F1: Schumacher Not To Return After All

After the excitement amongst fans of Michael Schumacher's impending return as a replacement for the injured Felipe Massa, today's news totally changed that optimism. After consulting with doctors treating his recovery from a neck injury suffered in a motorcycle crash, the 7 time world champion has cancelled his impending return. The neck and shoulder injuries he suffered came from a motorbike crash in preparation to achieve his next goal of racing superbikes in February, but ever since his retirement, he has never left the clutches of the Ferrari team after acting as team consultant for the past 2 seasons and has acted as an official tester of various Ferrari road cars. Also recently you may have noticed a little stunt on Top Gear where Schumacher "revealed" himself as the man behind the helmet of "The Stig" this was quickly rebuffed by Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson who called him an imposter the very next week.

Ferrari though have taken the unusual step by immediately naming his replacement in the form of their long time F1 test driver Luca Badoer from Italy, who has not raced competitively in the sport since a season with Minardi in 1999, he also holds the record of being the longest serving F1 driver never to have scored a world championship point (48 races) with his best result being a 7th place finish at the San Marino GP in 1993 driving a Lola. Badoer though is most famous for his stunning drive in the 1999 European GP where in a Minardi he drove out of his skin on merit from 19th to 4th before his gearbox packed up and he lay next to his car crying his eyes out. That does not mean he is unworthy of the drive though, Badoer has been Ferrari's official tester for 12 years and in a way, this is a way for the team to repay his loyalty to them by allowing him to drive the remaining 7 races as teammate to Kimi Raikkonen.

I think this comes as a massive suprise, Schumacher suffered his crash injuries back in February, a full 6 months ago. This decision probably confirms that the injuries he suffered were more severe than first thought despite him setting a blistering pace in a 2 year old car round the Mugello circuit. But on the whole, i think they've gone for the right man in Luca Badoer over Marc Gene, simply because with 12 years as a test driver under his belt for the team, if there is one man in the world that is more than qualified to race a Ferrari other than Michael Schumacher, its Luca Badoer.