LONDON — As expected, Michael Schumacher will return to Formula One in 2010, signing a three-year deal to drive for Mercedes GP.
The seven-time F1 world champion, the most successful driver in Grand Prix history, retired at the end of the 2006 season, after 11 years with the Ferrari. Schumacher, who turns 41 in January, had been a consultant for Ferrari for the past three years.
Schumacher won his first two titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, before claiming five titles with Ferrari from 2000-'04. At Mercedes GP, he will reunite with team director Ross Brawn, who worked with Schumacher earlier in his career, and will partner with fellow driver Niko Rosberg.
Mercedes this year bought out the Brawn GP team, which won the drivers' and constructors' championships in 2009 after acquiring the team from Honda.
During a 16-year span, Schumacher won a record 91 F1 races and eclipsed Argentinian ace Juan Manuel Fangio's longstanding mark of five GP titles.
Inside Line says: Fangio won his last race at age 46. Let's see if Schumacher still has it in him. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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sgude says:
07:58 PM, 12/23/2009
This will indeed be an interesting season. Now there are four world champs in the field, and it could be five if Villeneuve comes back. Schumacher might not be what he was, but his last drive in Brazil proved he still had a fire. I wonder if time away from the track has stoked it or if he actually is pretty much done as a competitive driver for the world championship. Alonso for sure will be motivated, Hamilton is a supernatural beast but might get caught up in fighting off Button while Vettel seems to have the upper hand over his teammate and has an additional ace-in-the-hole in Adrian Newey, who consistently has been the best aerodynamicist on the grid for the past two decades. I'm picking Hamilton in a close fight with Vettel and Alonso, with Schumacher, Massa and Button taking up the slack.
dino6 says:
07:03 PM, 12/23/2009
2010 is for sure the most interesting and awaited F1 season in recent history. Great comeback by Bernie after the withdrawals of BMW, Toyota and Honda. It seems there is a new business model that harks back to the 70s and 80s with a lot of privateer teams and the focus of competition between drivers instead of cars.
I don't see Schumacher dominating like he did from 1996-2004, when he was the best driver in the world especially after Senna died.
In 2005 and 2006 a young Fernando Alonso beat Schumacher in the last 2 years of Schumi's career in equal cars despite the FIA trying to hand Michael and Ferrari the 06 title. You can see even then that Schumi was slipping just like any athlete that had gone past his peak.
Now, its 4 years later, Alonso is in a Ferrari, Hamilton is already a star and Vettel is the rising star might still eclipse everyone.
Brawn had an early 2009 lead due to the diffusers but had lost that lead by the end of 2009 to Red Bull. I don't expect the new Mercedes to be any better than Ferrari, McLaren or Red Bull in 2010.
Without a superior car, Michael will find it difficult to battle the younger, hungrier and now faster, Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel.
julianb says:
10:40 AM, 12/23/2009
This is great for F1, especially with all the young talent in Lewis Hamilton, Sebestian Vettle, Fernando Alonzo (who beat Michael for his lat GP run), and maybe Jenson Button (* the diffuser probably won more than the driver did this year). Also Rubens Barichello (Scottie Pippen) coming in second this year, only to face his old teamate next year, is additional storyline, as being on the same team with the greatest driver of all time, Schumacher (Micheal Jordan), had easily kept him from racing competitvely for a championship.
I'm very happy that the most interesting thing in Formula 1 next year will be on the track, and not off the track .