All over for Schumi

Michael Schumacher's highly anticipated return to F1 won't be happening after all. The neck injury that he suffered in a motorbike accident in February has proven too severe to overcome and following extensive tests it's been decided that his neck won't be able to put up with the stresses that racing in Formula One would put on it.

It's a shame as F1 fans worldwide were looking forward to seeing him in the cockpit again, and particularly seeing how he fares against the current crop of championship leaders, not to mention Kimi in the sister Ferrari. It must be disappointing in particular for Lewis Hamilton, who thought his long-held ambition of racing against the German was to be fulfilled.

So will it be Mark Gene or Luca Badoer sitting in for the the injured Massa in the next race - or will Ferrari continue to shun their official test and reserve drivers?

Schumi to take Massa's place

Well, following the comment I added to my last blog post, Ferrari have announced that Michael Schumacher is indeed going to stand in for Massa at the European Grand Prix, and for as long as Massa is out. Schumacher hasn't raced for a couple of years but has kept training. It'll be interesting to see how competitive he is, and also whether Kimi Raikkonen ups his game with his former rival as a team-mate.

At 40 years old, Michael doesn't have youth on his side any more, but there are plenty of drivers that have raced in F1 beyond that age - although not many in the modern era. Incidentally, Damon Hill stopped at 39.

Why are Renault appealing?

In the very same race weekend that saw Felipe Massa's nasty accident and the same week that saw the tragic death of Henry Surtees from a wayward wheel, the Renault team made a very big mistake by sending their star driver out from the pits without all four wheels firmly attached to his car. They then didn't call him in or tell him to stop, even though it was blatantly obvious the wheel was going to come off the car.

When someone gets hit by a flying racing car wheel, they die. We saw it last week with Surtees in F2, and we saw it in F1 not so long ago when fire marshal Paolo Ghislimberti was killed when a wheel from Jarno Trulli's Jordan hit him at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix.

We all know that motorsport is dangerous - it says so on every Formula One ticket - but Renault's cavalier attitude to safety in this case is unacceptable. Any decent team would accept that the steward's decision to ban the team from the next race is completely justified, and if anything somewhat lenient. But instead Renault have announced they are going to appeal the ban.

My question is, what do they expect to gain from this action? The evidence is clear, so their appeal stands little or no chance of success. Moreover, to attempt to worm their way out of this in the wake of Henry Surtees' death and while Massa was lying unconcious in hospital was hardly sensitive, and is not going to win them any brownie points with F1 fans - quite the opposite. Renault shot themselves in the foot by not stopping Alonso when they could, and have now shot themselves in the other foot by appealing the ban. So now, and here's a lovely mix of metaphors for you, they don't have a leg to stand on.

Photo credit: Vïctor J. Tornet

So it begins...

The 2008 Formula One season is under way as of today, with Raikkonen and Hamilton going fastest in the Friday practice ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix. Last season was excellent entertainment (although Alonso's antics were infuriating, they certainly added interest) and this season looks set to be another stunner. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Kovalainen gets on alongside Hamilton at McLaren - he's a very highly rated driver (an I certainly concur with that consensus) but he also comes across - like Hamilton and Raikkonen - as being laid back and friendly. So hopefully we're in for a good friendly rivalry this year.

Who will win? Right now I doubt any team will be able to match Ferrari and McLaren on a regular basis, although Renault should improve with Alonso back in the fold, and Honda's season surely can't be any worse than last year, especially with Ross Brawn on board. Williams are always a bit of an unknown quantity but I'm not expecting any surprises from them this year - I reckon they'll be firmly stuck in the midfield.

Speaking of Williams, Patrick Head has made some interesting comments recently, suggesting the idea of the starting grid for a race being set by championship standings (with the leaders at the back) in order to spice things up. Personally I think this is a great idea, but can't see the authorities agreeing to such a radical change, especially as the top teams (with all the political clout that goes with them) would almost certainly oppose it. But even without big changes like that, this year looks set to be a good 'un.