RSS
Home
Michael Schumacher To Return To Formula One?
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Michael Schumacher celebrates at the Race of Champions. Photo AP/Ng Han Guan
November 21, 2009
According to AutoCar, seven time World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher will return to Formula One competition in 2010 driving for Mercedes GP. So says Eddie Jordan, former F1 team owner, who gave Schumacher his first Formula One drive back in 1991. Michael went on to race with Benneton before moving to Ferrari, where he teamed with Ross Brawn to win multiple world titles.
You may want to take notes at this point, as Formula One is an incestuous business and the plot gets complicated. Prior to his debut with Jordan, Schumacher drove sports cars for Mercedes, which actually paid Jordan to give Schumacher a race seat. Now, almost 20 years later, Mercedes has bought controlling interest in the Brawn GP team, formerly the Honda team, which will now be known as Mercedes GP. So if Eddie Jordan is correct, Michael will be back where he started - driving for Mercedes. Are you with me so far?
Good, because here's where it gets tricky. After winning his unprecedented 7th world driving championship, Schumacher was literally forced into retirement by Ferrari. Their total dominance of the sport for several years was actually a bad thing, because the racing became so predictable, it was boring. The fans turned to other things and sponsors reacted by snapping their wallets shut. Something had to be done and that something was forcing Schumacher out of the team. Who said so? No one knows for certain, but suspicion focuses on Formula One major domo and master manipulator Bernie Ecclestone.
Yet even after not driving for two years, Michael Schmacher remains one of the most popular figures in grand prix racing and his return will create a wave of excitement for a sport that has suffered several black eyes recently from internal wrangling and cheating scandals. He is currently under contract to Ferrari as a consultant, but Jordan says "I understand he was due to meet Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo with a view to him being released - and that it will be approved because it is in the interests of F1." And who holds the "interests of Formula One" nearest and dearest to his flinty little heart - and his wallet? Why, Bernie Ecclestone, of course, whose nefarious little fingerprints are all over this deal.
The only sad note is that, according to reports, Schumacher's wife is adamantly opposed to his return to racing and has announced that she will file for divorce if he does so. My old Irish grandmother used to say: "Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it." I hope you know what you are doing, Herr Schumacher.
You might also enjoy these:
Related Articles:
Comments
