Formula 1: First Taste of 2010 - and Schumacher's Return

VALENCIA, Spain — The competitive return to Formula 1 action by Michael Schumacher is still months away, but fans — in a frenzied state ever since the seven-time champion confirmed the end of a three-year retirement — got a taste of what they're waiting for in a test session Monday at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.

So, too, did the German ace, who admitted to a high degree of excitement himself.

"It was just like starting all over again," the 41-year-old Schumacher told reporters. "I was shocked on the first lap, extremely excited in the second and then I just felt like a little boy with a new toy."

The session drew an inordinate number of fans. The F1 season opener is scheduled for March 14, just a little more than a month away, but the first European event won't be until May, after so-called "flyaway" races in Bahrain, Australia, Malaysia and China.

Also, this was Schumacher's first opportunity, because of off-season testing restrictions, to drive the Mercedes Grand Prix Petronas machine he will be wheeling in competition this year. Previous practicing had been limited to older-model or junior formula racing cars.

Schumacher rewrote the record books in the first installment of his career as a driver, winning seven championships overall and five in a row with Ferrari from 2000-'04. He retired after 2006 but continued to work with Ferrari as an adviser and considered returning to the cockpit in place of injured driver Felipe Massa last summer.

The comeback was thwarted by a neck injury, sustained in a motorcycle accident, that had not completely healed. But it reignited the passion Schumacher had shown as one of the all-time great F1 drivers.

He accepted an offer to drive in 2010 for the Mercedes team, the former works Honda team, which operated last year as Brawn GP — and won the world championship with Jenson Button driving. Button moved to McLaren, where he will partner with 2008 champ Lewis Hamilton.

Schumacher, meanwhile, is reunited with Ross Brawn, who directed all seven of Schumacher's championship seasons, two with Benetton and the five with Ferrari.

Adding to the intrigue, the driver who dethroned Schumacher — 2005-'06 champion Fernando Alonso — moves to Ferrari this year.

Inside Line says: Seldom has a racing season offered as much potential excitement and drama — on track, that is — as this one promises. Fasten your seatbelts. — David Green, Correspondent