Which Michael Schumacher will race in 2010?

Which Michael Schumacher will race in 2010?

Michael Schumacher is the most successful Formula One driver of all time and will forever be remembered as one of the sport's greats. The skill and determination he displayed whilst returning Ferrari to the top of Grand Prix racing was unmatched by his peers. His return to the sport in 2010 is the biggest F1 story of the year and there is plenty of speculation about how he will perform after three years on the sideline.

Much of Schumacher's skill is instinctive and he has lost none of his raw speed. In semi-retirement he competed successfully in various kart and bike races, and also showed well during special events such as the Race of Champions and the occasional Ferrari F1 test.

He hasn't slowed down at all.

However, you could argue that Michael's overall form was starting to fade towards the end of his career with Ferrari. Mistakes crept into his driving, especially in traffic, and Schumacher appeared to lose some of his aggression.

It's hard to imagine the Schumacher that got easily overtaken by Fernando Alonso around the outside of 130R in the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix was the same Schumacher that pushed Alonso onto the grass at Silverstone two years earlier.

In his final few seasons Michael was soundly beaten by Fernando Alonso in a number of key races. He was unable to pass the younger Spaniard at Imola in 2005 despite a significant car advantage, and he also failed to get ahead of him in the crucial Turkish Grand Prix a year later. Meanwhile, Alonso was able to embarrass Schumacher at Suzuka in 2005 and also blasted around the outside of him at Hungary in 2006. Fernando's racecraft was more effective.

Michael also made a number of amateurish mistakes towards the end of his time with Ferrari.

Whilst the theory that Schumacher's form started to fade is just speculation, there are some statistics that might support this. One of these is the number of mistakes that Michael made and this suggests he was past his best when he left Formula One.

Below is a detailed list of the driving mistakes that Michael Schumacher made throughout his career that cost him track position. The analysis makes for interesting reading.

1991
Spain - Spun twice during the race. The second incident dropped Michael from the lead battle to sixth place.
Australia - Spun in the wet conditions and later tangled with his teammate, Nelson Piquet.

1992
San Marino - Spun out of the race on lap 20.
France - Caused a red flag on lap one by crashing into Ayrton Senna, and then hit Stefano Modena's Tyrrell five laps after the restart.

1993
South Africa - Spun whilst trying to overtake Ayrton Senna for second place.
Europe - Spun off in Donnington's heavy rain.
Japan - Tagged Damon Hill early in the race and subsequently retired.

1994
Australia - Ran off the road whilst running in first place before the controversial (and likely deliberate) accident with Damon Hill.

1995
San Marino - Spun off on the wet track shortly after switching to dry tyres.
Belgium - Crashed heavily in qualifying and hard to start the race 15th. Won the Grand Prix anyway.
Australia - Collided with Jean Alesi in a racing incident.

1996
Monaco - Crashed into the barriers on lap one.

1997
Argentina - Tagged Rubens Barrichello at the first corner.
Austria - Overtook Heinz Harald Frentzen under a yellow flag and earned a stop go penalty.
Europe - Shockingly drove into the side of Jacques Villeneuve and lost the World Championship.

1998
Monaco - Got involved in a great wheel-to-wheel scrap with Alexander Wurz, but damaged his suspension in the process.
Austria - Ran wide whilst racing Mika Hakkinen, and later understeered off the circuit damaging the Ferrari's front wing.
Japan - Stalled on the grid at the start.

1999
Canada - Slammed into the 'wall of champions' whilst leading.

2000
Germany - Crashed with Giancarlo Fisichella in a controversial accident at the first corner.

2001
Malaysia - Slid off the circuit in the rain and fell to the back on the field. Won the race anyway.
Austria - Clashed with Juan Pablo Montoya whilst fighting for the lead, although the Columbian shoulders more blame for the incident.

2002
Malaysia - Understeered into Juan Pablo Montoya at the first corner and lost his front wing.
Europe - Spun whilst racing Rubens Barrichello for the lead, and had to settle for second.
France - Crossed the white line exiting the pitlane and earned a drive-through penalty. Won the race anyway.

2003
Australia - Lost a potential win by running wide over the kerbs and damaging his car.
Malaysia - Crashed into Jarno Trulli at the start.
Brazil - Spun into the barriers after hitting a small river of water in the wet conditions.
Europe - Spun into a gravel trap whilst racing with Juan Pablo Montoya
Japan - Crashed into Takuma Sato whilst recovering from a poor qualifying session.

2004
Monaco - Crashed with Juan Pablo Montoya in the tunnel behind the Safety Car
Italy - Spun on the first lap and fell to last place.
China - Spun during qualifying, and again during the race. Also crashed into Christian Klien.
Brazil - A crash in practice resulted in a qualifying engine penalty. Also spun during the wet race.

2005
Australia - Crashed with Nick Heidfeld.
San Marino - Ran off during qualifying which ultimately cost him the win.
Turkey - Crashed with Mark Webber.
China - Crashed with Christijan Albers on his way to the grid. Also spun off behind the Safety Car.

2006
Australia - Understeered into the barrier on lap 33.
Monaco - May have genuinely made a mistake at La Rascasse before deciding to deliberately block the track in qualifying. Either way his antics forced him to start the Grand Prix dead last.
Hungary - Earned a grid penalty for ignoring red flags in practice. Crashed into Giancarlo Fisichella during the race, and also tangled with Nick Heidfeld.
Turkey - Ran off the road during the pitstop phase of the race which gifted Fernando Alonso victory.

Summary of mistakes per season
1991 - 4
1992 - 3
1993 - 3
1994 - 1
1995 - 3
1996 - 1
1997 - 3
1998 - 4
1999 - 1
2000 - 1
2001 - 2
2002 - 3
2003 - 5
2004 - 7
2005 - 5
2006 - 6

In his last four years at Ferrari Michael Schumacher made 23 mistakes, almost as many as all of the other years combined. He was also beaten on the track by Fernando Alonso in numerous battles and was pushed harder than expected by Felipe Massa in 2006. There are signs that his form started to wane, and although some of that might be circumstantial, it is hard to believe that Schumacher was in the very peak of his career during his last season of Grand Prix racing.

Although Michael left Formula One (or so we thought at the time) with a monumental drive at Interlagos, there is good reason for thinking that he walked away from the sport at the right time.

Schumacher didn't lose any of his speed in those final years, and he didn't lose any of his skill, but perhaps his racecraft wasn't as sharp and the hunger that made him join Ferrari in 1996 was not so strong. You could suggest that from the moment he won his seventh world title at Spa Francorchamps, Michael became a different driver.

When Schumacher returns, will he come back as the all conquering winning machine that took Ferrari to unprecedented heights, or the driver that spun off behind the Safety Car at China in 2005 (after crashing on his way on his way to the grid)?

Schumacher's first wheel-to-wheel battle of 2010 will be fascinating.

Posted by Martin Porter. - Follow him on twitter @mpondaweb.

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• I'm a Ferrari fan first of all so I don't like his choice to race with Mercedes. I agree with you 2006 was the right time to walk away defeated but...
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