Merry Christmas Formula One - Schumacher Returns!

[MSulka]

http://paddocktalk.com/news/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid= 125695

[f1fan-sky]

Gosh, didn't know how much I'd miss the old guy! I'm so happy he's back.

[RacerX]

Fantastic news! This is going to be great for F1, especially after watching all the mediocrate on the grid this season...

But my passions are torn! I'm a huge Ferrari fan, but I'm also a huge Schumacher fan. What to do, what to do??????

[Touchette]

Originally Posted by RacerX

But my passions are torn! I'm a huge Ferrari fan, but I'm also a huge Schumacher fan. What to do, what to do??????

Oh my god...

/rollseyes

[Maelochs]

Well, with Schumacher and Brawn at Mercedes and Todt as FIA president ... it is the second coming of the Schumacher/Todt/Brawn era, no?

Rejoice, rejoice. With the FIA firmly in Ferrari's pocket, you will always have one of your heroes on the podium, I'd guess.

[RacerX]

Even among those representing Mercedes-Benz, Michael Schumacher's return to formula one is not universally popular.

Uwe Werner, a member of parent company Daimler's supervisory board, said the decision to pay the seven time world champion 7 million euros a year is "hard to justify".



"For many colleagues, it is unimaginable," he told the Frankfurter Rundschau daily, referring to the car sales crisis and Mercedes' decision to move some of its operations abroad.

"The staff would have better understood if Mercedes had left the F1 altogether," Werner added.

Reports quoted Mercedes' competition boss Norbert Haug as responding by saying Schumacher's signing will improve Mercedes' image and contribute to the sale of many road cars.

"We believe we know how to invest our money," he told ZDF television.

It does have to be tough to be an assembly line worker that is probably facing a possible layoff, while the company then goes out to spend 7 million Euros on a driver.

Now granted, Schumacher is much more than a driver, but it's still tough from their point of view, but from Haugs point of view the signing of Schumacher has to be quite a bargain....

News of Schumacher's return has also been unpopular in parts of Italy, home of Schumacher's F1 team for the past 14 years.

The German has distributed an open letter of explanation and affection to the Ferrari 'tifosi', after some Italian dailies said Schumacher had moved from being an idol to a traitor.

Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni told the ANSA news agency: "I say (about Schumacher) the same as president Montezemolo. All the best. From now on he is an opponent, and we try to beat our opponents."

I am starting to fall into line with Italian fans that are looking at Michael as a sort of traitor. He's done it all in F1 and he has nothing left to prove and he did it all in a Ferrari! This is kind of a slap at tifosi everywhere who revered him.

That's why I still believe that Schummy was pushed out of the Ferrari seat by Monty. I don't think that Schummy wanted to leave, but was forced out and now he is out to show Ferrari that they made a mistake.

And I think he will to....

[f1fan-sky]

Originally Posted by RacerX

I am starting to fall into line with Italian fans that are looking at Michael as a sort of traitor. He's done it all in F1 and he has nothing left to prove and he did it all in a Ferrari! This is kind of a slap at tifosi everywhere who revered him.

That's why I still believe that Schummy was pushed out of the Ferrari seat by Monty. I don't think that Schummy wanted to leave, but was forced out and now he is out to show Ferrari that they made a mistake.

And I think he will to....

Don't forget, Shumi won his first two World Driver's Championships with Benetton in '94 and '95. The other five were with Ferrari. As far as your second point, I, too, think Schumi was pretty much shown the door and I don't think he was very happy about it despite the brave face. I think it's unfair to call him a traitor--Ferrari has it's line-up and doesn't need him, so he went where he was wanted.

[chopperdave]

Im against this as well. Brawn should have found another up and coming driver to put in the car. schui has had his day time to let others shine. wonder how many qualifying sessions he'll ruin for other drivers to get to Q1