James Allen on Schu's failed comeback

The announcement that Michael Schumacher was to become the ultimate ‘super sub’ and temporarily replace the injured Felipe Massa created a whirlwind of excitement inside and outside of Formula 1 – so the news he wouldn’t be racing after all has deflated the media and fan mood somewhat heading to Valencia.

ITV.com/F1 columnist and acclaimed Schumacher biographer James Allen followed the latest unexpected chapter in the German legend’s F1 career as closely as anyone and noted the one great irony of the whole episode.

James also explains why he doesn’t subscribe to the conspiracy theories surrounding the 40-year-old’s abortive return, but does express surprise that Team Schumacher went so far with the comeback bid only to end up having to call it all off.


It’s amazing the sense of disappointment at large, especially among the media in F1, that Michael Schumacher is not going to make the promised comeback.

It’s been a tough season off the track with lots of negative headlines about the sport and the threatened breakaway, and what F1 really needed was some fresh headlines and a new and dramatic story.

The return of the seven-time champion would have electrified the closing stages of the season. It would have provided an opportunity for Lewis Hamilton to race against him for the first time, which would be a nice footnote for the history books.

I find it quite ironic that Schumacher should be looked on as someone who was going to come in and energise the series, when for years his domination almost killed it!

There is a school of thought, and Alain Prost hinted at it in his comments in Le Parisien newspaper, that Schumacher used his neck injury as an excuse and in fact he realised that his body and brain had lost the sharpness and vitality needed to compete at the top level of F1. This is the conspiracy theory doing the rounds.

Prost was citing his own experiences of coming back in 1993 after a sabbatical year, but his situation was quite different as he was coming back to lead the team which was favourite to win the world championship.

He was expected to dominate, whereas Schumacher was only coming in to fill the gap left by Felipe Massa and help Ferrari achieve its target of finishing third in the constructors’ championship. His goals were much more down to earth.

I notice that Willi Weber, Schumacher’s manager, has defended him against Prost’s suggestions, saying that the lap times Schumacher set in the 2007 car were proof that he was still capable of racing at the front.

I don’t subscribe to the view that Schumacher ‘bottled it’ and used his neck injury as an excuse. It’s not really his style.

However it is surprising that he allowed himself to go so far down the track on the comeback, when there was clearly a more serious neck injury than anyone outside his closest circle realised. That’s not his style either.

When I spoke to his assistant Sabine Kehm two weeks ago, she wanted to manage expectations about the comeback, reminding everyone that it was subject to medical clearance, but I didn’t detect then that there was any significant doubt about him making it.

So it doesn’t quite add up and it leaves a rather messy and confused picture.

Meanwhile Felipe Massa said this week that he is targeting the Brazilian Grand Prix for his comeback from injury.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali was the one to manage expectations this time, saying that “Felipe is on great form and his recovery is going very well…but we need to have patience, there’s no hurry.”

Source: ITV