Michael Schumacher says he intends to come back to Formula 1 to replace Felipe Massa. And while some say that Michael is risking sullying his reputation as a winner, the reality is that Michael has nothing to lose. He will skirt around the rules of Formula 1 in order to get himself ready for a comeback at the wheel of a Ferrari in Valencia at the end of August. All the current F1 teams have an agreement not to test during the F1 season, but a plan has been devised that will see Michael testing a 2007 car, which will be run Ferrari’s F1 Clienti organisation, which prepares old Formula 1 cars for wealthy customers to race each summer. The most recent cars allowed are two years old, in order to ensure that Ferrari’s technical secrets do not get out. The cars involved should not therefore have slick tyres, KERS or the latest aerodynamics, but they will give Michael the chance to check out whether or not he can get close to the pace needed. The big problem is whether or not Schumacher’s neck will be up to the task. In February he fell off a Honda motorcycle at a test in Cartagena, Spain, and although his injuries were played down considerably, he was forced to call off his planned return to the German Superbike series because he had restricted movement in his neck. He has not been seen racing since. Thus the news that he is intending to make an F1 comeback is a surprise.
It is also clear that Michael will need to lose some weight if the car is to be fully competitive. This year F1 drivers have been leaner than ever before because of the layout of the cars and the need to have the right weight distribution.
Where the ultimate decision will be made is probably in the Ferrari simulator in Maranello. Michael will be running as much as possible in this device in order to get the feel of the car in its current configuration. Schumacher was in Maranello yesterday to try out the simulator for the first time. This and the testing will give a picture of whether or not Michael is competitive.
There are of course many risks in embarking on this course of action. Schumacher has not raced in F1 since the end of 2006 and at 40 will be the oldest driver to race in F1 for more than 10 years. The last winner over 40 was back in 1994 when Nigel Mansell won the Australian GP at the age of 41, but that was a very successful car and the race leaders were well ahead of him when they collided and retired. Mansell was politely shown the door at Williams after that as the team was not convinced he was fit enough to be truly competitive and his attempts to race for McLaren in 1995 proved to be embarrassing with the team having to build a bigger car to fit him in and then having to let him go because he was not competitive.
There have been many other World Champions who have made comebacks but few have done it successfully. Niki Lauda is the obvious example but he walked away from Brabham at the age of 30. He turned to racing at 33, won the World Championship again at 35 and then retired once and for all at 36.
The desire to go on competing is one that is hard to resist for a former champion, although many are able to move on and do other things without needing to look back. Schumacher is obviously not in that group as his need for competition – be that racing motorcycles or cars – is obviously still intact. The problem he faces is that he may find it harder than he thought to be competitive against men, some of whom are half his age. Michael is a combative indiviudal and will see this as a challenge but he may live to regret the idea if he finds that he is not competitive. The good news is that he amd Ferrari have a built-in excuse of that happens as they can always explain that his neck injury made it impossible to race. Ferrari would need to find a replacement but Michael would not sully his reputation.
Ummm. You seem to be putting a negative spin on this Joe, or have I misread you?
I have never been a fan of MS due to his win at all cost philosophy.
But I see this as a change. He has no chance of winning and yet he is prepared to come back and “loose” to save Massas place in the team and get his team out of a hole.
I see that as something sporting. An accolade I never thought I’d be giving him.
No, not negative. Just neutral. I am curious to see how he does. All F1 drivers go on believing they are invincible until it is proved otherwise. I am curious to see if Michael can stave off time and a neck injury.
I think apart from his neck injuries and the weight problem which i cannot judge he will be up to the task. Different to Nigel “Big Mac” Mansell he kept up training (at a slightly lower pace). The present cars are more tail happy than in recent years, which suits him, he has (had) massive car control abilities and i think Ferrari will fail him more often than he will Ferrari.
The start of the race will be the crititcal part as he is not very used to race from middlefield grid positions and his temper might come in to play. If he can match Kimi’s pace and doesn’t take out too many competitors he’s all good.
But it’s very known Michael doesn’t care about his reputation, so i don’t see a a problem if he trails him a couple of hundreds.
Furthermore everybody at Ferrari will put in everything they have for him as builds familiy-like connections to the engineers and mechanics. This might piss Kimi off but my take is he might be racing Ralleycars next year and not care at all.
Although i’m extatic to be watching Schuey on the track (bought Tickets for Monza
it’s Felipe’s car and he is just a very qualified replacement driver. He will (hopefully) not return fulltime to F1 and Massa can overtake at the end of the season again.
But what a story this is.
Did Toro Rosso miss a trick? Could they have run Alguersuari in last year’s car – on slicks, even – to give him a feel for F1 power, brakes and grip?
Vettel drove it on the roads in Italy a few months ago, and old cars galore were in action at Goodwood.
Same applies if Renault replace Piquet with Grosjean.
just heard he’s already using the loophole mentioned by Joe and is testing an F1-2007 with F1 Clienti right now. Did 35 laps ’til noon. Ferrari’s privileges/resources coming into play once again to Schumacher’s advantage.
btw: it’s a pity the MS story broke just after BMW’s retreat, they should have gotten more kicks to their groin by the press for bailing on F1 in such a manner. just my view
i don’t think Toro Rosso missed something. Cars from 2009/2008 are forbidden from testing and the test is not to be carried out by members of the F1 operation.
F1 Clienti is a standalone company for selling and running of old Ferrari F1 cars and has it’s own equipment. I think there was a nice article in Top Gear magazine about them once.
actually it looks like schumacher will now test the current car – ferrari look to have got an excemption from FOTA. quite why STR didn’t i don’t know…?
Wait how is this “skirting F1 rules”? Any driver could do it if they had the access to a 3 year old car.
The testing is meaningless for anything other than testing his physical fitness.
I agree with Robbiemeister. More than trying to win, this will be a nice way for MSC to change his image.
If he loses, he’ll be the guy who helped his family throughout hard times… if he wins (which I don’t think will happen), he’ll erase his image as a guy who wins with driver strategy involved…
Plus, I think Kimi will be more motivated to beat him than he’s to beat Felipe ! And we all know that Michael is very good at giving feedback to his technical team.
So whatever happens, this can only do good to Ferrari !
I cannot wait to see the next race. You have all recent world champions driving competetive cars. Hamilton, the reigning champ finally won again last race. Two time champ alonso took pole last race. 07 Champ raikkonen took 2nd last race as well, showing that the ferrari’s have improved.
I believe Shumacher has serious talent…which doesn’t fade like your fitness will. I am expecting him to run a competetive race and i think it will be a spectacular show…most notably seeing Michael race against Hamilton.
No matter what happens, it can’t detract form his 7 championships, and it appears at least that he is just doing to help out…for the team and publicity.
I also thought it was cool that 2009 is the year of retired old 7 time champs coming back….Schumacher and Armstrong!
Joe, I’m interested in your views on what Ferrari’s (provisional) decision says about their confidence in their test drivers Marc Gene and Luca Badoer who, after all, know the 2009 car. If Ferrari don’t have the confidence in them to race, why employ them as test drivers (when having to step in as reserve driver is always a possibility)?
Or maybe Ferrari always had Schuey in mind as a possible reserve driver over the past few years, but never had any reason to announce it.
I must say that the PR value to Ferrari and its sponsors hasn’t escaped me. I even wonder whether he will really race at all. (Could it just be a PR coup during the F1 holiday season?) Don’t get me wrong though, I’d love to see him back, racing Hamilton, racing Kimi with the same equipment, racing other drivers such as both Red Bull drivers and both Brawn drivers who nowadays have much more competitive cars.
I’m surprised if the other teams really have agreed to let Schuey test the 2009 car. Why would they? Unless perhaps they think they’ll benefit from the knock-on PR benefit to F1 as a whole.
John
PS Yes I am a Ferrari and Schuey fan. No really!
[...] The wisdom of Schumacher’s comeback – Joe Saward’s Grand Prix Blog "And while some say that Michael is risking sullying his reputation as a winner, the reality is that Michael has nothing to lose. He will skirt around the rules of Formula 1 in order to get himself ready for a comeback at the wheel of a Ferrari in Valencia at the end of August." [...]
I wonder how much of this is intended as a favour to Massa? Certainly, if I was Felipe, I’d rather it was Schumacher in my race seat at Valencia than, say, Alonso or Kubica. Someone who’s not in the running for a 2010 seat.
Hi Joe,
I’ve often had the sense that you weren’t hugely keen on Schumacher back in the day, and indeed neither was I, but *if* he still has the speed, it’ll be very interesting to watch. I’ll just cross-post my thoughts from a thread on BBC F1 rather than re-type – Hope that’s ok:
I’ve never understood people who say that F1 was boring when Schumacher was at his peak – I don’t find it boring to watch a master at work, and there was always other action to keep the interest up. I’ve found the recent politicking much more boring.
Also, to those who “feel sorry” for Gene and Badoer – LOL, get real! These guys are 35 and 38, and both have had shots at F1 in the past. Badoer has been Ferrari test driver for 13 YEARS!! Don’t you think if either of them were up to the job they’d have gotten it before now? They are test drivers – that is their career now, and it’s quite a lucrative one. If they were so keen to get into a race seat, they would not have settled for test seats, end of story.
Now – as to Schumacher’s comeback. I think he’ll be competitive with Raikkonen right off the bat. Top five finish in Valencia and podium or even a win at Spa would be my prediction. Remember that Spa is expected to be good for the KERS cars. Fitness won’t be a problem but race-sharpness might be – depends on how much karting he’s been getting in, and what his opposition has been like.
I can’t wait to see the younger generation go for it against him. However I do not think he would compete past the end of this season, even if (God forbid) Massa was unable to return. IMHO he’s doing this for two main reasons: First, as a favour to Massa (and secondarily the team) so that the team can get the maximum constructor’s points this year – remember, each one is worth a lot of money. Obviously Ferrari felt Massa was the best choice for the car this year, so bringing anyone from outside the team in was going to be less successful. If they took a chance on a youngster – which they’ve never done before – and he did really well, it’s possible he might displace Felipe. This is not a worry with Michael, and I think that’s a large part of his motivation. I’ve often thought that Michael seems to have more of a little-brother relationship with Massa than with his actual brother Ralf.
The second reason, I think, is this: Yes he’s probably been a tad bored as the long retirement years stretch in front of him. But consider this: We’ve all wondered how MS would do against the new drivers, especially Hamilton and Vettel. Is it inconceivable that MS has wondered this too, and was unable to resist a chance to find out? It’s particularly believable in the current circumstances, because as many have said above, if he’s not quite as spectacularly quick as in the past, he has a lot of excuses for that.
Finally – just to clarify, I’m not a big Schumi fan – I’m not really an anyone fan, except maybe the sport. His questionable tactics to win in the past don’t bother me too much, because I don’t expect those with sporting talent to be saints. I think he will be extremely careful not to do anything even borderline during his stint this time around, and the fact that Jean Toad (one figure I really didn’t like in F1) won’t be directing things will help. But Michael has been the greatest driver in the 20 years I’ve been watching, and I’m looking forward to watching him again. Roll on Valencia (and I never thought I’d say that)!
As a Schumacher fan i have mixed feelings about his return. On the one hand i don’t think he will win or for that matter get a podium in the first race. The current Ferrari in my opinion, compared to the Red Bull is about the equivalent of the 98/99 Ferrari compared to the McLaren of the same era. Schumacher was at his absolute peak then and could ring the neck out of the car – which would get him close to the McLaren. I would expect him to finish in the top ten at Valencia, unless he has a problem.
Non Schumacher fans should just hide behind the sofa and hope he does a Villeneuve style comeback…total humiliation.
Schumacher himself has only his mesmerizing driving reputation to lose – which would be his fans worst nightmare – but i think he is up for driving for the fun of it and as a kind gesture to Massa. Schumacher is not having to deal with the pressure of taking the title for Ferrari, that is out of reach. He can just race and have fun. I can’t wait to see how he gets on
The only down side is that we are going to have to put up with all the F1 fans that cant stand him getting upset.
I am looking forward to the return of Michael but think the next gp will be like testing and he will be at his best at Monza and spa. It will be nice to know what he thinks of Valencia, Singapore and the Yas Marina Circuit.
@robbiemeister but why they( Ferrari) forgot about young test drivers ? Why they risk? Why Michael Schumacher risk ?
When Ferrari head problems, on the beginning of the season, all people blame Michael, so where is that sporting now ?!
One point everyone seems to be missing here. It’s a given that Ferrari has already written off their title chances this year. One of the things Michael was known for was his technical feedback to the engineers concerning car development. With current testing restrictions, don’t you think they are using Michael to help them use Fridays for testing sessions to help them develop the 2010 car now?
Just one dude’s opinion.
Can’t wait for that emotional moment that seems like it may actually happen – when we get to see Massa back in his car.
I think his return is the worst possible thing for F1. The atmosphere is the sport has improved massively since he left and th teams have started working together. Now he is back to ruin it.
I can imagine the outcry from the Ferrari fans if Lewis Hamilton had decided to spend a day in a two year old car for fun.
He has barely announced his return and already wants special privileges. Surely it is up to Ferrari to work within the testing ban and give their reserve drivers a run pre-season.
How is it that a 19 year old kid who had never turned a corner in an F1 car can get straight in but the most successful driver in history needs a special test as well as who knows how many runs in older cars.
I see that his run in the 2007 car was not run on 2007 tyres but on GP2 tyres which are slicks.
I really hope he is painfully slow and embarrasses himself but unfortunately he is going to be competitive. I also have no doubt that anything he does that should arouse the interests of the stewards will either be ignored or considered after the race where he will be given some non-punishment as normal.
His return is a black day for F1.
@stevenroy
I am looking forward to Michael in the car again, I only started following F1 during the start of 2007 so I have not ever seen a race with him in a car.
Another I don’t think anyone has touched on is that the 2009 doesn’t have TC on it but the 2007 does, so will ferrari remove the TC from the 2007 so he can adjust!
LOL. Man that was quite the rant. One could make a better case that Schumacher saved Formula 1 this week. You worry that he ran on GP2 slicks in a two year old car (something any driver in the field is free to do at any time), most people worried that F1 was toast after all the ridiculous infighting and yet another manufacturer pulling out.
Now the whole world will be looking at F1 to see one of the all time great made for media sports stories ever, even americans will get into it! I can see the opening promo now, “In a world….”:o)
Chris,
I too am looking forward to Schuys return. You wanted to know about TC. Well yes, they can switch it off on the 07 cars quite easily. They needed to be able to this when the cars were on the installation lap – warming up their tires and brakes, etc (they needed to wheel spin them).
Michael will be able to handle the 09 cars easy – in fact he has had more years in F1 (since 1991) in non TC/driver aided cars than cars with all the baby sitter stuff on them. In the early days he drove cars with a stick shift racing gear boxes and a clutch. He has been there – done that – and got the T-shirt mate.
Ps,
It’s good to see that not all new F1 fans who were not into F1 before 2003 believe all the hand-me-down scare monger stories about Schumacher. He really is a very talented driver – and a nice generous human being. Good on you Chris – and i hope you enjoy the up and coming GP’s; it’s going to be a stunning climax to the season.
S.
Good commentary Shaun.
What’s this nonsense about people questioning a “winning at all cost” attitude? Did they ever see Senna in action?
Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser!
What is it with the British and French commentators still trying to denigrate Schumacher’s character. I find that very strange because I remember Schumacher as a driver who, although a fierce competitor, was always very generous in his compliments to his team. He was the first driver to always pay compliments to the team, always billing his own accomplishments as a team effort. Today many of the drivers follow his example in talking up the team and the mechanics, but before him, drivers like Senna, Prost and Mansel only talked about themselves and never mentioned their teams.
Shumacher has given more to charity than perhaps any driver in the history of the sport. Sure, he also made more money than any other driver, but if you look at his travel schedule nowadays, he’s also giving a lot of his time to charitable causes, which is often more valuable than money alone.
You don’t win seven F1 championships and 91 Grand Prix races on strategy alone, or because you are the dedicated number one driver in your team, or because you have the best car. Keep in mind that Schumacher also holds the records for most pole positions and most fastest laps.
And he was fast from the word go. In his first full season in F1 in 1992, Schumacher finished 3rd in the championship in a Benneton, ahead of Senna (4th) in a McLaren!
He was the fastest racer on the grid throughout his career, and that’s why he is the champion that he is.
Give the man a break, he’s the greatest driver in the history of the sport, and we the fans are privileged to live and watch him in the same era.
Go Schumi
w
Wilhelm,
Well written mate. Trouble is, if you try to tell anti Schumacher extremists this sort of stuff they disacknowledge it. Pear pressure from a ‘two world wars and one world cup’ gang mentality can suck people into disliking Schuy without listening to factual reasoning from F1 fans that can remember him and Senna when they first started racing. As a Schumacher fan i feel as though i have to pussy-foot around these misanthropic haters of Michael and his fans. It is so easy to upset them. I have a mate who cant stand Schuy and he is quite a headstrong character. This means that not many people will admit they can tolerate Schumacher to him with fear of being singled out. I used to give him both barrels in a face to face argument, but it was a waste of time. He made it impossible to reason with. After he had gone i would then have some of the more timed Schumacher haters come up to me and say that they really thought Schuy was a great driver.
If you hate him, fare play : but don’t bully young or timed F1 fans into hating him as well.
Oh, and just for the record, Schumacher fans will usually all agree that some of the stuff he did, like coursing accidents with Hill, Villeneuve and the Monaco Alonso incident were bang out of order, but we got over it.
One more point : I was also a fan of Senna and can remember when he started in F1, you don’t have hate Schumacher just because you were a Senna fan. What first impressed me about Michael Schumacher was the fact that he could take Senna on. Senna was a genius F1 driver and Schumacher was the Ultimate F1 driver on lots of different levels. Only a foolish team would not give him a drive in F1 again.
Sorry about the comment going on a bit long Joe…
S.
I love Schumacher fans and their religious experience of him. Michael was so fantastic that it is amazing anyone can criticise him.
If Lewis Hamilton spends the next week in a 2007 McLaren with 2009 bodywork is that OK? If Brawn had run a 2007 Honda with a Mercedes engine to gather data would that be OK.
The reason Schumacher is in a 2007 car with slick tyres is to circumvent the testing ban. There is no other resaon for it. If he just wanted experience why did Ferrari not just request some demonstration tyres from Bridgestone and run a demonstration. That would be fine and comply entirely with the agreement not to test.
At what point does a car modified to behave like a 2009 car breach the agreement and the team running it become subject to complaints? Are the Schumacher fans really saying that every team on the grid can take a 2 year old car tweak it a bit and test as much as they want? Or is there a point where it is not acceptable?
The reason people like me are anti-Schumacher is simple. He is the most controversial driver in the history of the sport. Yes I know Senna’s behaviour was equally poor on occasion and I have criticised him as well, but Schumacher’s behaviour (coupled by the FIA’s extraordinary deal with Ferrari which we now know existed) was of an entirely different level.
As examples.
Schumacher clinched his first world championship by crashing into Damon Hill shortly after he had damaged his own car. Why was a driver of a seriously damaged car on the racing line let alone trying to get the apex?
He tried to win his third title by deliberately crashing into Jacques Villeneuve. This was a move so blatant and so expected the TV commentary anticipated it.
He tried to push Hakkinen on to the grass going up the hill at Spa at close to 200mph.
He put Alonso on the grass at similar speeds on the hangar straight at Silverstone.
When he was at Benetton and traction control was banned his car was found to have traction control and launch control still in the software. This required numerous controls to be chosen in sequence to access them. The FIA said it could not prove that he used the system. He cannot prove he did not and there are many who believe – rightly or wrongly – that he did.
This is the man who is so kind and thoughtful according to his fans but thought nothing of shoving his own brother as well as numerous others into the pitwall.
Then off course we have other incidents like his little fake accident at Monaco.
The Schumacher fans will of course reply to this comment and will address none of the points and indulge in their normal baseless rant which will not challenge a single point I have made and contain no facts whatever.
The atmosphere of F1 will be poisonous as it was before if he hangs around for very long.
It is interesting that there seem to be a number of people who consider Schumacher’s opportunity to drive a two year old car some sort of unfair advantage. This is in the middle of the current season. A two year old car is nowhere in technology compared to the F60. Who is so scared.
Some say M. Schumacher is too old then in the next breath say he should just hit the track cold. It seems to me the couple of test drives he did after his retirement, he did pretty well.
Ferrari has made some improvements but as we have seen L. Hamilton has gone from a Q1 qualifier to winner – it isn’t just the driver is it now.
Considering the abysmal season in F1 due to the politics, this will raise interest considerably which is just what F1 needs. Lance Armstrong raised interest in the Tour de France and he didn’t need to win. His legacy is intact and has increased due to his performance. A man has to answer only to himself.
If it’s okay for Schuey to drive a modified two year old Ferrari, then Jaime Alguersuari should be allowed to do the same, and the same goes for any other reserve, test, or replacement driver.
But then, “one rule for all” has never been Schumacher’s style.
@ Lutbar.
I don’t think Ferrari need a driver development program. If you can pick up the likes of Kimi and Fernando at the click of your fingers why worry?
It hasn’t always been like that though. Even so I cant think of a driver in recent times they havent taken from another established team.
Driving the modified f2007 is in no way going to help MS with getting to terms with the f60, and he has even acknowledged this. None of the Scuderia engineers or anyone had anything to do with it…reportedly anyways.
Norbert Haug even said that it is perfectly acceptable for him to get the 1 day in the f60 to test, and pretty much said that the same should be true for Alguersauari, but there was no formal request for him to do so. Personally i think anyone in a similar situation should beable to test. Its to better ensure the drivers familiarity with the car and for safety purposes, not the development of the car. FOTA has already agreed to Ferrari’s request…now just to see what the FIA says.
And you can’t knock Schumacher for doing everything possible to drive to the best of his ability. Maybe thats why he has always done so well….
A couple of points for the Schumacher fans. FOTA have not approved Schumacher’s test. Red Bull and Toro Rosso have blocked it. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77540
Schumacher did notdrive a 2007 car. He drove a 2007 car with tyres that it never ran on to modify its behaviour to simulate the 2009 car.
@robbiemeister
When did Fernando drive for Ferrari or are you just assuming that the rumours that have been circulating for years are going to be true this year? Every year these rumours have turned up I have said they were fantasy and every year I have been correct. Ferrari will not change its drivers next season. Would anyone who thinks that Alonso is going to replace Raikkonen explain to me why Kimi is going to walk away from Ferrari and why Ferrari are going to pay him 10s of millions of dollars not to drive as they would have to buy out his contract.
So driving any F1 car is not going to help him get up to speed with driving another F1 car? Are you seriously saying that he is no better prepared for driving the 2009 car now that he has driven a modified 2007 car than if he had spent the day playing with his kids? That does not make sense.
Steven – ‘That does not make sense’ as you say, when you’re arguing that Shumi DID get a lot of UNFAIR advantage driving 2007 ferrari with gp2 (!!!) tyres – do you hate shumi that much?? if Button (or alonso, hamilton or whoever) drives a road car – should FIA ban that as well because ‘driving’ gives some unfair advantage to those who drives…
Peter,
I believe I have explained adequately my feelings about Schumacher and the reasons behind them. I believe that any driver who has not driven an F1 car for a while must gain an advantage from driving any F1 car and especially one that has been modified to simulate a current car.
You emphasise GP2 tyres as if this somehow moved the car so far from F1 to make it irrelevant. The reason those were run is because those are the closest slick tyres available to F1 tyres. Why not run on grooved tyres as the car was intended to?
The idea that somehow driving a modified two year old F1 car equates in any way with driving a road car frankly doesn’t merit a response.
As I said in my previous comment are we seriously supposed to believe he gained nothing more from driving that car than had he spent the afternoon with his kids?
He is doing it purely to circumvent the testing ban. I think the testing ban is a stupid rule but it is the rule. Seeking to circumvent a rule has to be against the rules.
@ Steven Roy
It’s just my opinion. I don’t comment here for an argument, I get enough of that on Pistonheads.
@ Steven Roy
No need for long diatribes, the testing ban was put in place not to prevent drivers from practicing but prevent development and associated costs. That new drivers (or old pensioners) can’t practice is an unintended consequence.
Like it has been stated before, running a two year old car is an option open to all teams, GP2 tires or not.
@ Steven Roy
I like AC don’t want to get too involved in whose right and whose wrong – or tern this thread into a Schumacher bun fight. I am going to come clean : i know that Michael has been a bad boy in F1 and has used dodgy bits and pieces on his cars – but i don’t care. I am not a fan of Peter Perfect or the driver that says ‘after you Maud’ i like the hell raisers, the drama drivers, they are exciting and F1 is my prime sport – and i love it!. I could not stand Jacques Villeneuve – but if he got a drive in F1 again – he could test an 09! an 07! an 08! an 01! – even a 96 F1 car with Nicky Lauda’s ears attached to a water vole on crack cocaine as wheels for all i care…until his balls drop off!. I would not begrudge his fans the enjoyment of watching him race again by having a go at them!. He could win every race for all i cared and i would then stand on the London plinth for half an hour shouting how wrong i was about him, Phew!
Now, on a serious note : could a driver like Massa have a little test just to see if he can get up to speed safely…if say…he did not get into F1 again until the middle of next season?, come on
it would be mean not to let him, wouldn’t it?.
I’ts crazy not to watch F1 just cuz Schuy is back. The boys fighting for the title are Webber, Button and Vettel. It’s going to be one hell of a showdown Steven…
S.
Ps, i don’t approve of the testing ban either. The rookies and old drivers who want to get back into F1 should be aloud to have a few days blitzing round some test tack somewhere…
I still like Ross Brawn’s idea of making a ‘proper event’ out of testing. He mentioned i believe one day on the calendar…but others have said this as well…having a thursday hour or 2 test session before every gp would solve all of this. I can’t imagine it would drive up the cost much if they are there already, and it could be in a controlled environment on the actual race circuits.