Ferrari OK With Letting Schumacher Go

Michael Schumacher retired at the end of the 2006 season. The 7-time world champion, since then worked with Ferrari as a consultant. He was also looking into the road cars for Ferrari. Just this September, he announced that he will continue as a consultant for Ferrari for another 3 years, as per an agreement reached between the two. When Filipe Massa was involved in an accident with life-threatening injuries, Schumacher tried real hard to fill in for him and race for Ferrari for the rest of the season. But for his neck problem, these plans would have come to life. Ferrari also planned to rope in Schumacher as a driver, if the 2010 Formula One season would allow 3 drivers per team.

But then things changed at the end of the season. Mercedes bought up champion team Brawn (see article Formula 1: Mercedes-Benz Buy Up Champion Team). And the first driver the German car company had in mind was none other than Michael Schumacher. And things got real exciting when Schumacher showed equal interest in driving for them (see article Michael Schumacher To Race Again). He has been in talks with Mercedes for some time now, though exact details will only be known after something concrete has been agreed upon.

When asked if Ferrari would block his move and enforce the agreement they had with him, President Luca di Montezemolo said, "No, not binding. It's clear that if he decides to take another road our (consultancy) agreement will no longer be valid, that is logical. You can't work with a competitor and with us at the same time. I still haven't spoken to him about it. He is only a dear friend, not a team member. He is a consultant for our road cars."

So folks, wait and watch. We may see our favorite driver race in a Grand Prix for Mercedes after all!