Ferrari's new recruit Fernando Alonso says he is looking forward to renewing his rivalry with seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher in 2010.

Schumacher won five world titles with Ferrari but is returning with Mercedes, who, as Brawn, won both titles in 2009.

"When Michael left it was not the same beating the others," Alonso, who pipped Schumacher to the 2005 and 2006 titles before he retired, told BBC Sport.

"To beat a legend is very motivating. Now he's back it's very special."

Schumacher's renewed rivalry with Alonso is one of the most eagerly anticipated match-ups of the new season, alongside 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton's first competitive meeting with Schumacher.

"Michael and I were rivals over the last two years," added Alonso, who ended months of speculation by signing a three-year deal with Ferrari in September.

"There was intense rivalry going into the last race of 2006 in Brazil [where that year's title was decided].

"You never lose that competitive person that Michael has inside - that was one of the motivations for him coming back."

Alonso 'excited' by Schumacher return

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali says Michael Schumacher's return to Formula 1 has fired up the Italian outfit and new recruit Fernando Alonso.

Schumacher, who won five world titles with Ferrari, is returning in 2010 with Mercedes, who won both titles in 2009 under their former guise, Brawn.

But Domencali insists Ferrari have him in their sights, saying: "Michael's return is inner motivation to our team.

"Fernando is the only driver on track to defeat Michael and he wants to win."

Schumacher's renewed rivalry with Alonso, who beat him to the 2005 and 2006 championships when driving for Renault, is one of the most eagerly anticipated match-ups of the new season, alongside 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton's first competitive meeting with Schumacher.

Domenicali is relishing the battles ahead between his new Ferrari line-up and former employee Schumacher.

"Michael's return is further stimulus within our set-up," added Domenicali. "It has also triggered new interest and that is good for racing.

"It is right not to forget that what has happened has left its mark but now we have to turn the page.

"We have to show Michael that this is a strong team. We want to win.

"Fernando and Felipe are able to beat him even if Michael is still very strong."

"I believe the prospects are good," said Domenicali. "Despite last season, which was difficult for a lot of reasons, we have consolidated for the future.

"I don't think we'll see how competitive we will be by the first test in February but maybe by the last test.

"Winning immediately would be better but let's stay calm if it doesn't happen."

The returning Michael Schumacher is carrying out a three-day test in a GP2 development car at Jerez as a way of ramping up his comeback preparations early

Michael Schumacher says he found his first day of testing in a GP2 car useful preparation for his Formula 1 comeback, even if wet weather meant he couldn’t complete any serious running on dry tyres.

With the returning seven-time champion unable to get back in F1 machiney until the testing ban is lifted at the start of February, his new team Mercedes GP managed to get permission from the FIA for the 41-year-old to carry out three days worth of track testing in the GP2 Series’s next-generation car at Jerez this week.

Schumacher, who has spent the past three years in retirement, hadn’t been behind the wheel of single seater since driving a two-year-old Ferrari last summer as part of his preparations for a temporary comeback bid which he soon had to abort due to a lingering neck injury.

The opening day of his GP2 test, however, in southern Spain was hit by poor weather, meaning the track was too wet to complete running on slick tyres.

However despite the rainy conditions and the fact the GP2 car doesn’t put his now-healed neck through the kind of g-forces he will experience in an F1 cockpit, Schumacher says he still found the day invaluable – particularly as it proved to him his peerless wet-weather skills were still intact.

“The day today was good especially because after a long time I could drive again in a car that came almost close to a current Formula 1,“ he said on his personal website.


“Despite the weather not being what we all would have liked all my senses were nevertheless on full alert – this alone was worth it.

“Unfortunately it was always just too wet to go out with slicks. I tried them twice but had to go back to the box immediately.

“But still I gain a lot from being here because even if you cannot reach F1-level in terms of g-forces you are still able to practise the communication with the engineers and the sensibility on the limit. Fortunately it was back very soon.“

While also proving a useful work-out ahead of his eagerly-anticipated F1 return with Mercedes, Schumacher was also helping the GP2 Series assess a new clutch, suspension settings and set-up options on its development car.

“I felt comfortable out on the track from the very beginning, and naturally I'd like to thank our Team and the GP2 series very much for the opportunity to drive," Schumacher added.

Schumacher is due to continue testing on Wednesday and Thursday.

Images (C) Ferrari spa

The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s two official drivers and the team’s third driver arrived in Madonna di Campiglio yesterday.

In the village in the Northern Italian region of Trentino the traditional Wrooom media event will be held over the next days, opening this year’s Formula 1 season. The meeting in Madonna di Campiglio is held for the 20th time this year.

About 100 media representatives came to the town in the Italian Dolomites, where as of tomorrow Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella can be seen on the slopes.

Michael Schumacher will begin his on-track preparations for his Formula 1 comeback at Jerez on Tuesday having been granted permission by the FIA to test a GP2 car.

Although pre-season F1 testing isn’t permitted to begin for a further three weeks, Mercedes has been keen to get the returning 41-year-old back on track as soon as possible and confirmed on Monday that following the approval of the FIA, the F1 testing committee and the GP2 Series Schumacher would spend three days driving a GP2 development car.

The seven-time champion will drive the in-development 2011-2013 GP2 machine –  which will be introduced into the feeder category in Spring 2011 – with organisers keen to benefit from Schumacher’s renowned technical abilities and feedback.
GP2 organiser Bruno Michel said: "Today's test marks a milestone for the GP2 Series.

“It is an honour and a privilege for us to have seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher help us to develop our car.
“The goal of the GP2 Series is to prepare young drivers for Formula 1.

“This test will prove to be very important for the future of our GP2 drivers and will be a confirmation of the high-standards and competitiveness of our Series. Michael's input and advice will be invaluable.

“I am confident that his knowledge and unparalleled driving skills will help us to develop a great car for next season."

The three-day test will mark the first time Schumacher, who is returning to the sport after three years in retirement, has driven any car close to the performance of an F1 machine since driving a two-year old Ferrari at Mugello in August ahead of his aborted temporary comeback bid to fill in for the injured Felipe Massa.

Nevertheless, the GP2 run-out will give Schumacher valuable track testing time to build up his race fitness ahead of the first official F1 group test of the pre-season in Valencia on February 1.

Nigel Mansell does not think Michael Schumacher's age will cause him any problems at all when he returns to Formula 1 this season following a three-year absence.

Having just turned 41, Schumacher is the oldest driver on the 2010 grid by four years over record-breaking veteran Rubens Barrichello.

But having won his world championship just after his 39th birthday and raced in F1 until he was nearly 42, Mansell reckons age is no barrier to winning in F1.

"I don't think age will be a problem," Mansell told Autosport magazine.

"Don't forget I was knocking on 40 when I won the world championship in 1992 and I would have been good for a few more years, it was just that the politics beat me up too much."

Mansell is confident that Schumacher's comeback will be a great success - largely because he will be reunited with Ross Brawn at Mercedes.

"He has been presented with a wonderful opportunity: he's back with Ross Brawn and with the team that has just won both the drivers' and constructors' championships," said Mansell.

"If the package is right, there will be no problems with motivation.

"Ross is such a brilliant guy that I'm sure Michael will have one of the best cars.

"If things go a little wrong, there can be commitment issues, but I don't see that happening with Michael.

"He's in a win-win situation and it's good for Formula 1."

Hoping to watch the 2010 F1 season in high definition? Afraid you’re set for another disappointment.

BBC’s Lee McKenzie has said on Twitter that FOM will not be offering Formula 1 in HD to broadcasters until 2011.

"To all of you who mention HD...FOM are saying 2011 :-("

Many other forms of motor racing have been broadcast in high def for years. This year will be the sixth season NASCAR has been broadcast in HD.

Kimi Raikkonen says he is no hurry to start thinking about whether he will return to Formula 1 again in the future, as he prepares to begin his new career in the World Rally Championship.

The 2007 world champion decided to turn his back on F1 for at least this year after Ferrari agreed a pay-off with him so it could make room in its line-up for Fernando Alonso.

In his first interview since officially becoming a WRC driver for the Red Bull-backed Citroën Junior Team, Raikkonen says he expects to follow some of the 19-race F1 season on the television and could return to the paddock at the Monaco GP in May.

However, as for a comeback to the sport in a racing capacity in the future, the 30-year-old suggested he wasn’t entirely happy with the direction F1 was going in.

“I’ll watch a race on TV every now and then,” the told The Red Bulletin. “Maybe I’ll go to the Monaco Grand Prix."

“I could get an F1 drive again any time, but lots of bad things are happening in F1. Manufacturers are pulling out.

“Let’s have the same conversation in a year’s time. Let’s look way into the future.”

Raikkonen admitted he was looking forward to having a year away from the political world of F1, the Finn having been in the sport since the age of 21.

“In F1, politics gets in the way of the exciting side of things,” he said.

“The atmosphere in rallying is much nicer and there’s a lot less politics involved. It’s much more about how the driver performs.”

Asked for his views on who will win the 2010 F1 world championship, Raikkonen reckons it will be a competitive season but says he would like to see Sebastian Vettel take the crown.
“Hard to say,” he said.

“I don’t know what Ferrari’s plans are. “Mercedes will probably have a good car, so will McLaren. Red Bull Racing probably will too.

“So I’m going to have to award the title based on who I like: Sebastian Vettel. He’s so down-to-earth.”

Two of Formula 1’s leading car designers believe radical changes to circuit layouts are needed to spice up the show.

Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey and his Williams counterpart Sam Michael agree that the major rule changes instituted in 2009 yielded disappointing results, but feel circuit rather than chassis design is the key to improving the spectacle.

“Fundamentally, I think the circuits are probably the biggest influence,” Newey told Racecar Engineering magazine.

“Everybody keeps conveniently forgetting about that, as it is deemed to be easier to change the cars than change the circuits.”

Michael reckons the switch to slick tyres and lower aerodynamic downforce in ’09 had some positive effects, and says the disparity in the amount of overtaking at different circuits highlighted the nature of the problem.

“One thing that hasn’t really been addressed at all so far is circuit design,” he said.

“You’ve got to ask yourself, why do you go to a race such as Barcelona where no one overtakes, and then take exactly the same cars to Monza, Montreal or Hockenheim and you get lots of overtaking.

“Those cars are exactly the same aerodynamically, yet on one circuit they overtake a lot and on another circuit they don’t overtake at all.

“It’s because of the circuit layout – it’s because when they lay out circuits they don’t look closely enough at the combination of slow-speed corners onto straights followed by slow-speed corners.

“This is something that the FIA are dealing with now and having a really strong look at.

“If you look at somewhere like Abu Dhabi, which was a brand new circuit, there are some very good aspects to that circuit, but because there were some pretty fundamental mistakes there, they need to change them before next year.

“There’s no point being sensitive about it – ultimately there wasn’t good enough racing in Abu Dhabi, and Formula 1 has to look at itself and ask why.

“You can’t keep putting all of it on the car design all of the time.

“Of course the car design has some responsibility for it, but if you went to every circuit and you never saw any overtaking, then you could blame it all on the car design.

“But clearly that’s not the case, because there are places where cars do overtake.

“So clearly this needs a pretty thorough look at. It’s something the FIA have taken charge of now, so hopefully we’ll see some good come out of it.”

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh concurs that much more attention needs to be focused on circuit design.

“You only need to do simple statistical analysis and look at where the overtaking moves are,” he told F1 Racing.

“If, say, we race on 18 circuits with 350 corners, then 90 per cent of overtaking moves in a year would happen at just 10 corners.

“You also have to look at the preceding corner.

“The fact that overtaking is focused on such a small number of corners clearly demonstrates that it’s circuit-dependent.”

The FIA recently hosted a seminar to investigate how to increase overtaking in F1 – attended by the sport’s dominant circuit designer Hermann Tilke, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher and veteran Penske and G-Force designer Nigel Bennett – but few major changes are expected to be implemented for the 2010 season.