Schumacher was close to being disqualified

Michael Schumacher could have been disqualified during the Hungarian Grand Prix if there had been more time, steward Derek Warwick has said.

Schumacher was handed a 10-place grid penalty on Sunday after almost pushing Rubens Barrichello into the pit wall.
Ex-F1 driver Warwick told 5 live: "Throwing a black flag would have shown a better example to our young drivers.
"But by the time we got the video evidence we ran out of time and we had to do it retrospectively."

Mercedes driver Schumacher apologised to Williams driver Barrichello after initially defending the move which saw him almost edge his former Ferrari team-mate into the wall at 180mph during the closing stages of Sunday's race.
Warwick, whose 22-year-old brother died while driving a racing car, was on the stewards panel in Budapest as part of the FIA's move to introduce former drivers as race adjudicators this season.

The 55-year-old, who competed in 162 Grands Prix for the likes of Toleman, Renault, Arrows and Brabham, said Schumacher's handling of the race was "disappointing".
He said: "We interviewed Rubens and Michael and it was kind of disappointing how Michael handled it, and we had no option but to give him a 10-place penalty.
"If we had enough laps [we could have disqualified him] but you have to have video evidence and make sure all four stewards are in agreement."

But while he would have liked to have taken action during the race, Warwick believes that the penalty imposed retrospectively virtually rules Schumacher out of the running at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
"You have to view the evidence you have and you could disqualify him from the next Grand Prix, or two Grands Prix," he said.

"But we felt a 10-place penalty is a big penalty to carry for Spa. It kind of puts him out of the race at Spa, and hopefully he will learn from that and remember that the new stewards will not tolerate that driving."

After reviewing the incident, 41-year-old Schumacher said: "I have got to say that the stewards are right with their judgment: the manoeuvre against [Barrichello] was too severe.
"I obviously wanted to make it difficult for him to overtake me and I also showed him clearly that I did not want to let him past, but obviously I did not want to endanger him with my manoeuvre."

The penalty marks the latest disappointing episode in seven-times World Champion Schumacher's return to the sport after three years in retirement.

The German had high hopes of challenging for an eighth crown with Mercedes, but he has been off the pace and has failed to match team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Warwick, whose own glory days in the sport were in the 1980s and early 1990s, thinks that as a result the Mercedes man is already looking towards next season.
He added: "He has been disappointed with the Mercedes and its performance. He is a winner and all he cares about is winning races and winning the World Championship.
"I think his mindset is already looking to 2011 and winning his eighth."



Critics have said that Schumacher's move on Barrichello on Sunday has tainted his legacy as a champion in the sport.
But Warwick said: "Let's not forget he has won 91 races and seven world titles.

"He is a great champion, a legend, and is up there with the greatest and we need to give him time.
"He has been three years out of the car and come back alongside Nico Rosberg who has done a great job."

F1 drivers banter over World Cup

The 24 Formula 1 drivers face a barrage of serious questions at each grand prix - how to rein in Red Bull, the pros and cons of an f-duct and the art of tyre management - but every now and then the media conferences throw up an entertaining rogue theme.

With two weeks to go until the opening game of the World Cup, football's premier global championship provided such a diversion in Turkey.
Surely the Socceroo's chances in South Africa were preying on the mind of Australian Mark Webber more than his own hopes of a hat-trick of race wins in Istanbul?

Not according to Michael Schumacher, who turned to the Red Bull driver at his side during the official driver interview session and muttered, "Did you even qualify?"
"Australia? We've qualified, yeah," Webber grinned back to the German. "We are there and we're playing you guys in the first match. We hope we can get a draw against the Germans.
"If we finish second and England win their group, we play England and of course we want to kick their butts."

Schumacher, who is a mean midfielder on occasion for Swiss side FC Echichens, accepted the gauntlet laid down by Webber and coolly replied: "Naturally, after some good results in past championships, we still hope to do a little better now and maybe win a final.
"It's very optimistic to say that especially with the sad happening to one of our most important players [the injured Michael Ballack] but nevertheless I'm sure they will keep trying and we cross our fingers.

"I'm sorry for you Mark, but..."
Cue an interjection from the Brazilian at the back.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for both of you," beamed Rubens Barrichello, already tasting the glory of a possible record sixth World Cup win for his home country.
"It's a great time for me and a great time for Brazil."

At least there was no chance of divided football loyalties spilling over into F1 in the McLaren motorhome, where Englishmen Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are united on the terraces.
"We're going to win," was Button's initial, optimistic assessment on England's chances.
But hang on...
"First of all, I haven't got a clue," revised Button, who admitted he wasn't very good at ball sports in his youth.
Webber and Schumacher wish each other well for the World Cup. Not. Barrichello (centre back) can afford to be smug

"I'm not a massive football fan but when it comes to the World Cup we're all very interested."
Could Hamilton, a close pal of France star Thierry Henry, shed any more light on England's chances in the group games against the USA, Slovenia and Algeria?
"The US - well they're American footballers and not really soccer guys," cheekily began Hamilton, who spends a lot of time in the States with pop star girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger.
"Actually they've got some good footballers but don't forget we've got some incredible players.
"I've no doubt England will be strong but I don't make predictions. I'll put some money on it and hopefully come back to you with a wad of cash."
And with the diversion over it was back to nail-biting over just when anyone would match Red Bull's pace.
The odds might be smaller - and the taste much more sour - but the harsh reality is that, right now, Hamilton is more likely to get a return on his investment by backing Webber to win three in a row (at 12-5) than England lifting the World Cup (at 6-1) on 11 July.

By Sarah Holt - BBC F1

Michael Schumacher on receiving end of Damon Hill decision

Monaco Grand Prix:

It was almost inevitable. As soon as Damon Hill was announced last week as one of four stewards for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, there was perhaps always going to be a controversial decision involving his old nemesis Michael Schumacher.

Penalised: Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher was demoted to 12th place at the end of the Monaco GP after a stewards' panel decided his move on Fernando Alonso was illegal

Sure enough, 16 years after losing the 1994 championship by a single point to the German after the pair tangled in Adelaide, Hill had the opportunity to exact some small measure of revenge.

Schumacher had passed Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on the last corner of the race following the departure of a safety car and crossed the line sixth, prompting a stewards' inquiry because rule 40.13 states that "if the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit-lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking".

The German was confident he would escape sanction, telling reporters that he had received a message saying "Safety car in. Track clear".
"If that's given then its racing," Schumacher argued. "You can have the message 'safety car and finish under safety car rule', it's a different message."

However, the stewards found against the German, who was handed a 20-second penalty dropping him to 12th and out of the points. Mercedes are appealing against the decision.
Hill said later that his only concern had been that "the right thing" was done.

But the 1996 world champion admitted that there was a wry smile from Schumacher when he saw Hill as he entered the stewards' room.

By Tom Cary

Michael Schumacher comes home to F1

Fit, focused and desperate to race � The German F1 driver is preparing to fight for an eighth title with Mercedes GP after three years' absence from the sport

The 41-year-old German formula one driver Michael Schumacher and his teammate Nico Rosberg at the presentation of the new Mercedes GP team in Stuttgart.

Photograph: Reuters

His back as straight as a guardsman's, his chin � that caricaturist's delight � jutting out from beneath the cap bearing the logo of his personal sponsor, with a purposeful gleam in his eye and super-confidence radiating from every pore, Michael Schumacher strode back on to the world stage today. So begins a comeback to match that of Lance Armstrong, another seven-times champion, and � some time in the future � of Tiger Woods, another contemporary exponent of crushing dominance.
Only Italians could dispute the suggestion that, almost 20 years after he made his Formula One debut, Schumacher's reappearance as a member of the new Mercedes-Benz team means that he has finally found his way home. After a single weekend with Jordan, a few years with Benetton and a sporting lifetime with Ferrari, at last he finds himself in a grand prix team where at least some of the workers speak his native tongue.
"Quite a lot of my history and quite a lot of my heart is red," he said, making a diplomatic reference to his 11 seasons with Ferrari. "You can't forget or deny all the good moments we had together. Now we will compete against each other, but that doesn't mean we have to forget the past."
With Ross Brawn, who supervised all his seven championships with Benetton and Ferrari, he has always spoken the same language. When Brawn discovered that Jenson Button, his new champion, had made what amounted to a state visit to the McLaren factory in the middle of negotiations last November, his first instinct was to phone his old colleague and suggest that it was time for all the light-hearted discussions they had shared during Schumacher's three-year retirement to bear fruit.
"Almost every year we have had contact," Schumacher said. "Sometimes it was serious, sometimes it was a joke. When he went to Honda he suggested there was an option, but I wasn't ready at the time."
Both men confirmed that there had been a conversation at the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, before problems emerged over the renewal of Button's contract with the team. "He touched on it," Schumacher said. "Then he called me and it was clear what his question was going to be."
Very quickly, too, Schumacher's answer became clear, although he referred the decision to his wife, Corinna, before confirming the news that he was willing, at 41, to make his return to the cockpit of a grand prix car and to compete against rivals � men such as the 25-year-old Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, 22 � young enough to be his sons.
"Naturally I had a discussion with Corinna," he said. "She's a very down-to-earth person, as we both are. She ­mentioned the pros and cons, and in the end she left the decision to me. It helped me to make up my mind." He would not specify the precise contents of Corinna's list of "cons".
The comparative youth of his new rivals is clearly not something over which he is fretting. "Whether they're young or not doesn't matter," he said. "You just look at who's in the other car and try to work out how you can be better than him."
Not surprisingly, those brave souls attempting to get him to acknowledge or atone for his old sins � barging into Damon Hill in Adelaide in 1994, pushing Jacques Villeneuve off the track at Jerez in 1997 and parking his car in his middle of the track to obstruct Fernando Alonso's quick lap during qualifying at Monaco in 2006 � by saying that he is now prepared to "win in the right way" are clearly wasting their time.
"I'm sure that 91 victories and seven titles you win only in a bad way and you need to prove something," he responded in a tone on the tart side of sarcastic. "Let's be sensible and think about the reality and look forward to what we might all face and enjoy together."
After much gym work and a session in a GP2 car at the Circuit de Catalunya, he is convinced that his physical fitness is up to the demands of a full season of the G-forces imposed by the high cornering speeds of the current generation of Formula One cars. Neck problems caused by a motorbike crash prevented him from deputising for the injured Felipe Massa last summer, but have now been satisfactorily resolved.
"What normally happens with drivers is that they lose the physical capacity to compete and they also lose the determination that you need to compete at every race, every minute, every lap of the circuit," said Brawn. "Michael's showing that he's achieving the same physical parameters as we saw many years ago. He's an exceptional athlete, don't forget that, and his break has refreshed him. And his work ethic has always been tremendous. He's already spent many days at the ­factory, talking to the engineers."
Schumacher stressed his impatience to get behind the wheel of a Formula One car, starting with next week's test sessions in Valencia. "I'm hot," he said. "It's all taking too long. The discussions started in November and we have to wait until February before I drive. I was used to working through the winter and testing in January."
His enthusiasm, he stressed, remains undimmed. "The main reason I'm doing this is that I'm thrilled about it. I've raced karts and bikes while I've been away from Formula One, and that's been great, but I feel very excited about competing again at the highest level of motor sport. I've always been focused and motivated and determined, and that's how it is now. No more and no less."
A slightly more cautionary note came from Brawn. "Until he starts competing, none of us know what his level will be," the team principal said. "But in the latter part of 2006, just before he retired, he had some of his strongest races. We've got an absolute belief in him. Maybe it will take one or two races, but I personally expect him to perform at a very high level straight away."
And on the question of whether Schumacher or Nico Rosberg will be given equal status, Brawn was blunt. "The No1 driver is the fastest one, whoever is winning races. We'll give maximum support to both drivers. Of course if one of them turns out to have a better chance of the championship, there may be different priorities. Last season we gave Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello equal support, and that will be the case this year. I've had a long-standing relationship with Michael, and we can't ignore that, but there will be complete parity of equipment and support. It's a non-issue." You can bet, looking at the glint in Michael Schumacher's eye, that it's a non-issue for him, too.



Richard Williams

Schumacher will be fighting rivals and the sands of time

Lewis Hamilton, it is safe to assume, will be having a very happy Christmas this year.
When he started his Formula 1 career in 2007, the man who became F1's youngest world champion said his one regret was that he never got to race against Michael Schumacher. Now, following the German legend's decision to come out of retirement and race for Mercedes in 2010, Hamilton can fulfil his ambition.
For those of us watching from the sidelines, Schumacher's return is an equally mouth-watering prospect.
At 41, Schumacher will not only renew his battles with Fernando Alonso - the man who beat him in a straight fight for the world title in his final season in F1 in 2006 - but start new ones with Hamilton, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and the new world champion Jenson Button, whose cars rarely afforded him the chance to take on Schumacher before.

Schumacher's ability to mix it at the front seems to me a given.
Even if he is not quite as quick as he was, as his former team-mate Eddie Irvine suspects, Schumacher will be more than good enough to win races assuming Mercedes provide him with a competitive car - a Michael Schumacher at 90% of his best is still better than the vast majority of the F1 grid.
"I still feel absolutely on the edge," Schumacher said on Wednesday. "This year, when I got back in a go-kart, I was straight away on the pace. I have to prove it, of course, but all the people (I will be working with) have no doubt about my ability."
Ross Brawn, the man who will be masterminding Schumacher's return just as he did all seven of his world titles, is also in no doubt that his new driver will be able to compete at the highest level.
"I asked Michael exactly that," the Mercedes team boss said. "He is the best judge of what he can do. He told me he can do it and I have absolute trust in him, so I'm very confident. He'll do the job."
Whatever happens in 2010, this latest venture is unlikely to harm Schumacher's reputation. Nothing can erase the memory of seven world titles and 91 victories, of a driver to compare with the very greatest names in F1 history.

Schumacher will no more diminish his legacy than did Lance Armstrong when he came back to the Tour de France four years after the last of his seven titles, and, at the age of 38, finished third in arguably the world's toughest endurance event.
If anything, Armstrong's achievement enhanced his standing, and such is the work ethic that Schumacher applied to his career - one of several characteristics he shares with the American cyclist - that the same will surely to apply to him.
But that is not the same as saying that, at 41, he can be the force he was at, say, the beginning of this decade.
Racing drivers tend to slow down as they get older. The reason for that is not that they lose their ability, but because their desire and commitment diminishes.
The willingness to put everything on the line in pursuit of that last scintilla of speed reduces as a man's mind opens to other aspects of life and an awareness of his own mortality grows.
For all Schumacher's talk of his motivation returning after a three-year break from the rigours of F1, of his being thrilled to race finally for Mercedes, not even he will be able to prevent this natural law having some effect.
There are a handful of moments, any one of which could be seen as illustrative of a time when the mantle of greatest driver in the world began to pass from one generation to the next.
Alonso beating Schumacher in a tactical battle in Bahrain at the start of 2006, and the desperation with which Schumacher deliberately crashed his car at Monaco to prevent the Spaniard snatching pole position in the dying moments of qualifying are two that stick in the mind.
But the one that perhaps stands out most of all was during the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix, when Alonso passed Schumacher around the outside at Suzuka's 130R, one of the most demanding corners in F1.
As he swept around the outside of the Ferrari, Alonso's speed at the apex of the corner was 208mph. Knowing that any contact between the two cars would have resulted in an accident that at least one of them may well not have escaped unhurt, the bravery required to pull that off against a man who had built his reputation on bullying and intimidation was immense - the more so given that, two years before, Schumacher had edged Alonso on to the grass at Silverstone at more than 180mph.
But it was not so much the move itself that was telling - once Alonso was alongside and going faster, Schumacher had no choice but to give way - as the mindset that allowed him to think about trying it.
Asked about it a few weeks later, Alonso told the veteran F1 journalist Nigel Roebuck: "At times like that, I always remember that Michael has two kids."
So few words, so much said. In the minds of Schumacher and his rivals, those assessments of what is worth risking and what is not will have grown larger, not smaller, in the three years since his retirement.
Be that as it may, we are talking about moments in extremis here, incidents that happen along only occasionally.
It was in these moments that Schumacher's notorious willingness to dabble in the darker aspects of sporting morality in his quest for success reared its ugly head. It is this side of him that means some of Schumacher's rivals will be a little ambivalent about his reappearance on the grand prix scene. Their tolerance of the dubious ethics that went hand-in-hand with the German's towering ability had been stretched to breaking point by 2006. And most of them were glad to see the back of him.
One suspects, too, that many of them may not be that keen on having him back for another reason - because he is so good.
As good as ever, or not quite as good as that, probably still amounts to a man capable of winning the championship. And that leads one to believe that his chances of success depend on his car.
There are question marks to varying degrees over all the potential title contenders next year.
Can Ferrari, where Alonso now occupies Schumacher's former seat, recapture the form that abandoned them in 2009? Can McLaren make a car that performs on fast circuits as well as it does on slow? Will Red Bull, using a Renault engine, be compromised by the uncertainty surrounding the French manufacturer's involvement in F1 following the decision to sell 75% of the team to a private equity company?
There are uncertainties over Mercedes, too, particularly after the team's slide from competitiveness in the second half of 2009 in its former guise as Brawn. But with them there are arguably less than over any of the other teams.
Given that his new team won the drivers' and constructors' championships in 2009 with a car that was compromised by former owner Honda's withdrawal from F1 last winter, the new Mercedes car will almost certainly be pretty handy.
On that basis, it could even be argued that Schumacher - who will surely have the upper hand over team-mate Nico Rosberg - will start the season as title favourite, at least until the pace of the teams' new cars becomes apparent.
The fact that it is possible to say that about a man who turns 41 on 3 January proves just what a remarkable sportsman Michael Schumacher is, and underlines what makes this such a compelling twist in the unfailingly dramatic narrative of Formula 1.

By : Andrew Benson (BBC F1 Blog)

2010 : The Year of Legends !

Lewis Hamilton welcomes back 'legend and really nice guy' Michael Schumacher to F1

Michael Schumacher versus Lewis Hamilton: the mere thought of such a rivalry has left the motor racing world feeling sorely deprived.

Its sudden realisation on Wednesday, after three years of being thwarted, fuelled a type of anticipation to which even the ice-cool Hamilton was not immune.
While Schumacher refused to name those whom he perceived as likely adversaries, Hamilton, whose precocity has recalled a certain German of mid-Nineties vintage, has become established as his heir apparent � the only man who could emulate or eclipse a target of seven world titles.

The only element missing is the spectacle of Schumacher reasserting his claims from the cockpit of a Ferrari, the 40 year-old being as indivisibly wedded to the prancing horse as Hamilton is to the McLaren technocracy.

But all that matters for now is the end of the hypotheticals. The cries that followed Schumacher's retirement were invariably along the lines of, "If only he had raced for one more year � then we would have seen him compete with Hamilton." Now we will, and the reaction from Woking was effusive.
"It's great to have Michael back in Formula One," Hamilton said. "He is a legend and a really nice guy, and I am happy that he has once again got an opportunity to do the best job in the world. I wish him my absolute best on his comeback with Mercedes-Benz."
Fair enough, the words from the 2008 world champion sounded about as machine-tooled as his car, but they were informed by a long-standing mutual appreciation.

There was a moment, all too fleeting, when these two totems of their sport faced off on the track, albeit on a karting track in Germany when Hamilton was just 16.
Who could forget, either, the time when Schumacher stopped Hamilton in the Monza pit lane in 2006 to congratulate him on his prowess? It seemed then like some generational shift; there was nothing to augur the seismic implication in Wednesday's announcement: that would, for not just one season but a potential three, be contemporaries.

"I used to watch Michael race when I was in the junior categories," Hamilton remembered. "I always hoped that I would be in F1 while he was still around."
Already there are expectations that the new-found parity of F1 competition automatically means wheel-to-wheel confrontation between Schumacher and Hamilton at every race. Their viscerally raw driving styles have often been compared, and while Schumacher was quick yesterday to stress his fitness, Eddie Irvine, his Ferrari team-mate at the height of his hegemony, sounded a cautionary note.

"The speed will be there, though he won't be as fast as he was seven years ago," the Irishman said. "He's not at the peak of his game, but he's still good enough to win races as he has such an immense talent. It's still four wheels, a steering wheel and an engine and there has never been anyone better than Michael."

For Mercedes, there was only gratification at their brilliantly-executed coup, bringing Schumacher back, in a move of neat circularity, to the company for whom he raced in sports cars before joining Jordan in 1991.
Norbert Haug, the vice-president of Mercedes-Benz motorsports, said: "Michael has more of everything than every other driver. Our sporting ambition has always been that Michael should drive again where his professional career had started, and he knew that.
"We often joked about it after the races and discussed the prospect seriously several times during the last 14 years in Formula 1. It didn't happen in 1995, it didn't happen in 1998 and it didn't happen in 2005.

"I am delighted that it will now happen in 2010. Everybody at Mercedes extends a very warm welcome to our 'apprentice' of 19 years ago. That apprentice is now the most successful racing driver of all time."
It is a billing to which, for the time being, even Hamilton has to bow.

By Oliver Brown

Schumacher's Back ? or not ?

Mercedes will lure Schumacher back

Michael Schumacher is certain to make his Formula One comeback with Mercedes' new team in 2010 his fellow countryman Timo Glock said at yesterday's launch of the new Virgin Racing team. And as Ferrari made it clear that they will not hold Schumacher to the consultancy contract he has held since his retirement from racing at the end of 2006, the whispers about his return were turning to shouts within the Formula One world.
"The flame is still there, it's still burning," said Glock, the former Toyota driver who will be partnered at Virgin by the Brazilian rookie Lucas di Grassi, "and it will be great if Michael returns. For me, it is quite obvious he is coming back. There's still a lot of speculation, but in the end he is a crazy race driver and he wants to come back to racing. It's not enough for him to just do kart races, or to go to the Race of Champions at the end of each year."
Ferrari's president, Luca di Montezemolo, scotched suggestions that the Italian manufacturer would not release Schumacher from his contract yesterday: "It is not binding. It is clear that if he decides to take another road our agreement will no longer be valid, that is logical. You can't work with a competitor and with us at the same time. But I still haven't spoken to Michael about it. He is only a dear friend, not a team member."

Schumacher tried to return in July as stand-in for Ferrari's injured Felipe Massa, but his neck, injured in a motorcycle race in February, proved unable to withstand the high G-forces imposed by an F1 car. It is now believed that these problems are behind him, and he recently won one of the kart races organised by Massa in Brazil. Though the cornering forces are lower in a kart, it is clear that his competitive spirit is undiminished.
It is also thought that events in his personal life have made him consider a return to his "comfort zone" of wheel-to-wheel competition.

There has been no reaction from Schumacher's representatives beyond a spokeswoman's comment last month: "Michael is enjoying his life. A return to Formula One is not a subject for debate at the moment." But it may be telling that fellow countryman Nick Heidfeld, believed a likely candidate for the second Mercedes seat alongside Nico Rosberg, was also hedging his bets as a possible driver for Lotus until they announced their pairing of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen on Monday.
Recently Germany's Bild newspaper reported that Mercedes have formally offered the seven-time world champion a relatively modest salary of �7m (�6.3m) to join their line-up. Any contract, however, is likely to be subject to a clause that Schumacher first completes a successful test in January.

Luca Badoer - Some infos...

Badoer set to race for Ferrari in Valencia

Following the news that Michael Schumacher has had to call off his planned return to Formula One racing, Ferrari have announced that test driver Luca Badoer has been drafted in to race at the European Grand Prix later this month.Schumacher had hoped to stand in for the injured Felipe Massa in Valenica, but neck pain caused by a motorcycle accident earlier this year, has forced him to abandon his comeback plans. "I am very unhappy that a problem means that Michael cannot return to racing," explained Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo. �In the past few days, I have appreciated his great efforts and the extraordinary motivation which had spread through the team and fans around the world. No doubt his return would have been good for Formula One and I am sure it would have seen him fighting for wins again. �In the name of Ferrari and all the fans, I wish to thank him for the strong attachment he displayed for the team in these circumstances. In agreement with (team principal) Stefano Domenicali, we have therefore decided to give Luca Badoer the chance to race for the Scuderia after he has put in so many years of hard work as a test driver."Badoer has tested for the Italian team since 1998 and last raced in a Grand Prix back in 1999 for Minardi.

Luca Badoer (born January 25, 1971) is an Italian Formula One driver who has raced for the Scuderia Italia, Minardi and Forti Corse teams, and is presently a test driver for the Ferrari F1 team.
Career
Badoer was born in Montebelluna, Veneto.
Prior to reaching Formula One, he graduated through the time-honoured route of karting, in which he was Italian champion. He beat Alex Zanardi in the final round of the 1990 Italian Formula 3 Championship. In 1991 he won four races in a row, but was disqualified after a technicality concerning his tyres. For 1992 he was offered a ride with Team Crypton for the F3000 Championship, in which he emerged as champion.
His debut Formula One season in 1993 was mired by Scuderia Italia's uncompetitive Lola chassis, which, despite Ferrari engines, was the slowest car in the championship in terms of qualifying pace. He regularly beat his experienced team-mate Michele Alboreto, but lost out to him for the second drive when Scuderia Italia merged with Minardi for the 1994 season. He was retained as test driver however, and took over the drive in 1995 when Alboreto retired. In the underfunded team his best results were eighth places in Canada and Hungary and ninth in Japan. In 1996 he switched to Forti Corse, where he was only able to qualify for six of the ten races the team entered, which folded after that year's British Grand Prix.

In 1997 Badoer began his long spell as Ferrari's test driver, a role he continues to perform. He returned to racing for one season in 1999, with the Minardi team. In the July of that season, Ferrari's number one driver Michael Schumacher broke his leg in an accident at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. As Ferrari's test driver, Badoer expected to be promoted to the race seat in Schumacher's absence, but the team opted for Mika Salo instead, prompting criticism from former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi.
Badoer holds the dubious distinction of being the driver who has competed in the most Grands Prix (48) without scoring a single point. He nearly achieved his first points finish in the 1999 European Grand Prix when a strong drive saw Badoer lying in 4th place with only 13 laps remaining. Unfortunately the gearbox on his Minardi subsequently failed and television cameras showed Badoer weeping by his car.

Badoer was unable to find a satisfactory race seat in Formula One after 1999, and he became a permanent test driver for Ferrari. He covers thousands of kilometres at the Mugello and Fiorano test circuits each year and it is likely that Badoer has driven more kilometres in a Ferrari F1 car than any other Italian in history.
At the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Badoer demonstrated one of the team's 2005 cars in the centre of the stadium, revving the engine, and performing several doughnuts, creating a large cloud of tyre smoke, and leaving circular black marks on the white platform. The event was witnessed by millions of television viewers worldwide.

Schumacher not driving after all ...

Michael Schumacher on Tuesday announced he has called off his much-anticipated Formula One comeback because of lingering injuries from a motorcycling crash earlier this year.
The seven-time world champion was to fill in for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa and hoped to return at this month's European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain.
Schumacher said on his Web site he informed top Ferrari officials on Monday evening that "unfortunately I'm not able to step in for Felipe."
Schumacher, 40, retired at the end of the 2006 season. Since then, he has raced occasionally in a motorcycling series but was injured in a crash in February.
"The consequences of the injuries caused by the bike accident in February, fractures in the area of head and neck, unfortunately have turned out to be still too severe," Schumacher said. "That is why my neck cannot stand the extreme stresses caused by Formula One yet.
"I really tried everything to make that temporary comeback possible. However, much to my regret it didn't work out," he added.
"Unfortunately we did not manage to get a grip on the pain in the neck" which arose after he tested an old Ferrari at the Mugello circuit in Italy, Schumacher said.
The German won 91 races in 250 starts in an F1 career spanning 15 years beginning in 1991.
"I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans which crossed fingers for me," Schumacher said.
"All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races."
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo thanked Schumacher for his loyalty to the team in attempting an F1 comeback.
"I am very unhappy that a problem means that Michael cannot return to racing," Montezemolo said. "In the past few days, I could appreciate his great efforts and extraordinary motivation which had spread through the team and fans around the world.
"No doubt his return would have been good for Formula One and I am sure it would have seen him fighting for wins again," he added. "In the name of Ferrari and all the fans, I wish to thank him for the strong attachment he displayed for the team in these circumstances."
Ferrari announced that team test driver Luca Badoer will race in Massa's place at Valencia. Badoer, an Italian, was first floated by Italian media after a crash took Massa off the race circuit.
The 28-year-old Massa underwent surgery on multiple skull fractures after he was hit in the helmet by a loose part from another car and crashed into a protective tire barrier during qualifying for Ferrari at the Hungarian Grand Prix last month.
Montezemolo said Ferrari decided to give Badoer "the chance to race for the Scuderia after he has put in so many years of hard work as a test driver."
Last week Schumacher said he was slimming down for the race, but complained of some neck pain.
"I only have to admit that my neck pinches a bit. We have to get a grip on that as health has priority � that's the clear arrangement made with Ferrari and, by the way, with my wife, too," Schumacher said.

Williams F1 against Schumacher Testing Plans

Michael Schumacher's bid to step up his comeback by testing Ferrari's current car has been blocked by Formula One rivals Williams.

Ferrari last week wrote to the other nine Formula One teams and the FIA requesting Schumacher be granted a day at the wheel of the F60 ahead of the German legend's return to racing at the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 23.
Under current regulations in-season testing is banned, but Schumacher hasn't raced since his retirement in 2006, so Ferrari were hoping the seven-time world champion, who is standing in for Felipe Massa after the Brazilian's horrific crash in Hungary, would be allowed to practise.
Out of courtesy, the other seven members of the Formula One Teams' Association - McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso - gave Schumacher and Ferrari the green light.
Williams, however, see no reason why seven-time world champion Schumacher should be given special dispensation, citing the recent arrival of 19-year-old rookie Jaime Alguersuari into F1.
"While we welcome Michael Schumacher back to Formula One, the fact is any form of in-season circuit testing is strictly prohibited, a regulation clearly laid out by the FIA and adhered to by all of the teams," said Williams in a statement.
"It was for this reason Alguersuari, who drove an F1 car for the first time in Hungary, did not have the opportunity to familiarise himself with the Toro Rosso before he made his race debut.
"Williams sees no distinction between Alguersuari's situation and Schumacher's and feels any deviation from the rule would create a precedent for the future.
"For the sake of consistency and fairness, therefore, we oppose Ferrari's proposal to test ahead of the European Grand Prix."

Schumacher -Returns

Formula One has produced more than its fair share of shocks already this season but Wednesday's announced comeback by Michael Schumacher surely takes top billing.

The German F1 legend, who will fill in for injured Felipe Massa until the Brazilian is fit enough to return, retired in 2006 as a multiple drivers' world champion.

A man of achievements and unequalled statistical records, he was dogged by controversy fuelled by his most unforgiving critics.

Schumacher was 37 when he hung up his racing helmet having competed in 250 Formula One Grands Prix, 180 of them for Ferrari.

He won 90 races, 71 for Ferrari, took 68 pole positions, 58 for Ferrari, and set 75 fastest laps on his way to seven drivers' world titles, including five for the scarlet scuderia.

He retired having just fallen short of Italian Ricardo Patrese's record of lining up in 256 races.

The man from the flatlands of Kerpen in northern Germany was a Teutonic machine, a human delivery system of speed and points and glory in a sport unused to such high standards of regularity, human reliability and sheer professionalism.

Nobody trained like Schumacher. Nobody was as fit as Schumacher. Nobody raced as hard as Schumacher. Nobody won like Schumacher. Nobody worked on and on and on like he did.

Tributes poured in after he had announced his intention to retire at the season's end.

Some were warm and loving, some were barbed and tinged with envy and some reflected a failure to understand that Formula One was bringing down the curtain on the greatest and most complete driver ever to have raced in a Grand Prix.

Among his critics were 1997 champion Canadian Jacques Villeneuve who claimed he was a flawed champion, a man whose records did not justify a reputation of being the greatest of all time.

Too many controversial incidents punctuated his time at the top, too many accidents, incidents and allegations of wrong-doing, including rumours that in 1994 and 1995 when he won his first titles with Benetton, that the team had an unfair advantage.

His critics talked of his questionable racing ethics, but his admirers spoke only of his virtuoso racing. As a result, his legacy was one of magnificent achievements but with a reputation that divided the paddock.

Purists argue that he should not be included in the pantheon of greatest racing drivers alongside Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina, Scotland's Jim Clark or Englishman Stirling Moss, widely described as the greatest driver never to win the championship.

But the records speak for themselves and Schumacher will be remembered for his competitive instincts, his professionalism, his fitness and his relentless run of successes in the era that followed the 1994 death of Brazilian Ayrton Senna who was, arguably, the man who introduced bruising and aggressive tactics to the tracks of Formula One.

Schumacher's catalogue of alleged misdemeanours included a collision in Adelaide at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix where Briton Hill was forced to retire and so Schumacher lifted his first title, another in 1997 when he collided deliberately with Villeneuve, but lost out and not only failed to win the title, but was punished for it too by the sport's ruling body.

He was also accused of cheating early in 2006 when he left his car on the fast line ahead of Fernando Alonso's Renault in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.

In short, Schumacher, though gifted with speed and other sporting attributes, was considered a bad loser but one who had mellowed in his later years.

A family man, he had little to do with the so-called glamour of the sport apart from being one of the drivers' leading spokesmen on safety and playing for their football team.

A great driver, a great competitor then for whom the lure of a return to competition ensures an explosive second half of the 2009 season.

Little did those thousands of red-bedecked tifosi fans standing on the asphalt of Monza to cheer him to the end after his 90th victory in 2006 think they'd have another chance to see their man on the grid again.

Unmasked: But is Top Gear's Stig REALLY F1 ace Michael Schumacher?

He walked out onto the Top Gear stage to whoops of delight.
But when the elusive Stig lifted his iconic helmet last night he was revealed as none other than Formula 1 ace Michael Schumacher.
Rather than ending years of speculation the long awaited unmasking was instead treated as a joke by the appreciative audience.

Going... The elusive Stig is finally unmasked following years of speculation

Off it comes! The Stig is unmasked... as none other than Michael Schumacher

Here he is! But with a cheeky wink, is Schumacher REALLY the Stig?

Jeremy Clarkson had previously promised that the true identity of the the fearless test driver would be uncovered on the show - the first in the new series.
In his newspaper column Clarkson boasted: 'As a television moment, it's up there with Neil Armstrong walking on the... corpse of JR Ewing.'
And even after 'the Stig' had removed his mask he kept up the pretence, asking him: 'What's your real name? It's just too amazing for words!'

Unveiled: Jeremy Clarkson pretends not to recognise the unmasked Stig

Clarkson then quizzed Schumacher about some of the rumours which surround the mysterious Stig, asking: 'Are you illegal in 17 US states?'
Schumacher, who was Formula One world drivers' champion seven times, replied: 'No, it's much exaggerated. It's only nine.'
The Stig test drives cars around the Top Gear track in Dunsfold Park, Surrey, and trains each week's guest for their lap for the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car feature.
And perhaps Schumacher had, at least once, worn the Stig's helmet.

Record-breaking: The �1million Ferrari FSX completed a lap of the Top Gear track in a record 1 minute 10.7 seconds

Who's under that helmet? The Stig test-drives a Ferrari FSX last night
On the programme the Stig completed a lap of the circuit in 1 minute 10.7 seconds in a �1million Ferrari FSX - seven seconds faster than ever before.
But despite the big unmasking motoring fans are sure to continue debating just who the real Stig is.

Ben Collins, a former racer and stunt man from Bristol, is thought by many to be The Stig
His identity is a closely guarded secret - although many people have speculated about who inhabits the famous white overalls and helmet.
Some reports insist he is a Norwegian racing car driver, others a Frenchman.
In January it was revealed that the BBC employs no fewer than eight drivers to don his pristine racing whites.

The most high-profile is Heikki Kovalainen, the 27-year-old Finnish Formula One McLaren driver who is Lewis Hamilton's partner.
Forty-one-year-old former GT world championship racing driver Chris Goodwin, from London, has also starred as the Stig.
As has fellow Londoner Julian Bailey, a 47-year-old former Formula One racing driver who raced for the Tyrell and Lotus teams.
Stunt driver Terry Grant from Bushey in Hertfordshire has also slipped into the white racing leathers to become the Stig.

Stunt driver Russ Swift is another who has become the Stig.
Finally, Dan Lang, a Swedish snow mobile racing champion played the Stig in a Top Gear stunt where he jumped a snow mobile off a ski jump.
A source on the show added: 'Look at the pictures of the Stigs from show to show. If you look at the height of Stig in different pictures, that tells its own story.'
However, with the unveiling of Michael Schumacher, perhaps the mystery has finally been solved.

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher (born January 3, 1969, in H�rth-Herm�lheim, Germany) is a former Formula One driver, seven-time world champion, and current advisor and occasional test driver for Ferrari. According to the official Formula One website, he is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen". He is the only German to win the Formula One World championship, and is credited with popularising Formula One in Germany. In a 2006 FIA survey, Michael Schumacher was voted the most popular driver of the season among Formula One fans.

After winning two championships with Benetton, Michael Schumacher moved to Scuderia Ferrari in 1996 and won five consecutive drivers' titles with them from 2000�2004. Schumacher holds many records in Formula One, including most drivers' championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and most races won in a single season. Schumacher is the only Formula One driver to have an entire season of podium finishes, a feat he accomplished in 2002. His driving sometimes created controversy: he was twice involved in collisions that determined the outcome of the world championship, most notably his disqualification from the 1997 championship for causing a collision with Jacques Villeneuve. After the 2006 Formula One season Schumacher retired from race driving.

Off the track, Schumacher is an ambassador for UNESCO and a spokesman for driver safety. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts throughout his life and donated tens of millions of dollars to charity.[8] He is the elder brother of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, currently racing in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM).[1] They stand as the only brothers in F1 history to have both won races and scoring the first ever 1-2 finish in Formula One.

By : Wikipedia.com