The 7 time World Champion Schumacher has been in discussions with the Mercedes team for over a month, and has finally signed a 7mill euro, 3 year contract at the new team.

The 40-year-old German will race alongside Nico Rosberg at the new Mercedes team who have completed the German ‘Superteam’ they were looking for.

Schumacher said:

“After a three-year break, I have all the energy again that I was lacking.

“The plan is for me to drive for the next three years.

“My neck is no longer a problem. Over the summer it was too soon after the accident. Now everything has healed.”

Schumi was set to come back half way through last season to replace an injured Felipe Massa, before a neck injury sustained in a motorcycling accident kept him out, although he refused to rule out a future return at that point, saying:

“From now to the end of the year, my neck injury will be healed to the point where I could drive again. I have nothing to prove to anyone, not even myself. I still slightly regret having retired three years ago but there’s no reason whatsoever for me to definitively announce that I will not come back.”

The rumours of Schumi’s possible permanent return to F1 started when his manager Willi Weber confirmed that he had spoken to Mercedes motorsport bosses at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Weber said:

“I know that Michael spoke with Dieter Zetsche and Norbert Haug at the season’s finale in Abu Dhabi.”

Then the rumour strengthened earlier this month when various media sources claimed the deal bringing him to Merc was ‘as good as perfect’.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo more or less confirmed Schumi’s desire to race again in F1 for Mercedes last week, saying:

“The real Schumacher, the one I know, will always remain in the Ferrari family. Then there’s his totally identical twin brother who seems to have the idea in his head to go and race in Formula One with Mercedes.”

Alonso, who is replacing Kimi Raikonnen for the 2010 season, had a turbulent time at McLaren when he partnered Lewis Hamilton and appeared to be constantly at loggerheads with either Hamilton or the then McLaren chief Ron Dennis and left the team at the end of the season.

Di Montezemolo said:

“We have been watching him since 2007. He is an extremely talented driver, quick and good at working with a team, while being totally focused on winning. I spoke about [his doubts] with [Stefano]Domenicali maybe 1,000 times – not 100, 1,000 times – and I spoke with Alonso.

“I told him: ‘If you come to drive for us, you drive for a team, you drive for a group, you don’t drive for yourself. If you want a team, then you do your own team, fantastic, like John Surtees .

“In Ferrari we want to put you in the best condition to win. If not, we will never hire you.”

At McLaren, the relationship between Hamilton and Alonso hit boiling point during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Alonso came in for his pit stop but appeared to wait in the pit box for an extra five of six seconds.

As a result, Lewis Hamilton was unable to get back around the track in time to start a new flying lap before the session ended.  Alonso was moved five places down the grid after the stewards looked into the incident.

Here’s a video clip of the pit stop fiasco.

My thoughts:

Although I totally agree that Alonso is one of the best drivers on the grid, I have never felt the same about him after this display of total petulance. The way he handled himself at McLaren left a lot to be desired. Actually, seeing this clip makes me really angry again. It will be interesting to see how the two drivers get on next years, as I’m expecting them to be closely matched.

What do you think?: Join the debate here in our new online forum.

Schumacher, who is working as a consultant for Ferrari after retiring at the end of the 2006 season, is believed to be in contract talks with Mercedes, who brought this year’s championship-winning Brawn GP team.

Suggesting it was actually Schumacher’s ‘twin’ in talks with Mercedes, di Montezemolo said:

“The real Schumacher, the one I know, will always remain in the Ferrari family. Then there’s his totally identical twin brother who seems to have the idea in his head to go and race in Formula One with Mercedes.

“I don’t know him personally, but it’s clear that we cannot offer him anything: we have two young drivers like Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, who we are expecting a lot from next year.”

Di Montezemolo suggested that his desire to return was sparked by a possible return to Ferrari to replace Felipe Massa, although a neck injury prevented him from doing so. The Ferrari president said:

“I think that when I asked him to replace Felipe after that terrible accident in Budapest this summer, the desire to race came back powerfully and not being able to finish what he wanted to do left a great void that we cannot satisfy.

“We tried to advance the idea of a third car but for the moment it is not possible. I don’t know what his future decision will be but I give my best regards to him, or rather, to his twin.”

Two Schumachers! The rest of the pack might as well just give in now!

It’s the one question on everyone’s lips – will Michael Schumacher return in 2010 with Mercedes?

And while there has been no official announcement, the rumours just won’t go away.

Does Schumacher want to race in 2010? The answer has got to be a solid yes.

The seven-times champion was gutted not to be able to fill in for Massa last year, and his passion for racing is obviously burning as bright as ever. A simple no would have put an end to all the rumours, but as there has been none, he must want to return.

In fact, all his quotes point to a willingness to get back behind an F1 car. With comments like:

“Who knows? Anything can happen.”

and earlier this year he said:

“From now to the end of the year, my neck injury will be healed to the point where I could drive again. I have nothing to prove to anyone, not even myself. I still slightly regret having retired three years ago but there’s no reason whatsoever for me to definitively announce that I will not come back.”

The major stumbling block seems to be his ties to Ferrari and their sponsors. But Ferrari appear to have now cleared the way for Schumacher to join the Mercedes F1 team.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said Schumacher’s role was “not binding”. He added:

“If he takes another road our agreement will no longer be valid. You can’t work with a competitor and with us at the same time. I still haven’t spoken to him about it. He is only a dear friend, not a team member. He is a consultant for our road cars.”

Mercedes are wanting to create a German superteam, and with Rosberg already in place, there’s only one seat to fill.

Before the Schumacher rumours started, Nick Heidfeld was tipped for the seat after BMW announced they were leaving F1, before selling the team back to Peter Sauber.

And it seems Heidfeld had pinned his hopes on a drive with The Silver Arrows, and he’s admitted to turning down other deals. He said:

“I have already turned down concrete opportunities and we are continuing to give other possibilities a lesser priority.”

It’s been a frustrating time for Heidfeld, who after learning BMW were leaving the sport must have been buoyed by the news on Mercedes. And now he’s hoping Schumacher will decide to stay on the sidelines. He said:

“I am not shy of my opinion about the speculation surrounding Michael’s possible comeback.

However, there is still a spare seat at Renault, which would see Heidfeld back with Robert Kubica if that move came off.

And it’s been a bad day for Mercedes, however, after a row over 90m euros in sponsorship money has developed with German consumer products firm Henkel.

It is understood that the team, then Brawn GP, believed it had a deal with the company earlier this year. However, Henkel now claims that the contract was put together by an ex-member of staff who was acting without the company’s authorisation. Henkel filed a law suit over the issue in November.

And so back to Schumacher, although I’m not going to put my neck on the line, he will be back, won’t he?

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is set to replace Luca di Montezemelo as chairman of the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) when Montezemolo’s one-year reign ends later this month.

Team principals got together for a meeting of the Formula 1 Commission in Monaco today, to discuss FOTA’s plans for next year – which included the election of new senior officials; Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has been made chairman of FOTA’s Sporting Working Group, with Ross Brawn remaining as the chief of its Technical Working Group.

It is believed they also discussed the planned joint car launch which is set to take place in Valencia on January 30th.

It’s a debate which has been bubbling under the F1 surface for years. Every now and again it crops up again, usually to be shot down in flames. And it’s a subject I’ve no doubt everyone has an opinion on…

Should teams be allowed to run three cars on a Formula One weekend?

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has hinted that the team may try and run three cars next season in a bid to allow Michael Schumacher to return to F1. In an interview in Italian ‘s most widely-read newspaper La Stampa, di Montezemolo said that Ferrari had wanted to go with former World Champion Schumacher as Felipe Massa’s stand-in last year, rather than a younger driver, thanks to his racing success.

“Well, we are still taking about Michael Schumacher. He’s 40 but he’s still from another planet!
“I prefer the champion, even if slightly older, to a mediocre driver, even if he’s young. Our team needed some great input.
“We are continuing to fight until that right to start with three cars next season – and one I’d hand over to Michael with pleasure. I prefer three McLaren and three Renault to three whatevers. With BMW gone, there’s not much to say, but there’s lots to do.”

But while The Prancing Horse are desperate to find a way for Michael to race alongside Alonso and Massa in 2010, others aren’t too keen on the idea. Ross Brawn, team principal at Mercedes following the buyout of Brawn GP said:

“I do not believe in three cars. Ferrari keeps the dream alive, but the starting grid is filled completely normally with at least 20 cars and there is no space for more.”

The thought of teams having three cars on the grid has always appealed to me, as I have always felt that 20 cars isn’t enough. With more cars there would be more racing, more overtaking, and a greater interest. But there are obviously some major questions and pitfalls too. If only the elite teams ran three cars, this would be grossly unfair, and this issue would need to be addressed. Maybe the third drivers could compete in their own championship, with only the main drivers taking part in the main championship.

There’s also the problem of teams using their third cars as ‘blockers’, to get in the way of the main championship – which could disrupt or even destroy the main spectacle. There’s also the possibility of pushing away the smaller teams. On the plus side, it would be a great way for teams to develop talent, and with the restricted testing these days, and extra car would allow the collection of extra data, but again, this could just favour the bigger teams. But it would be great to see an extra 13 drivers and cars on the grid, wouldn’t it.

Let me know what you think – leave us a comment.