Mercedes Benz.

It was them after all, who paid Eddie Jordan the fee for Micheal to make his debut at Spa in 1991 - long before he signed for Ferrari...

[MaxD]

I find the whole Nick heidfel thing interesting too.

He always struck me as the same as Patrase did - very likeable, very consistant, vey fast on his day, but you always fel like there as just something missing from his makeup to take him to the next level. Nick has traditionally never been a car breaker and the only time I can remember him crashing out of a race was back in Austria when he T-boned Sato a few years ago. He always brings the car home but even at BMW, he has been wrongly placed in Kubica's shadow in the main - and not just because of the size of Robert's nose! (little joke there)

He missed his opportunity when McLaren signed Raikkonen and from then on, I'm afraid, he will always be regarded by fans and team owners as someone who will score points, but that's it, nothing more.

[V12-Power]

Mercedes has announced a press-conference at 11:30. Topic: "another driver announcement".

All your posts are very interesting, thank you for that! It's great to have so many different reactions like Gabriele's emotional one, AAS' seen from the perspective of a german F1-fan (not especially Schumacher-fan) and Max's, who can see this from a more neutral point of view.

@ Gabriele: Ferrari couldn't or didn't want to offer him a cockpit anymore. They prefered Alonso! So Schumachers only possibility was to leave the team, because he recognized that he wanted to drive again. It's sad that the relationship is ended now, but I think we should not forget the great times we had with Ferrari & MSC!

@ AAS: I think that the media in Germany will report about Vettel, Rosberg and Schumacher in a similar way. So I'm pretty sure they will rather make a generation-thing than a Schumacher-thing. For Nick there is still a place at Sauber I think!? That would be a solid driver in a solid team then, not more not less. And it shows, that is important to have a certain image and Nick hasn't even one... that's what he is missing compared to all other german drivers (except Sutil maybe). I personally can only second, what Max said.

[HF]

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/ ... 10301.html

It is official announced: Schumi will drive for one year!

[MaxX]

And we also shouldn`t forget how Schumi`s career ended in 2006, Raikkonnen was signed and Ferrari wanted to keep Massa. I think Schumi would have loved to make 1-2 seasons more for Ferrari and retire at the moment he choosed. Anyway, F1 is more business than sport and so I won`t call him a traitor or something similar. Maybe he`ll return to the Ferrari management after this season (if that`s possible), who knows.

Personally I really look forward to see him on the track again. If he focuses on his skills, leaves out the dirty tricks and the Mercedes is a competitive car (really not sure about this, the project will take it`s time IMHO) than we all could have some fun. Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and RedBull have all great driver pairings, so this could really be close at the front.

Personally I think Nick Heidfeld is fast enough for a victory and a really consisant driver, but he seems to lack the luck at the right time. 2008 I consider Kubica the overall better performance but in 2009 both drivers where pretty equal IMO. Max and FK are totally right, he just lacks the "winning driver"-image, but I wish him the best to change it, or just win his first GP. I think Sutil has an image, as a talented driver making to many risky maneuvers and mistakes.

[Gabriele]

First of all, I apologize with everyone for having been rude and unpolite in my last post, but I am Italian and in this case I am exactly the prototype of a warm-blooded impulsive italian.
For sure Alesi and Villeneuve (most of all) but also Ascari, back in the years, have always had a special place in Ferrari-fans' hearts. Jean for his aggressiveness, heart, bad luck, and its similarity to italian way of thinking. Ascari for dominating two seasons when Ferrari was a no-one starting with races and production. Gilles because it was... Gilles.
But MS, has been the champion of the champions, Mr. 7-world-titles, during years in which every second of race weekends have been broadcasted, reported, wrote about in newspapers etc. It is the most mediatic champion in the last twenty years. Ferrari cars' sales since 1996 have doubled, and that's just because a guy from Kerpen took Ferrari brand off from cars "quite good for races - good and expensive on road" and put on "the most technologically evolved, fast, beautiful" cars on and off the track. Period. Ferrari has supporters in Italy, and that's normal, but what about the Ferrari museum in Abu Dhabi? What about Japanese rich people that had their home built around a Ferrari? Arabs that have as many Ferraris in their garages as I have spiderwebs? Ferrari is all that, and MS part in this has been GREAT.
Having him as an "employee" (5 million euros per year...) was really the prosecution of this great job. He decided at Monza 2006 to stop with races, and so Raikkonen had been signed on a four years contract. It was really his decision, as he said in many interviews here in Italy. MS' speeches were always a mediatic event (that's why I'm saying it is - in the numbers - probably the most loved Ferrari driver in Italy).
V12-Power: Ferrari did want to offer him a seat! It was their first choice during the Massa-issue, but some "mysterious" neck problems kept him off track. And it would have been the first choice if it could have been possible to place three cars per team on the grid. Alonso has signed his contract mid-2009, when Schumacher was just slightly moaning for being off the track since 2006. I'm quite sure ("sure"... the only sure thing in life is death, but anyway...) that if MS talked frankly to Montezemolo, it could have been made an arrangement.
Montezemolo has said: "I had an agreement with Michael Schumacher, but maybe it was another Michael Schumacher the man I spoke with. Anyway, he'll always be a friend of mine". So that means that MS hasn't been very very clear to Ferrari... and this is going to upset Ferrari fans A LOT.

[Greyhead]

To be honest I wasn't surprised that he's made a comeback. When he retired there was very much the impression that he was kind of being forced into it and that he still had something left to offer, after all, he challenged for the title in his final season... But having never been a Schumacher fan, it leaves me cold. I guess he has always been a driver that polarises opinion and this is no different.
As for how he'll do, I hope he does just slip into it. There's nothing worse than a great who tries to make a comeback but just can't cut it any more, it's embarrassing for all involved, but although I can't really see that happening to him, I just get the nagging feeling that it might...

What I find interesting is that when he drove for Sauber-Mercedes in sportscars back in 1991, he was being groomed by Merc for future GP stardom with them if and when they entered F1 (which of course they did). Great plan... it only took nearly two decades to come off

[Antonio Pessoa]

Formula 1 declined slowly during 2009. Lost a lot of manufacturers, each year includes more one track in a distant and no-matter country of Asia, show on the news the stupid politics made by the bosses seeming like child and now a unecessary marketing promoving a return of a retired driver.
We can feel the 2010's decade be more black than the 2000's.

[MaxD]

Have to agree with Greyhead - Micheal is very much like Marmite - you either love him or hate him!

Personally, can't wait to see him on the grid in Melbourne!

The Red Barron now becomes the Silver Barron!

[V12-Power]

Gabriele: Schumacher says, that his failed try to replace Massa this summer, was the event that suddenly made him think about his retirement again. It seems he discovered there, that he had this energy again, that he was missing in 2006. But like you already mentioned, by this time Ferrari had already signed Alonso and Massa. Now at the age of 40 Schumacher of course can't wait 5 years until one of them will retire or leave to another team and a actually it was very clear, that a third car would never be permitted, so his only chance was to find another team.

And exactly there comes up Mercedes, the brand that supported him as a young driver and made his debut in F1 possible, together with Ross Brawn, the man who was on his side during all his titles and ask him, if he could imagine a comeback in their new team. But still Schumacher says, that it was a difficult decision to leave Ferrari! But in the end this race-driver-gene in him seems to have won...

So if Massa's accident had happened earlier, Schumacher would have probably returned with Ferrari in 2010...