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Michael Schumacher moved to shake off more of the rust of his three year retirement at the weekend by racing karts. After finishing just tenth at the wheel of his Mercedes in China, the seven time world champion reverted to 40 horse power at the Erftlandring circuit in Germany and set pole position in a Tony Kart for the 125cc KZ2 class. The 41-year-old German won the first of two heats, but was beaten in the second. Not only will Schumacher's W01 chassis be a new one in Barcelona this weekend, the package has been updated for a longer wheelbase that should satisfy his desire for a less understeering car. "I am hoping for a better race than I had in China and of course I would not mind having had better results so far," he said. Source: GMM

Speculation about Michael Schumacher's mood continues to rise, but the seven time world champion insists he is "extremely motivated" ahead of the fifth race of his 2010 comeback. After three years of retirement, the 41-year-old German has been consistently outpaced by his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg so far in 2010, but will have a car with a longer wheelbase in Spain that should better suit his driving style. "When he has that (revised car) I think we will have to reassess the whole story," commented former triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart. "If he then doesn't deliver, then I think he has a problem," added the Scot. 70-year-old Stewart thinks part of Schumacher's problem will be reassessing his desire to honour the full three years of his new contract. "You know, I don't think he should have retired when he did in 2006 because I don't think it was out of his system," he said. "This might take it out of his system." Schumacher's old title rival of the 90s, Damon Hill, is not ruling out that "the old Schumacher magic" could soon return. "Is it still there?" he told the Daily Mail, whose headline accuses Mercedes of "wasting money" on Schumacher. "I'm sure that's a question Michael will be asking himself -- and it's one that is starting to become valid after four races," added Hill. In an official Mercedes press release, Schumacher played down the likely effect of the car upgrades for Barcelona but sounded bullish about his own outlook. Team boss Ross Brawn also said the German is "determined to succeed" despite the setbacks so far. Added Schumacher: "Our step forward in Barcelona will be bigger than you can make at each race during the flyaways but it would not be realistic to expect us to suddenly be competing right at the front," he said. "However the good news is that after three years away, I am feeling extremely motivated. So I am clearly ready to take this challenge," added the record winner of 91 grands prix. Source: GMM

With the exception of an actual signature on the dotted line, Michael Schumacher has reportedly agreed to return to F1 with Mercedes in 2010. The news magazine Focus as well as the major German daily Bild revealed on Saturday that the 40-year-old, who retired as a Ferrari race driver in 2006, will be Nico Rosberg's teammate. Bild said a one-year deal has been agreed verbally, and talks about withdrawing from his new consulting contract with Ferrari have been positive. Focus, whose report was made available ahead of publication on Monday, said whether Schumacher actually signs the contract also depends on the go-ahead of doctors. A source told Bild: "The signature is just a formality. Schumacher feels fit and healthy. The latest (medical) tests were entirely positive. "He can't wait for the return and working with Ross Brawn again." An announcement could be made as early as next week, and Focus said the deal is for 3.5m euros -- about a tenth of Schumacher's retainer when he hung up his helmet with Ferrari. A longer-term objective is for the German to be an ambassador for the Mercedes brand, the magazine added. The seven time world champion's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm told DPA news agency she did not want to comment, and his manager Willi Weber told SID that he was "as in the dark as the press". "I don't know anything about it," Weber added. "I have not spoken with Mercedes, nor do I have any meetings with them."

Michael is still the best ! Despite falling in line behind Michael Schumacher's fastest lap, the German's rivals heard some good news late on Monday at the Circuit de Catalunya. "Schumacher will not be testing in Jerez in December," a Ferrari spokeswoman said, refuting speculation that the retired 38-year-old might also travel with the team to the next post-season test. Under Barcelona's cloudy skies, and after a two-week training regime to re-strengthen his neck, Schumacher put in a full day's effort of 64 laps and outpaced the next non-Ferrari runner by nearly eight tenths. "It looks as though he's got talent. He will make his way to F1," Schumacher's contemporary David Coulthard, present for Red Bull, joked. Long time Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer told the Bild-Zeitung newspaper: "What Michael has done is unbelievable. It's like he has had a day off, not a year. "He is definitely the world's fastest driver," the Italian added. Coulthard continued: "For those who doubted Michael's quality even for a moment, he has lost nothing. It shows that age does not matter - if he was back in Formula One, he would be at the front. "If McLaren is still looking for a driver, Michael would be a fantastic solution," the Scot added. Coulthard, who at 36 is now F1's oldest active racer, said: "Just as Paul McCartney can never unlearn great music, Michael will never forget how to drive a car damn fast."

Michael Schumacher says the best thing about his Japanese Grand Prix was not that he won the race, instead it was that his brother Ralf joined him on the podium. The two Schumacher brothers claimed P1 and P2 on the Suzuka grid on Sunday morning and later in the day followed it up with the 1-2 in the race. What made Ralf's performance even more impressive was that the Japanese GP was only his second race since returning to the ****pit of his FW26 after a 12-week layoff. Asked what he most enjoyed about his win in Japan, Michael, the elder of the two brothers, answered: "Easy: the fact that Ralf was on the podium with me." "We asked ourselves when it was that it had last happened as we are not ones for remembering statistics. The only thing that came to mind was the Canada race. Naturally, it is not influential; the important thing is the Ralf is back with us" He added: "He proved to all of us that he has always to be taken into consideration." =============================================== The only thing it proves is that Ralfie needs Big Brother to aid his cause .. simply because he is hopeless [/left] 2 podiums in one season ... when his teammate Montoya scores 2 times more points for the team Coming from Big Brother .... and knowing Ralfie will be moving to Toyota next year ... dun expect much from Ralfie, he is there to make up the numbers and because his surname is Schumacher Just look at his pathetic statistics ... one cannot imagine he is driving a Williams and not a Toyota already in 2004. http://www.planet-f1.com/...ship_table.phtml/pf1