So here I am on a bus from Beauvais airport to Paris after flying Ryanair from Bologna. Talk about a life that veers from the sublime to the ridiculous! Yesterday we drove 600km in a Ferrari California. Today I am on Ryanair! This morning I was at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, writing about BMW. F1 is never predictable. Never dull.
When I left Maranello five hours ago there was no hint of a test for Michael Schumacher…
Advertisement
BMW quits F1… Michael Schumacher comes back to F1… how absolutely depressing.
Cool, I really love the news. Some good news is just what I needed after BMW left and Schumi’s return fits the bill nicely.
We get to see Schumi v Lewis and Schumi v Kimi with the same car, that’s gonna be so much fun to watch.
Does this mean an end to friendly Ferrari and a return to the evil Ferrari?
I cant think of a worse course of action for a team who are trying to improve their image to pursue than bringing back one of the worst protagonists.
To think they almost had us all convinced…
It will be interesting to know what role Bernie had in this as it has very conveniently pushed the BMW story out of the headlines…
Is it just me or is this sport getting ever more surreal? I really really did not think Schumacher would take the chance of getting into the car again… but I cannot WAIT to see him up against Hamilton and Alonso again!!
And since Felipe continues to progress, it’s all good
And Kimi, Lordy how did I leave him out.
And now…?
I do not like Michael Schumacher. I fully respect his immense skill as a driver and acknowledge his tremendous achievements, but he’s sorely lacking as a sportsman. He has the same win at all costs trait as Jean Todt – no wonder they worked so well together!
Having said that, I am stoked he’s going to be back. This season needed some excitement and now we’ll have it in spades. Hamilton and Vettel have never raced him… talk about points to prove (for all three of them!)
Schumacher’s return is the worst F1 news in years. The last thing the sport needs is him to come back.
I assume Bernie called in one of the many favours he and Max did Schumacher and Ferrari over the years to help boost the Valencia crowd given Renault’s ban removing Alonso form the entry list.
F1 has improved beyond measure since Schumacher retired and the FIA/Ferrari partnership split. His return can only make things worse.
Todt was the biggest problem at Ferrari IMHO.
Kimi-Matias Räikkönen was never particularly intimidated by Der Shoemaker. Should be a lovely opportunity to clean the old fart’s crusty whistle once and for all…..
….if Ferrari will concede him a proper car.
How the heck is he going to get up to speed with the car when in-season testing is banned?
And I agree, this era ended in 2006 along with all the negative effects to the sport – we should not return to it!
Would MS even consider returning to Ferrari without his ‘thou shalt not compete with me’ clause in the contract? Thus ruling out competition from the Kimster… not that Kimi shows any sign of actually bothering to turn up to the races this year anyway (in any way other than physically at least).
With him not going for a title nor backing someone else up to one, and with the strongest teammate he’s had in F1, I’m quite lookking forward to a Schumacher cameo for a few races.
Should get a crowd in Valencia if nothing else.
Joe -
I see that our friends the Cs over at Sidepodcast are closing up shop as a result of this news. It seems a bit of an over-reaction to me, but I’m curious as to what the general reaction in the F1 paddock is to this news – drivers and journos? From the point of view of seling column inches it has to be good for the media one would think.
Schumacher racing again in 2009 at such short notice may be a risk for him?, he may not be fit physically and mentally at the highest level, and being out for so long , ,,,,things move on in elite sport. The car has been inconsistant this year , lets face it — mostly off the pace – except last weekend- it was good in the race on the tight turns in Hungry. But……
He does not have the advantage of the steady hand of Ross Brawn in the pits and no 1 status.
it all seems a bit too rushed, and i suspect he will find a reason to pull out. it will get the headlines for a while.
good PR .
Ferrari would be better off taking the opportunity of blooding a young future star,
they need to look forward , not backwards.
Well who else were they going to get, Sebastian Bourdais?
Honestly I can’t see a 40 year old hoping to compete with all the children on the grid in a car he hasn’t tested but hey who knows? It will spark interest I guess, If he is competitive he’ll stay, if not then some strange injury will be to blame.
Wow!
I have not been a fan of Schumacher since shortly after he joined Benetton. When he was interviewed on the BBC a couple of races ago I warmed to him a little.
Well I never thought I’d say it but, I have the greatest respect for him in his willingness to take on this challenge. It’s a no win situation (unless of course he wins, which he is unlikely to do in the current Ferrari).
So I’ll say it again – Respect!
I have noted a general lightness around F1 in the past few races which I have put down to the improvement in the political changes that are on the way. This news encourages me to think that there may be a little more sportsmanship creeping into F1.
RM
Joe,
Lynnduffy comments above about the great folks over at Sidepodcast ‘postponing’ their blog because of MS’s return.
You know them quite well, so what is your take on their opinion that MS and ferrari, will be just as evil this time round? Do you think he has the ability to ruin F1?
I’m surprised some people aren’t happy about this – nearly everyone I’ve spoken to about it thinks it’s great news. I know he’s a cheating you-know-what but all the same, these things don’t happen every year.
I think it’s the most exciting news story in F1 since Alonso joined McLaren. As a long time Damon Hill fan, naturally I spent most of the 1990s and 2000s wishing a few engine parts to make bids for freedom or making excuses as to why he wasn’t that good. But I have missed him. There’s no one like him anymore – most of the current drivers are all so young and inexperienced that although they are well-known and very talented, they don’t have the stories and the profile of Michael. This is a guy who has competed against Senna, Prost, Piquet, Mansell, Hill, Hakkinen etc. As good and as popular as he is, who has Hamilton driven against? Alonso…Raikkonen…Button?
He was and still is a brilliant driver, probably the greatest and maybe the driver we’ve ever seen. He transcended the sport. He was the pantomime figure. He is the benchmark. The word “legend” is overused these days but he is an F1 legend. It’s going to be fascinating to see how he compares to the new generation, the likes of Hamilton, Vettel, Kovalainen and even Alguersuari who is young enough to be his son.
I don’t think he’d do this if he didn’t think he could perform to this best of his abilities so I’m sure he will be quick straight away and will probably be right on Kimi’s pace. Knowing Michael, he will not be satisfied with simply tootling around for the odd point or 2. There might not be any pressure from the outside but being the perfectionist he is, he will put a lot of pressure on himself to do well. I reckon he’ll be at the front battling for podiums and maybe even wins. And for the first time I find myself wanting him to win. Never thought I’d say that.
But I await the announcement to say he’s bottled it and won’t do it…
This is the best news in long time. What a wonderful opportunity for Hamilton and Vettel to race against the greatest driver of all time!
Hopefully Michael will wake Kimi from his slumber, and even if he beats Kimi, it will still be good for Ferrari’s constructors’ title aspirations, as long as they both do well.
I suspect Michael will be out just to have some fun. There really is nothing more for him to prove. He can’t win the championship, and he can’t help Kimi to achieve anything because this championship is long over for Kimi.
Of course, he’s the ultimate competitor, so I don’t expect him to give an inch. In this sport, nice guys don’t even come second, they come last. Just look at Tonio Liuzzi…
Reading the FIA regs on granting a super licence I can’t see how Michael can gain one. There is no obvious “the FIA can issue one on a whim” clause.
The regs I’ve been reading are from the FIA’s own site – http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/1797101136__Appendix_L_a.pdf
In particular:
5.1 i) I don’t think he currently holds a Grade A license (due to 4.4)
and
5.1 iii) the only possible clause he could meet would be h) and surely the testing ban would prevent 300km in a *current* F1 car
Thoughts?
While it is clear Michael Schumacher elicits some negative feelings, so did Lance Armstrong and the Tour did pretty well this year with the interest in his return. Schumacher has performed in the past. At 40, who cares. His “legacy” is ensured regardless of what happens. The car is improving based on Hungary but it is also clear that no one driver can make up a one second, or even a half second difference. So, why don’t we just see what happens. Many of the top drivers such as Raikkonen, Alonso (although improving), Hamilton et al are prima donas who think they need to show up at the track and all will bow before them.
I believe he will do well. Let’s see what happens without the visceral responses. The guy knows what needs to be done because he has “been there and done that”. He has driven the recent cars and been very fast. Let’s see!
@Jim Hughes,
In NASCAR they often make entry provisions for “past champions” – I wonder if the FIA will do the same here if for some reason he does not qualify for a superlicence?
It does seem odd that a perfectly healthy 7-time champion would not be able to qualify…
@Jim Hughes
You are quoting old regs, which saw a significant re-write or two in the middle of the 2008 season.
More recently still, the FIA brought in a “and anyone else we choose” clause. Go to http://www.fia.com/EN-GB/SPORT/REGULATIONS/Pages/InternationalSportingCodeA.aspx for the current regulations, and note Appendix L has the new relevant clause, allegedy not published until as late as 20.7.2009, though you’ll find it in editions dated 15th May too, appended to 5.1.2.f:
“By exception, if supported by the Safety Commission, the FIA
World Motor Sport Council may approve the issue of the Super
Licence to persons judged by the Council to have met the intent of the qualification process.”
As it happens, the bit about having done 300km in current F1 car was only changed to specify “completed not more than 90 days prior to the application” in a draft published 9th April 2008, only to be almost immediately an inconvinience with so-soon-to-follow mid-season testing ban!
The regs seem to be about awarding automatic right to a few specific junior champions, etc, (until another revision in July 2008, even those who had merely achieved 6 top-10 finishes in a GP2 race, or F3000 before that) but are not been about excluding anyone that might suit the powers that be or the show in general… and quite probably were ever thus.
@A-P
The “old regs” were the most up-to-date I could find on the FIA’s site on the 30th of August, it also sounds like the FIA’s web site is steam powered.
I thought it strange there there appeared to be no valid way for Michael to get a super license which was why I commented here.