Poll over: MSC will officially come back.

[Giblet]

I disagree, his chances are better than say Button in the same car. The guy is quick, has stayed sharp racing bikes, kept pretty fit, and has proved himself one of the most talented drivers in recent memory.

My reasons for not wanting him to come back is that he might get that WDC. The right team might be Brawn-Mercedes to do it this year, they did it last year, with less permanent backing.

F1 was boring for the non fanboy of any specific driver when it was getting boring to even bother to watch.

[Scotracer]

There is no doubt Shumy coming back would be incredible. Given that he's the only driver on the grid with experience of no refuelling may help also

[mx_tifoso]

I don't think that his experience with no refueling would give him an advantage. At such as professional level every driver will surely cope with the change with little to no difficulty. The same was said of veteran drivers with the loss of TC and return of slicks, and in the end their vast wealth of experience from many years ago didn't really make a difference.

My vote is for him to stay retired from racing. Stay as a consultant/advisor and keep the paycheck for many years to come instead of a season or two racing with another team. Di Montezemolo has made it clear that Schumacher either works soley for the Scuderia or for someone else, period.

[xDama]

I honestly couldn't care less if Schumacher would return or not.

[WhiteBlue]

Di Montezemolo has made it clear that Schumacher either works soley for the Scuderia or for someone else, period.

Which is kind of an obvious statement. Between Ferrari and Mercedes it is a question of who gets to exploit Schumacher in the future PR effort. After three years of deep involvement in the road car development at Ferrari they will be really pissed off to see Michael apply all this knowledge about their methods and standards to Mercedes road cars from 2011.

I expect some ambitious projects to come from the three pointed star in two or three years with Schumacher F1 experience PR themes stamped all over the cars. I would not be surprised if the one year driving deal is linked with a ten year advisor or director contract. For Merc it would be an incredible coup with tremendous potential in terms changing the brand image towards young, fast and successfull.

[Fil]

Di Montezemolo has made it clear that Schumacher either works soley for the Scuderia or for someone else, period.

yet Montezemolo has allowed Fisi to race elsewhere (including a Merc-powered Force India) if he so chooses to.. Schumi probably saw that, and thought the same rules applied for all Ferrari employees!

[GTO]

yet Montezemolo has allowed Fisi to race elsewhere (including a Merc-powered Force India) if he so chooses to..

Really? I don't think so. When did Monte allow Fisi to race for Force India?

[tk421]

yet Montezemolo has allowed Fisi to race elsewhere (including a Merc-powered Force India) if he so chooses to..

Really? I don't think so. When did Monte allow Fisi to race for Force India?

yourself GTO

You misunderstood. After Fisi signed with Ferrari, they said they would allow him to race for another team in 2010 if the opportunity arose. So far that hasn't been the case. But, for example's sake, if Manor/Virgin offered him a drive, he could take it and that would be OK with Ferrari...As I understand the agreement, anyway. Feel free to correct me!

About Schumi:
I would welcome his return. Not only would it boost F1 and all that jazz, but I believe he is a better driver--even after his sabbatical--than nearly half the field: Trulli, Barrichelo, Liuzzi, Glock, Sutil, Kovalainen, and obviously the rookies like Grosjean, Buemi, Alguersari,Hulkenberg, Senna, and whatever other drivers the new teams choose...Granted, by F1 standards he's nearly ancient, but surely he'll perform at the highest level... Just sharing my thoughts here, thanks for readin!

[jamsbong]

I find it surprising that there are doubters. If Lance Armstrong is able to end up 3rd place at the Tour de France at age 38, Schumi won't have a problem scoring countless of wins at 41. I know I'm comparing two totally different professionals but as far as I'm concern the tour de france is ABSOLUTELY the most demanding sport in the world. Olympics, iron-man, are childs play compare to the tour de france. Yet! Armstrong is able to outpace 100+ young men at 10-15 yrs younger than him!

Will Schumi win the championship? there is a good chance, but we'll never know, luck plays an important on this one too. but I can tell you now, many do fear his return.

[nipo]

I feel so mixed now with all the talks about his return. The news points both ways when his manager is saying "no" and then Monte coming out saying something odd about the contractual stuff.

I'd love to see Schumi back to F1 but honestly I don't know what to expect from him. He can be very fit and immediately starts to show his class. He can have a very hard time adjusting. He can be given a dog of a car from Merc and fail to shine. He can be a hundred things.

If he comes back, he'd better take the WDC and WCC and retire for good. Anything less is not worth it, seriously.

[raceman]

many do fear his return.

+1

right said

[WhiteBlue]

If he comes back, he'd better take the WDC and WCC and retire for good. Anything less is not worth it, seriously.

This narrowly scrapes the edges of bovine manure. If he comes back he will come only for one year and primarily for the fun of competing and winning. As always winning will depend a good deal more of the machine than the man. So really all we can expect is Michael to do his best, beat his team mate, stay cool and do not make any dumb mistakes like Jerez 97 or Rascasse 2006. If he collects more race wins or even a championship I would be over the moon but it is by no means a pre requisite and should not be expected. There are obviously other drivers who are capable and likely to be in a championship race to the wire. I count at least Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel, Massa, Button, Webber and Rosberg into that lot.

[tarzoon]

Why should Schummi come back as a driver and not an team adviser/manager? There is still commercial scope to it, and I suppose Brawn would be very happy to have him on the team. Maybe he can even do a better job than Fry

[mx_tifoso]

Di Montezemolo has made it clear that Schumacher either works soley for the Scuderia or for someone else, period.

yet Montezemolo has allowed Fisi to race elsewhere (including a Merc-powered Force India) if he so chooses to.. Schumi probably saw that, and thought the same rules applied for all Ferrari employees!

Surely you're not comparing Schumacher to Fisichella are you? It's worse than apples to oranges.

If they let Fisichella race elsewhere it means that they don't give a damn about him. He's obviously nothing within the team, just a race driver they brought in as plan C and to use for marketing.

[Fil]

Surely you're not comparing Schumacher to Fisichella are you? It's worse than apples to oranges.

If they let Fisichella race elsewhere it means that they don't give a damn about him. He's obviously nothing within the team, just a race driver they brought in as plan C and to use for marketing.

no i wouldn't dare compare them directly as drivers, but as employees of Ferrari.
Schumacher was plan C & for marketing since he retired at Ferrari.

My point is that Monti claimed that Michael couldn't work for a competitor at the same time as for Ferrari, but theoretically allowed Fisi to do so. Just pointing out some light-hearted hypocrisy that is the hardball "its a family" game Montezemolo initially attempted playing in a vain attempt to keep Schumacher.
In actual fact Fisi has had more to do with the F60 & beyond than Schumi, who by all reports at Ferrari has recently only worked in the roadcar division.