Touché

Sorry Gareth, we'll be good now

+1

Promised. No, really!

Just to help you out ...

Odds on Schumacher winning the 2010 WDC (which must reflect the odds of a return) moved on betfair from 5.7/1 yesterday to 11.9/1 today. I suspect this is because it only started trading yesterday, and with the rumour mill at its height then, there was lots of competition to be on the "return" side of the bet whereas today it's slackened off as people got their fill yesterday and the rumour mill has slowed down.

Other bookies have remained constant around 8/1 to 10/1.

I can't wait for MS annoucement as we could retire this thread.

actual traded odds on betfair:
12.00 €101
12.50 €198
13.00 €71
13.50 €28
14.00 €13

No news today. I'm starting to be worried.

No.

There should be a poll to see how many people want Schumacher to make a comeback and how many people are against it.

Here are my bets:

Michael Schumacher

12 £30.44 £334.84
12.5 £44.56 £512.44

You plan to lay them off if he does return and the odds shorten significantly, or will you keep the faith?

That's exactly what my brother asked, I will keep faith.

D. Zetsche: "announcment only in 2010 (german interview)

Top stuff - I'd be tempted to lay them off. Love Schumacher but there seems to be no guarantee that any team will be at the sharp end at the minute and he is a bit old and has been away for a bit. You're a better man than me

So am I, but probably for different reasons. I really do not want Kubica back with another German team.

I dont think we are going to hear any announcements until the first tests. I believe MS is waiting on evaluating the performance of the new Merc Car.

People forget MS? Nerver! Who won most successful in F1? Michael SCHUMACHER?

Disgrace driver? Senna!

All Jerez'97, Adelaide'94, Monaco'06 and Senna vs. Schumacher talk should be banned from Schumacher threads those are not specifically about those topics. Someone always manages to hijack Schumacher threads with these subjects. Boring!

any news on schumacher testing a '07 honda, is that even legaly possible?

I just posted it in the Massa Ferrari test thread:

This article: http://www.motorsport-magazin.com/formel1/...bt-antwort.html says he can't test a 2007 Honda, because Honda have taken away all engines and gearboxes and it would be very difficult to integrate Merc engine and gearbox into those chassis.

The author thinks Mercedes and Schumacher's only possibility to test before they sign is what Ferrari did with Badoer before he jumped in for Massa. Article 22.1a i) says some tests can be done for demonstration and promotional purposes. That's how Badoer could do 200km with the F60 before his first race. Mercedes could do the same with Schumi.

But then it will be done on special ultra hard tyres by regulation.

Yes, but I think the main purpose of this test would be to see if Michael's neck can take the G forces.

still, he could drive the bgp001 before signing anything

Has Michael passed medical tests?

They (well newspapers, so I cannot be sure) say the medical checks are OK, but in the above article his doctor is quoted saying: no medical test can replace the real thing: the G forces in a car. (He said this back in August, not now.) That's why a test would be necessary before the final OK.

Meanwhile, for the first time Nick Fry was pretty open about Michael being their first choice:

"ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Mercedes chief executive Nick Fry says the possible return of former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher would be "good for our team."

Fry said Tuesday that the former Brawn GP team was also in talks with other drivers "if Michael were to decide not to drive."

mercedes could run a silver painting for the first time...with schumacher win/win situation

Zetsche: Driver announcement probably at the beginning of 2010:

http://www.motorsport-magazin.com/formel1/...ten-fahrer.html

Surely he could just hire that F1 Clienti run F2007 he previously tested then? Or another F1 car if Ferrari decide their sister company won't be doing business with him anymore.

From where is that?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport...one/8414026.stm

Thnx!

Well looking at those wordings, I'd say that's it then. He is definately trying to get in. Both parties want it - just final health test to decide. He is driving unless a final 'test' raises problems.

That said, this is Fry talking here, maybe he's signed something no one else yet knows about....

Totally agree with this.

doesn't make sense. The RA107 was a dog.

What relevance does that have in this context?

Good point! Doesn't MS own a couple of F1 cars he'd driven during his carrier? I do not think G-forces where much weaker if any back then.

Though he might need a few technicians to get those cars working.

*first post*

I've been lurking on here for many many years (and on rasf1 before that) and this is the first time I've been moved to comment:

Bravo Red Baron!

Renn, who might have to pick an avatar if this quality of humour continues ...

SCHUMI's CONTRACT ONLY UP TO HIS MEDICAL EXAMINATION

Turun Sanomat 15.12 2009 23:12:06

According to very reliable sources Michael Schumacher's contract with Mercedes as a F1-driver for next season is only up to the final medial examination. The team and the driver both want to be sure that his neck will be in a 100% condition so that he can drive a F1-car.

Schumacher had to withdraw his comeback to Ferrari last summer when his neck was hurting after test driving.

Last weekend Schumacher stayed away from Ferrari's traditional Christmas Dinner by telling he was hindered to attend and Luca di Montezemolo didn't mention him at all in his speach.

di Montezemelo confirmed to Reuters that there isn't a clause in Ferrari's and Schumacher's agreement that would make Schumacher continue against his will.

– Michael is a dear friend but he is not a member of our team. If he decides to go elsewhere our contract is no longer valid. He can't work for two competing teams at the same time, di Montezemolo cleared.

Apparently the idea is that Schumacher and di Montezemolo will agree over the phone to terminate his job as a consultant during this week.

Schumacher is the number one target of Mercedes Benz -management but although the German has a brilliant statistic of success working with Ross Brawn, Ross is still not jumping over the idea that the soon to be 41 year old German star would be in the team for possibly one season only.

Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

Michael is fit for normal standards, just as he was last year before trying to replace Massa.
However, Massa revealed that MS got a problem driving the car.
Going over bumps, MS was loosing his vision for some moments and this issue prevented his come back.

I don't know how they are going to reproduce it in a medical test.

there is a very interesting new article that has just surfaced with alot new details - its a MUST read \\\\

the title is : why michael schumacher will return to formula one - despite red faces at mercedes ,, by Jonathan McEvoy, posted on dailymail.co.uk


here are some snippets of the artcicle :

The imminent prospect of Schumacher signing up to race again comes as no surprise to those of us who observed his mood at the Intercontinental Hotel, Geneva, in August.

‘Driving the car was the moment I suddenly felt alive again,’ he said.

Those seemingly uplifting words were actually a lament. He had tested a Ferrari with a view to standing in for the stricken Felipe Massa until the end of last season, only for his own neck injury to ruin the comeback.

Some cynics suggested he had not really been serious about competing again. Or that he ducked out when testing revealed he was not the all-conquering phenomenon
he once was.

Nonsense. Schumacher wears his emotions on his face and on that day it had more lines than a pre-Botox Gordon Ramsay. He was distraught.

From then on he was desperate to find a way back to the cockpit, health permitting.

Towards the end of last season Schumacher spoke to Ross Brawn, his technical guru during an unparalleled seven championship victories at Benetton and Ferrari, to spell out his aspirations.

But it is understood that Brawn, then finalising the sale of his eponymous team to Mercedes — where he remains head of their Formula One programme — told him he was looking for a younger driver to take them forward


Back home in Geneva, Schumacher has bought a new Technogym to tone up his durably athletic frame. He has also undergone tests on his neck, which his doctor Johannes Peil says have been positive.

In fact, Peil has privately indicated that Schumacher, who turns 41 next month, might even return for two seasons if the medical bulletins continue to suggest he is healed.


Go Michael schumacher ! Go Mercedes !

That would be fun, especially if Kimi comes back to drive Red Bull.

Where did you read that?

that's the first time I have heard about schumacher having vision loss. post source please.

Massa told about it in MS' test in the old Ferrari last year.

I will check it out when I have time.

Puff.. puff... found it...
Very old news... didn't know it wasn't in the net in English.

http://blog.estadao.com.br/blog/livio/?tit...p;tb=1&pb=1

Last part of 6th Question:
"O Michael Schumacher foi me ver no hospital, conversamos bastante, me contou que deu algumas voltas com o carro de 2007, mas que sentia dores no pescoço quando passava nas ondulações e perdia um pouco a visão. Comentou que estava preocupado. Depois fez o exame e deu que não poderia correr. Falei por telefone com ele, estava bastante chateado."

" Michael came to see me at the hospital [AEK Budapest], we talked a lot, he told me he did some laps in the F2007 [at Mugello], but he felt pain in the neck when passing over bumps and lost his vision a little bit [with the strong vibration on the braking zone]. He [MS] said he was worried.
Afterwards, MS did the examinations and the results forbiden him to race. I talket to him over the phone, he [MS] was very upset."

Vision loss... that's really worrying.
If it's true, it's insane to sign anything before testing.

It's kind of old - Schuamcher is mentioned as visiting Massa in hospital in Budapest. It's certianly not a recent phenomena.

He would need to drive an F1 car to find out I think how his neck is. Not sure how he can do that tho. With Ferrari he could just jump into the old Ferraris at Maranello.

I'm really excited by the prospect of Schumacher's return to F1. Finally we'd find out who's the best driver ever, Michael Schumacher or Nico Rosberg.