Schumacher returns to F1!

[rec]

The testing of road cars won't help his chances in an F1 car what-so-ever.

[Aegis]

meh, rec, i can see you've never played Grid

[rec]

Oh but I have! Lots, actually. Just bought this:

[rec]

Michael Schumacher got back behind the wheel of an F1 car on Friday, driving an F2007 at Mugello.

After subitting a request to the other teams, Ferrari have been given permission to run an F60 for one day’s testing so Schumacher can acclimatise. I’m surpriused they’ve allowed them, but I think it shows a commendable attitude to sportsmanship.

[rec]

The best and worst comebacks in sport

NIGEL MANSELL

As Mansell discovered, the trouble with coming out of retirement is that doing nothing is so much fun. After securing a McLaren seat for the 1995 season, the 41-year-old found his expanding waistline would not squeeze into the car. He missed the first two races and quit F1 for good two races later

SUGAR RAY LEONARD

He had more comebacks than Schumacher’s had bottles of champagne. His sixth and final – 15 years after his first – ended with a pitiful defeat to Hector Camacho

LESTER PIGGOTT

When Piggott won the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 1990, one US hack dismissed him as a ‘55-year-old ex con’. The hack got one thing right but Piggott was only 54 when he came home on Royal Academy days after doing time for tax evasion

MICHAEL JORDAN

His comeback stories read like an episode of Mr Benn. First, he came back as a baseball slugger, then as the Chicago Bulls’ messiah, and finally, at 38, he became a Wizard – a Washington Wizard that is

ANDRE AGASSI

When he launched his comeback in 1997, Agassi was ranked 141st in the world — and falling. Two years later, he was world No 1 and his 1999 French Open success made him the second player in the Open era to win all four majors

Michael Schumacher is back - Times Online


And another worthwhile read here:

"The Last Word: Comeback kids don't need to win to succeed"

The Last Word: Comeback kids don't need to win to succeed - Motor Racing, Sport - The Independent

[ResLo]

Interesting article. He was spot on with Armstrong and the tour.

Schumacher can take heart from a previous Ferrari driver who made a winning return after retirement. Niki Lauda, who won the world title in 1975 and 1977, quit motor racing two years later but returned with McLaren in 1982 and won his third world title in 1984.

[snake coward]

Testing permission for Shuey denied by Red Bull and Williams.
Red Bull i can understand, seems they requested permission for Alguersuari to test and were denied.
Williams on the other hand are prob still a little miffed about the whole fota split incident.

[rec]

Fair enough all-round, really. I'm surprised more teams didn't say no. Why would they want to give him a greater chance of doing well?

[ResLo]

I agree.

If they want him to test then make it a free test session for all teams.

[snake coward]

Ferrari's response to being denied:
autosport.com - F1 News: Ferrari slates Williams over test block

Guess who opposed the test with the F60? A team that hasn't won anything for years and yet didn't pass over the opportunity to demonstrate once more a lack of spirit of fair play," Ferrari wrote in its official website under the title 'Indiscretion'.

Fairly childish, things dont go your way, slam the team that denied u.

[rec]

Ferrari and Williams have never had the best of relationships. But most of the time it was Ferrari being wankers to Williams - and Ferrari are quick to forget this.

[rec]

Schumacher may not return now anyway. His spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm, has said;

It is not sure yet the neck will hold and the comeback can be started, F1 drivers' necks must be strong enough to cope with high G-forces and Schumacher admitted after testing on Tuesday that his "pinches a bit"

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | Fitness concerns over Schumacher

[ResLo]

I cant see that he would have lost that much conditioning in his neck that a few weeks excersises could not fix to the point where he could race. It wont be 100% but nothing they can do will get Schumacher back to 100% of his fitness when he retired.

Things like this should have been thought about more thoroughly before announcing him as the replacement.

I still think he will race.

[rec]

I was sceptical right from the start about many aspects of the scenario.

I hope he races, but I'm not going to count on it.

[rec]

Good article here:

Michael Schumacher: The most divisive man in F1 vee8 - a Grand Prix and Formula 1 blog

... "there is nothing that can redeem Michael Schumacher. He is a serial cheat whose team-mates were all hamstrung and whose seven World Drivers’ Championships are among the least deserving ever awarded. You must surely see that he is the most evil man on earth?

"I don’t even rate him much as a racer. For me, his wheel-to-wheel skills were rather poor, and he disguised this by being overly aggressive. That was why he often panicked under pressure, such as at Jerez in 1997. If he found himself in the midfield, he sometimes had very clumsy races indeed — his botched move on Takuma Sato at Suzuka in 2003 springs to mind."