I think the first point to make as regards to the roumers that Michael Schumacher is actively looking to reignite his career with Mercedes (née Brawn) GP is to understand that it seems his competitive instincts are undiminished. Until the accident that prevented him replacing Felipe Massa at Ferrari, Schumacher had been taking bike racing ever more seriously. He regularly karts, and enjoyed his regular appearance at the Race of Champions.
Although I would never profess to be a Schumacher fan, I would much rather see him back in F1 than losing the most statistically successful driver of all time to an accident in a low-level motorcycle race. Remember that champions often lose their lives doing other things (Graham Hill, Colin McRae, Jim Clark, Mike Hawthorn etc). Indeed, Ayrton Senna was one of the few former champions to lose his life in an F1 car. So from that point of view, I’d much rather see Michael getting his fix in a series that befits him and (when compared to motor cycle racing anyway) is relatively safe.
I am sure however that, commercial decisions aside, it is a pairing that can only go badly in some way for either Schumacher, Mercedes, or Nico Rosberg.
If Schumacher comes back and struggles, particularly against Rosberg, he will look like and idiot and his legacy will be devalued, much like Nigel Mansell, who after winning the ’94 Austrailian GP should have retired, rather than persisting with an short-lived and unfortunate streak with McLaren in 1995. If Schumacher comes back with even only 60% of his previous skill in and out of the car, he may well destroy Rosberg, which will seriously limit Rosberg’s career prospects (I am a Rosberg fan but I fear its true nonetheless). Finally, if Schumacher lives the dream and wins many races and/or the championship, his genius will be (rightly) credited for the win – Mercedes’ efforts will be devalued.
Whichever way you look at it, someone is going to be disgruntled at the end of the year, and I fear it may be Michael…
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A knock on effect of the shenanigans of Brawn/Mercedes/Mclaren/Button/Schumacher, is that Kimi Raikkonen was left without a drive befitting of his status. I think he has shown immense balls by giving the Word Rally Championship a go with Citroen. I will support his efforts to the hilt and after a difficult first few months, I think he will do better than a lot of people are expecting. Kimi is first and foremost an amazingly talented natural, precise and devastatingly fast driver of a car. This sounds like a daft thing to say, but I think where he lacks is out of the car – dealing with politics, engineers, media, leading a team etc. This is what blunts his package as a driver. When it comes to wheel and pedals though, I am convinced there is no one faster in recent F1 history.
Those skills are innate and are transferrable. He will just need to learn how to harness that in a WRC car (as Marcus Gronholm has mentioned).
To me, it seemed that simply, his motivation waned after snatching the 2007 championship from under the noses of Hamilton and Alonso. Since then, he has rarely turned it on and really excelled. However it’s still there, has his wonderful drive in Spa this year proved, in a car that was most likely a midfield contender.
Good luck Kimi, I hope you get your mojo back on the special stages!
Posted by terminalundersteer 
