Schumacher won't be back

Michael Schumacher's motor bike accident in February has spoiled his comeback

It was, to say the least, a surprise to us all when Ferrari announced that Michael Schumacher was returning to Formula 1 to fill in for the stricken Filipe Massa. Was this a step too far even for the exceptional talents of Schumacher, we asked. Was it in fact a public demonstration of the arrogance we all succumb to as we get older that we can still do what we always could if the need arose, we speculated.

Well. it appears that it is indeed a step too far for the 40 year old Schumacher. He suffered a neck injury earlier this year whilst out playing with motor bikes to get his adrenalin fix. And that neck injury seems to have made it impossible for Michael to stand the almost impossible neck traumas that F1 imposes on drivers.

Writing on his blog, Michael said:

“I really tried everything to make that temporary comeback possible, however, much to my regret, it didn’t work out.
My neck cannot stand the extreme stresses caused by formula one yet. I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans which crossed fingers for me.
I can only repeat that I tried everything that was within my power. All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races.”

Ferrari has announced that Luca Badoer will instead take Massa’s place from Valencia onwards.

If Michael can’t pull this off, what hope for the rest of us less than super-fit, ageing mortals?!