Schumacher set to replace Massa from Valencia - Cancelled

[Ali]

Asking a retired F1-driver to replace it's injured 2nd driver, over their testdrivers (AND stand-in drivers!). Gene and Badoer were the only 2 drivers who deserved this drive, not Schumacher! Why do they call them stand in drivers anyway, if they don't ask them in the forst place! That's pathetic!

i agree, whats the point in having test drivers if they arent gonna use them? how the hell must the stand-in drivers have felt when they knew Schumacher was taking the seat they'd been waiting for? i would have been extremely pissed off.
dont get me wrong it would've been great for Schumacher to come back for the drivers to race against him again but i thought it was pretty unfair on the other drivers.

Test drivers as the name suggests are there to test bits and pieces, and the overall performance of the car, which would create a feedback for the team in order to pursue improvement work. Test drivers are not necessarily the reserve driver. Driving a Formula 1 car at prescribed speeds and conditions while lapping on an actionless track is not as similar as driving a Formula 1 car at high speeds while lapping in a competitive environment. Both insights and experience have their role in judgement and reflexes of each discipline, which do not guarantee that test driver will do the job when it's needed, especially given the current circumstances relating to in-season test ban.

In one side, we have two test drivers who did their last race almost 10 years ago -ten in writing- (one has yet to score and one has scored just 5 pts) and on the other side we have a driver who became WDC 7 times with a total championship points of 1,396, for god's sake, who would you choose among them if they are all at the same age? Did anyone mention fairness when McLaren had hired Alonso, while "loyal" Pedro de la Rosa had been waiting on the side lines for a drive in Silver Arrow? Does fairness really has anything to do with selecting drivers? Oh come on, let's make it clear: It's the competence not justice which sets the foundation for driver selection process.

It was a sensible, rational and an inevitable choice to get Michael for the empty seat. It ended up in tears nonetheless. More tears indeed.

[swca92]

There'll be more tears if Badoer gets a podium in Valencia...

[HandoZiZle]

And then he'll win at Monza .

[hannibal_rising]

And then he'll win at Monza .

There'll be more tears if Badoer gets a podium in Valencia...

I think Badoer will have an interesting fight with Sutil and Alguersuari for the last place...

[Tom Vandenhove]

I think Badoer will have an interesting fight with Lewis Hamilton for the last place...

Fixed

[MayF1]

if Michael gets some therapy for the next few months maybe he can drive at Monza?

he paid £12,000 for a new helmet

[Ali]

It became clear Michael couldn't drive during last week's test in the 2007 Ferrari. He was suffering intense pain: a motorbike accident in Spain in February had left him with injuries including a broken rib and fractures to three vertebrae. They had all since healed.

But there was one remaining injury that had not healed, and it was the pain from that physical damage that made driving an F1 car impossible.

It was a tear in the left hand side ligament or tendon that links the base of the skull to the C1 or atlas - the first vertebrae at the top of the neck. Dr Peil said this tissue around the occipital atlas played a highly important role in protecting the brain.

That had not healed and that was giving Michael pain so strong he was not able to drive the car. Schumacher admitted that if he'd had only a small pain in the neck, he'd have treated it with painkillers and got on with driving.

But Schumacher and Dr Peil also had concerns that any accident Michael may have had into the wall in Valencia, or into the tyre barriers at the high-speed circuits of Spa or Monza, could further damage this area of the skull, leading to long-term injury. Damage to this area can lead to paralysis.

Dr Peil said the tear could take another six months or another 12 months to heal, or might never completely heal.

Because he couldn't say when his neck would be okay, Schumacher refused to completely rule out making a return to F1, but it looks unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Michael was clearly very upset at having to cancel his comeback. He had originally planned to say "no" to Ferrari's request that he stand in for Felipe Massa, but Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo had convinced him to give it a go.

Once Michael had decided to drive, he became totally focused on doing the best job he could. Friends remarked on how fast he clicked back into the racing-driver mindset. Schumacher was quick in the test in Mugello, just a few tenths of a second off his previous best times.

Apart from the neck problems, Schumacher's doctor confirmed that he was in top physical shape. An intensive workout regime had resulted in him losing 4kg in weight, and the arm, shoulder and leg muscles were up to the job. It could have been a highly successful comeback.

After an hour and a quarter, the press conference came to a close. Michael thanked everyone for coming at short notice, stood up, had one last look around the room, puckered his lips up into another sad face, and left by a side door.

Code: Select all

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/f1mole/2009/08/-had-his-injured-neck.html#more

[shailf1]

[shailf1]

Schumacher to be at Valencia 'to support Badoer'

Michael Schumacher will travel to Valencia for this weekend's European Grand Prix, despite calling off his sensational Formula One return due to a neck injury.

The 40-year-old German wanted to replace the injured Felipe Massa this weekend and beyond, but Ferrari has instead had to turn to its long-time test driver Luca Badoer.

"Michael is (coming to Valencia) to support the team and Luca," Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm told Bild-Zeitung newspaper.

Badoer, 38, who last raced in F1 with Minardi in 1999, possesses the unwelcome record for having contested the most grands prix weekends - 56 - without scoring a single point.

Referring to Schumacher, he said last week: "Last night he called me a couple of minutes after Stefano Domenicali had told me the news and I know that he'll always be ready to give me some advice and he will shout for me."

[JoostLamers]

Well, at least he's got a record