London : Formula One and Mercedes-Benz received an early Christmas present when Michael Schumacher signed a one-year contract with options to extend the deal with the former Brawn team. From a media stand point, this is excellent news. When the 2010 season opens in Bahrain on March 14, we will see how Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, who arrived in F1 after Schumacher had retired, stack up against the seven-time world champion and winner of 91 grand prix titles.
More to the point, the world waits to see how Schumacher will fare against drivers almost 20 years his junior in a sport that has changed significantly since he last raced an F1 car at the end of 2006. It depends on what he wants.
The motivation
Money is not an issue. Schumacher is not an extravagant man and he has enough financial back-up to last several lifetimes.
Does he miss the buzz of driving a F1 car and being the centre of attention? Most certainly. That much was made clear by his obvious disappointment when doctors advised against replacing the incapacitated Felipe Massa at Ferrari in August because of a neck injury sustained when Schumacher fell off a motor bike six months earlier. The prognosis actually did him a favour, however, since that return would have been rushed and at the wrong time in a car that was proving very difficult to drive.
This is different. Schumacher will have time to bed in with the team and put in testing miles, albeit far fewer than he would like because of regulatory limitations. Also, he will be reunited with Ross Brawn, the technical wizard who oversaw all seven of the German's world titles at Benetton and Ferrari.
Fitness fanatic
Will Schumacher, who turns 41 on 3 January, be fit enough? Not a problem. Schumacher set new standards of fitness when racing and he will arrive in Bahrain in peak condition.
Does he still possess the rage to win? Experienced drivers (Massa and Rubens Barrichello) racing against him in a recent kart meeting were impressed but hardly surprised by his attention to minute detail. He won, of course.
But what will happen if the Mercedes is not a race winner, regardless of the driver's efforts? Just because Brawn's car won the title in 2009 does not mean the next one will bring a repeat. Indeed, the effort required to give Jenson Button the championship will have diminished the effort put into the 2010 car. Just ask McLaren and Ferrari about that, based on their experiences this year. How will Schumacher cope with finishing fourth, fifth or sixth (if he's lucky) in a field that promises to be just as competitive as 2009 when less than two seconds covered 20 cars on the grid?
The answer is, he won't like it. We are talking about a driver who never finished lower than third in the world championship from 2000 until his retirement.
The fear is that Michael Schumacher may be the only loser by his exceptional standards at the end of what will undoubtedly be a fascinating story.
— Guardian News & Media Ltd
