F1: Schumacher Signs With Mercedes

Formula 1

F1: Schumacher Signs With Mercedes

Seven-time Formula One World champion Michael Schumacher has joined Mercedes GP and will return to competition in 2010...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted December 22, 2009 Balen (BEL)

Mercedes GP confirmed Wednesday that Michael Schumacher will make his racing return in 2010 with the Silver Arrows team. (Photo: Mercedes GP)

Mercedes finally confirmed Wednesday morning that Michael Schumacher will drive for its new works team in 2010.

Schumacher said the deal was for the next three seasons.

He will be reunited with Ross Brawn, with whom he won all seven of his World Championships at Benetton and Ferrari.

"Mercedes GP Petronas represents a new challenge for me both in a sporting and a personal context,” Schumacher said. “ 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.”

Mercedes now has an all German line-up, with Schumacher joining Nico Rosberg.

"It is fantastic that Michael is returning to Formula One and will be my team-mate 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."

There have been concerns about the state of Schumacher’s neck after his motorbike injury stopped him from driving for Ferrari this year, but he has been deemed to be fit. That, together with the inevitably complicated commercial arrangements, meant that it took some time for the deal to be completed.

"I am delighted that we can confirm today that Michael will make his much-anticipated return to Formula One next year and drive for our Mercedes GP Petronas team,” team principal Ross Brawn said. “As seven-time World Champion, Michael’s outstanding record in Formula One speaks for itself and I am looking forward to working with him again. With the completion of our driver line-up, I believe that we now have the most exciting partnership in Formula One with Michael and Nico, who provide the perfect mix of talent, experience, speed and youth. We can now turn our full attention to the preparations for the new season and everyone at Mercedes GP Petronas is extremely excited about the challenge ahead.”

The news also means that Schumacher will finally drive for the Stuttgart marquee in Grand Prix racing 20 years after being signed up for the junior ‘L-Team’ at the end of 1989. Schumacher spent two years driving for Mercedes in the World Sportscar Championship, and the company also underwrote his F1 debut with Jordan at Spa in 1991.

Plans for him to graduate to F1 with a Sauber-run Mercedes works team were nixed by the board. Sauber eventually entered as a private team, and later Mercedes entered F1 officially with McLaren. But Schumacher went from Benetton to Ferrari and never looked likely to drive for a team operated by Ron Dennis, despite his close links with Mercedes.

It was always said that he would never drive for another team after leaving Ferrari but the new partnership between Brawn and Mercedes – and Jenson Button’s surprise decision to jump ship to McLaren – created a unique opportunity for him to return.

Schumacher turns 41 in January, and he will be the oldest driver to compete in a Grand Prix since Nigel Mansell’s failed comeback at the same age with McLaren in 1995.

“I am convinced that together we will be involved in the fight for the Formula One World Championship next year,” Schumacher added. “I am already looking forward to getting back onto the racetrack. For me, this partnership closes the circle. Mercedes supported me for so many years when I began my Formula One career and now I can hopefully give something back to the brand with the star."

Adam Cooper notched up his 25th season as a racing journalist in 2009. Born in London, England, he saw his first F1 race at age 10 in 1976. He began freelancing for Autosport magazine in 1985 and was on the fulltime staff from 1987-92. He then went freelance again, initially spending two years in Japan before following the 1994 Champcar series from a base in Indianapolis. He has not missed a Grand Prix since Suzuka ‘94, a run that has extended to Abu Dhabi ’09. Adam has written books about Eddie Irvine, Piers Courage and Michael Schumacher and hosts a race preview show on Sirius XM. He has written about F1 for SPEEDtv.com since 2005.

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Adam Cooper

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