Schumacher Returns to Formula One With Mercedes GP
By RICHARD S. CHANG
Michael Schumacher is back. The seven-time world champion who had retired from Formula One at the end of the 2006 season has signed on to race for Mercedes GP Petronas, the reigning constructors' champion.
The team made the announcement on Wednesday. The deal had been widely anticipated for weeks, ever since Mercedes bought a 75 percent stake in the team from Brawn GP in November. Mercedes was determined to replace the two existing drivers, Jenson Button, the new world champion, and Rubens Barrichello. Button left to join McLaren, and Barrichello signed with Williams.
"Mercedes-Benz supports the idea of signing an experienced and capable German driver," said Norbert Haug, the vice president of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, at the time. "There is, however, no reason to finalize the driver situation too hastily."
Mercedes quickly signed Nico Rosberg to fill one of the seats, and then hesitated on naming a second driver. Haug promised a surprise, which quickly started the rumor mill spinning.
There was romance in the notion of a Schumacher comeback. He came close to returning to the grid in 2009 after the Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was injured at the Hungarian Grand Prix. But Schumacher's attempt was thwarted because his neck had not recovered from a motorcycle injury. Schumacher had also once raced with Mercedes sports car program before his career in Formula One.
The signing reunites Schumacher with Ross Brawn, the team principal of Mercedes GP Petronas. Brawn has played a big part in Schumacher's past successes. He was the technical director for Benetton when Schumacher won his first two drivers' titles. And then the two moved to Ferrari, where they proceeded to win five more championships.
"Mercedes GP Petronas represents a new challenge for me both in a sporting and a personal context," Schumacher said in a statement. "It is a new chapter in my racing career and I am really looking forward to working with my old friend Ross Brawn and my companions from my days with the Mercedes Junior Program."
Schumacher will be 41 when he arrives at the season opener in Australia. One of the greatest drivers in racing history, he has 248 grand prix starts and 91 wins, 154 podiums and 68 pole positions.
"It is fantastic that Michael is returning to Formula One and will be my teammate at Mercedes GP Petronas," Rosberg said. "It's a great challenge for me to be up against one of the best drivers of all time. I'm sure that we will form a very strong partnership as he will have lost none of his speed! It is also great news for our sport and the fans."
Update | 11:02 a.m.
Brad Spurgeon, who covers Formula One for The Times, has weighed in his thoughts on Schumacher's prospects for 2010.
"Even if Schumacher has moved to the winning team of last year, I think his age and the very nature of the current period of Formula One, where the technology is much closer between cars than it was only a few years ago, will make it a much more competitive affair," Spurgeon wrote, comparing Schumacher's comeback with his dominating years at Ferrari. "The one thing it will be, and of that I'm sure, is extremely interesting to watch how Schumacher performs after three years' retirement and at the age of 41 — and with drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Schumacher's own teammate, Nico Rosberg, hungry to get a chance to show him up."
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