"Unhappy" Ferrari Announces Schumacher Is Out as Replacement for Felipe Massa

[Rory]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77618

Schumacher cancels F1 comeback

By Jonathan NobleTuesday, August 11th 2009, 07:48 GMT

Michael Schumacher has had to cancel his Formula 1 comeback as a result of the neck injuries he suffered in a motorcycle crash earlier this year.

In a statement issued on his website, Schumacher said that he told the team last night he was not fit enough to race as a replacement for the injured Felipe Massa.

"Yesterday evening, I had to inform Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and team principal Stefano Domenicali that unfortunately I'm not able to step in for Felipe," he said.

"I really tried everything to make that temporary comeback possible, however, much to my regret it didn't work out. Unfortunately we did not manage to get a grip on the pain in the neck which occurred after the private F1-day in Mugello, even if medically or therapeutically we tried everything possible."

Schumacher suffered a sizeable accident during a German superbike test at Cartagena in Spain on February 11 - which forced him to abandon entering motorcycle races. It had been hoped that the injuries he suffered in that crash would not impact on his F1 return, but medical examinations have indicated that problems remain.

"The consequences of the injuries caused by the bike-accident in February, fractures in the area of head and neck, unfortunately have turned out to be still too severe," added Schumacher.

"That is why my neck cannot stand the extreme stresses caused by Formula 1 yet. These are the clear results of the examinations we did on the course of the past two weeks and the final examination yesterday afternoon.

"As there were no improvements after the day in Mugello, I decided at short notice on Sunday to do that thorough examination already yesterday.

"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."

Schumacher had been due to test an F2007 at Mugello in Italy from today, but there is now little reason for him to see through with that running.

It is not clear who Ferrari will now slot in as the replacement for the injured Felipe Massa, with the team having little more than one week to find a suitable driver







http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77619


Badoer to replace Massa at Valencia

By Jonathan NobleTuesday, August 11th 2009, 08:16 GMT

Luca Badoer has been drafted in as the temporary replacement for Felipe Massa for the European Grand Prix, after Michael Schumacher was forced to abandon his F1 comeback.

Schumacher had hoped to fill-in for Massa at the forthcoming races, but a neck injury picked up in a motorcycle accident has forced him to call off his F1 return.
As a result, Ferrari will promote its test driver Badoer to the race position for the next race in Valencia, as a reward for his many years of efforts with the team.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said: "I am very unhappy that a problem means that Michael cannot return to racing.

"In the past few days, I could appreciate his great efforts and extraordinary motivation which had spread through the team and fans around the world. No doubt his return would have been good for Formula 1 and I am sure it would have seen him fighting for wins again.
"In the name of Ferrari and all the fans, I wish to thank him for the strong attachment he displayed for the team in these circumstances.
"In agreement with Stefano Domenicali, we have therefore decided to give Luca Badoer the chance to race for the Scuderia after he has put in so many years of hard work as a test driver."

The 38-year-old Italian has been a Ferrari test driver since 1998 and last raced in 1999, for Minardi.

[VictoryGarland]

F

[Dino Antonov]

[marko666]

780eu down the drain!

Fcucker!

God Damn it!!

[BburgBimmerMan]

this is not what I wanted to wake up to in the morning...

it sucks, but I'd rather see him not drive than see him injure himself permanently. Maybe he'll continue to work at it and make a comeback at Spa or Monza and surprise us? Let's all hope!

[dizzye36M3]

This sucks.

[Hugo]

Damn, I don't even recall news of this bike crash, yet it seems it was pretty damn severe...

Oh well...

[ArticM3]

Bad year to have a skull in racing apparently....

Ah well, was really looking forward to having 4 f1 champs on the grid in Valencia.

[B.Watts]

Media Stunt: Complete

Back to your regularly scheduled F1 politics and crappy racing.

Originally Posted by Rory

The 38-year-old Italian has been a Ferrari test driver since 1998 and last raced in 1999, for Minardi.

Shouldn't be that big of a deal since there's so little racing that actually goes on.

[bigrojo37]

This was for sure a huge media/marketing stunt. Schumacher knew how severe his injuries were, the only ones that knew very little of this was the us, the fans. We knew of the motorcycle accident but not enough to see this coming. How many people does anyone here know that breaks their necks and less than a year is back driving? much less an F1 car. They screwed a bunch of people over. They sold their tickets, sold merchandise, and got everyone back into the F1 mix after all the BS that was going on recently. Like Mr. Watts said abover, back to our regularly F1 politics and crappy racing.

[jasperw4]

media stunt or whatever aside, i think it's cool badoer is getting the ride after all.

[marko666]

I'm out almost 1100 dollars for tix alone... luckily I didnt book air & hotel!

I still love the guy, though... dont think it was a marketing scam - he wouldn't wanna risk his image on some like that. No way...

If I'm lucky, I'll be able to sell them for 50% at some point before Monza.

Originally Posted by bigrojo37

This was for sure a huge media/marketing stunt. Schumacher knew how severe his injuries were, the only ones that knew very little of this was the us, the fans. We knew of the motorcycle accident but not enough to see this coming. How many people does anyone here know that breaks their necks and less than a year is back driving? much less an F1 car. They screwed a bunch of people over. They sold their tickets, sold merchandise, and got everyone back into the F1 mix after all the BS that was going on recently. Like Mr. Watts said abover, back to our regularly F1 politics and crappy racing.

[B.Watts]

Originally Posted by marko666

I still love the guy, though... dont think it was a marketing scam - he wouldn't wanna risk his image on some like that. No way...

I see it worked on you. $1100 just to see the Schumacher comeback? Only costs me $5 a month to watch it on DVR.

[marko666]

whatever... douche.

Originally Posted by B.Watts

I see it worked on you. $1100 just to see the Schumacher comeback? Only costs be $5 a month for DVR.

[B.Watts]

Ha. You honestly believe that Schumacher didn't know that there was a very big change he wouldn't be up to the task when they annouced his return? If he had been worried about his image, they/he would have kept things quiet until he knew whether he was able to go or not. The announcement, made with full knowledge that he had a bad neck and was unlikely to be able to drive, was made purely to sucker people into buying tickets and to create some positive media for F1. Don't be upset at me because you fell for it.

[bigrojo37]

And justice is done, a test/reserve driver gets to do what he is supposed to do.

[B.Watts]

Originally Posted by bigrojo37

And justice is done, a test/reserve driver gets to do what he is supposed to do.

Agreed. Those guys put in the grunt work that make it possible for the pretty faces with more connections and more $$ to go out and win races. Schumacher stepping in and taking the seat would have been a bitch-slap to a guy who arrived at Ferrari in 1998, just two years after Schumi. He was a a huge part of the successes that Schumi had over his career at Ferrari.

[joon]

Originally Posted by B.Watts

Media Stunt: Complete

+1 exactly.. you gotta admire those folks for this

I never thought he could pull this off from the beginning, though part of me wishes to see him race again, esp at the SG night race

[damo318]

This suck's as much as i don't want to believe it i think this could have been a media stunt alright

[CodyLTR]

http://formulaone.blogs.nytimes.com/...cels-comeback/

I saw it coming but still hoped he would go threw with it.

[LJSE34]

Too bad. Well at least they said from the beginning that his neck injury could mess things up. I'm happy for Badoer though, he finally gets his chance after so many years. I'm hoping he's not going to be embarrassingly slow though.

[Itsablurr]

Comebacks are often just a huge pain in the neck.

[B.Watts]

I suspect if he were able (i.e. if he knew he had a chance to podium), he would have raced and screwed over Badoer in a heart beat. The fact of the matter is, he wasn't able. Between his neck and being worried about his image should he be off the pace, I don't think Ferrari or Schumi ever really thought he'd end up in the car on race day.

[clopez95m3]

Originally Posted by B.Watts

The announcement, made with full knowledge that he had a bad neck and was unlikely to be able to drive, was made purely to sucker people into buying tickets and to create some positive media for F1. Don't be upset at me because you fell for it.

At the company I worked for they set people up for something similar in a much smaller scale. They announced come and meet Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon at 2pm. Not a crazy announcement as the company sponsored one of the drivers. Spouses took days off work, they got kids out of school and people showed up wearing Nascar shirts and brought posters for them to sign. The announcement was really for two new vending machines that featured each driver, they were being delivered at 1:30pm.

It was like a train wreck, I had to show up to watch. I do feel bad for you though, sorry dude.

Carlos.

[CDBE30]

Dammit, I was really looking forward to seeing him race again