Michael Schumacher to drive for Ferrari in Valencia

[cider_and_toast]

Yeah, Shame it's Valencia because it's going to harder to judge how up to speed. If he is still in the car for Spa the he could be on for a win there. He made his debut at Spa and if I'm not mistaken it's where he took his first win as well.

I just hope he passes the medical and gets to race because I'm looking forward to it.

All you points are spot on Boga.

 

[Galahad]

I'd have liked to be a fly on the wall when Domenicali told the test drivers.

 

[Muddytalker]

I'd have liked to be a fly on the wall when Domenicali told the test drivers.

I understand the modern method is to either text them, or they read about it on Twitter

 

[Brogan]

No matter how you present it boga, it's a kick in the teeth for both Luca and Marc.
Luca has been with Ferrari since 1997 so is just as much part of the "clan".

MS won't be around for ever so Ferrari are going to have to wean themselves off him sooner or later.

I expect the reportedly £3 million per race had nothing to do with Michael's decision making process either

 

[bogaTYR]

food for thought

"But those who question Schumacher's decision might do well to remember a little vignette that took place last Thursday in the media conference room at the Hungaroring.

BMW driver Robert Kubica was talking about a karting event that he and Toyota's Timo Glock had organised the previous weekend.

"We knew that maybe Michael (Schumacher) was coming," said Kubica, one of the most highly rated drivers in F1, "so we asked some drivers and they joined us. We had good fun, a good day's driving. Also a bit of competition because once you have drivers - even if it is not an F1 track, but karting - there is always competition. There is always someone who wants to be the fastest but overall I think it was good fun."

So who was fastest, Robert, someone asked.

"Michael was the fastest," he said."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson ... e_his.html

 

[bogaTYR]

bro

of course there are financials bits and bops. but my theory is simple, ferrari needs a boost and this might just be it. i do not see how any of the test drivers could bring the same. don't get me wrong, i really feel for them, but at the same time, this is about the team. the only thing marc and luca could do would be more of what ferrari already have, an anonymous drive, maybe some points. but now...

 

[Brogan]

I wonder if the other team bosses are annoyed at all the press coverage Ferrari are getting and thinking "who can we get back to get people talking about us?"

Mika Häkkinen in for Heikki perhaps...

 

[bogaTYR]

that would be a good one bro. but its hard to think of anyone who can pull of this kinda coupe. i mean, michael and ferrari are all over and everywhere! just incredible. this 3 mil already sounds cheap as chips

 

[Galahad]

Call me old-fashioned, but I'd sooner teams measured success in championship points than in newspaper column inches.

I understand why they've done it, but I'm not at all sure it's the right thing for the racing team. As Bro said, he's going to have to pack it in sooner or later.

 

[bogaTYR]

Call me old-fashioned, but I'd sooner teams measured success in championship points than in newspaper column inches.

I understand why they've done it, but I'm not at all sure it's the right thing for the racing team. As Bro said, he's going to have to pack it in sooner or later.

as usual, you are completely spot on GM. but you have to agree the news schumacher would be abck did do something to you. and thats the good thing cos that happened to many more people.

ok, its a one or maybe two off but still. maybe this is just what was needed to give us a good season after all.

am i too excited?

 

[Brogan]

maybe this is just what was needed to give us a good season after all.

I think we've already had a pretty good season, one that has gone completely against the grain with plenty of politics thrown in for good measure, if that's the kind of thing you like.

am i too excited?

Quite possibly

 

[Galahad]

but you have to agree the news schumacher would be abck did do something to you. and thats the good thing cos that happened to many more people.

Oh, of course, I can't wait to see how he gets on. I suspect he'll still be as quick as he always was.

Gene would have been a safe pair of hands though.

 

[GeoffP]

I still believe that Ferrari are looking for a backup driver who can give them 3 or 4 points per race in support of Kimi getting occasional podiums (long shot, I know). With MS they have a driver who can do that, who will also try to be up on the podium too, and I think he would get out of the way for Kimi.

Whether it's a good thing for Ferrari or not, I don't know, but with Badoer not having raced in 10 years and with no points to his name, and Gene with 5 points and not having raced for 5 years - neither can be considered a solution beyond the end of this year, so since this is a very unusual position...

Have to admit, three weeks to seeing if he grabs a podium, or hits a wall in practice and pootles is where the problem lies, MS has never been one for keeping fans quiet!

 

[Speshal]

Where is my time machine?

I wonder what odds you would have got at William Hill's if you nipped in before the season and put a score down and said "£20 on Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari this season!"

 

[GeoffP]

The trick now would be odds on him winning at Spa...

 

[Galahad]

I don't know, I mean, maybe Schumacher can be a regular points scorer, but maybe now he can't. We really have no idea.

And you can't judge Gene based on the points he's scored, considering what he's had to drive. He did a perfectly good job standing in for Ralf at Williams, and has at least done some car racing this season (winning at Le Mans, in fact).

I'm just a little offended on his behalf!

 

[Brogan]

I'm just a little offended on his behalf!

You're not alone GM

 

[GeoffP]

I agree his cars have not been good, but for F1 MS has the most recent and successful results.

I also don't know the contractual or internal position regarding Gene signing for Campos for next year, but that could easily have effected Ferrari's decision to use him. If he wasn't signing for them before I'll bet he's on the hunt now though.

 

[Brogan]

I espect one thing MS is looking forward to is driving on slicks.

 

[teabagyokel]

The trick now would be odds on him winning at Spa...

To be honest, I can't see it because if there's one person at one track that can beat Michael Schumacher in the same car it just has to be Kimi Raikkonen at Spa. Schumi has won 6 at Spa, yes, but Raikkonen is absolutely in his element at Spa. He won in 2004, '05 and '07 and would have won last year if it hadn't started raining.

To be honest, I don't think the F60 is going to be winning races too soon. It is not quite as fast as the McLaren at the moment, not to mention the Red Bull. The Brawn will probably be improved by Valencia too!

It'll be interesting for several reasons. Rob Smedley, for example, will be managing a completely different animal for the next few weeks. I'd hate to hear the reaction to "Calm down, Mikey baby!" coming over the team radio!

I don't think Schumi will be able to get this Ferrari up at the front consistently. I think there is a possibility that he could win a race á la Hamilton, but he's getting on, and he's only guesting. The Red Bull is still the class of the field, and Schumi's big contribution might be to get between the Red Bulls and Brawns.

For the European GP, btw, there'll be 18 drivers, of which 6 will be German...!