Schumacher winning belief gone, says Jordan

Eddie Jordan is confident that Michael Schumacher would only have returned to Formula One had the seven-time World Champion been totally convinced that both his physical condition and ability to win remained fully in tact. The German announced on Tuesday that, due to injuries, he will not return and is therefore replaced by Luca Badoer.

With Schumacher having awaited test results this week after a motorcycle accident damaged his neck in February, the German regrettably announced that his strained muscles would not be able to cope with the 57-lap European Grand Prix next weekend. Jordan, former team boss and the first F1 employer of Schumacher in 1991, believes that pride as well as physical ability is involved in the decision.

"I am surprised," the television pundit told the BBC. "First of all, I was surprised that he was actually going to come back because I thought that was a big move and a daring move. Nevertheless - once he had gone and tested and set in motion the 2007 car, had got a team around him and was due to test again today - I am really surprised because only a couple of weeks ago he did a kart race against all of the other Formula One drivers and he beat them - so I thought two reasons for this: a) that the injury sustained in the motorbike accident is actually more severe than we first thought and, secondly, that the arduous obligation of your neck against the g-forces that are involved in these modern-day Grand Prix cars is so demanding that he just physically couldn't do it."

With reserve driver Badoer called in to replace the German, Jordan questioned the status of multiple Champion Schumacher in the sport. "The sceptic inside me is just saying maybe he wasn't quick enough and he just wanted to maintain his reputation," he Irishman admitted. "Of course, we don't know the full facts but that is a very definite consideration - he's a wily character, he knows his best potential. Let's be very clear, if he could have got through the race (and the one race where his neck may not have been put to the same excursion of other races is Valencia) then at Spa he would be really difficult to beat because that is his prime track.

"He obviously has spent a lot of time looking to see if he could do it; remember, this isn't just yesterday or today - it's two weeks and it's very intense training and somebody, either himself or his advisors, has come up with 'we are physically not well enough, at 40 years of age, to make this comeback'. Be assured that he was only going to come back to win races so he clearly now believes he can't do that."

Source: GP Update