Return of the King

With 78 days and 16 hours to go i pleasantly found out that the seven time world champion was back. What does this mean? Well it certainly means a lot more interest in what will happen in F1 in 2010. Not just for me but for fans all over the world. But one thing that now is pestering me is WHY?

Over the past 2 decades, Schumacher won everything there is to win in Formula 1. He broke almost every record there is to break. He brought Ferrari out of a slump and strung together a series of world championships that dominated the news. In between all that he tried running Jacques Villeneuve off the road, parked his car at the "La Rascasse" corner, took Damon Hill out on the last lap and served time by campaigning for road safety.

So what more does the king want to achieve. Like he mentioned in an interview, he wants to win at least one more title. Title number 8 will mean a lot to him. After he won 7 titles (5 in a row), nobody doubted his ability. But two years in a row when he lost to Alonso must have hurt. Especially that engine failure in Suzuka that literally handed Alonso the title.

In August after Filipe Massa crashed in Hungary and could not come back for the rest of the season, there was a murmur and then an announcement that Schumacher would be back in Massa's seat. However, he had to drop out due to a neck injury sustained during a previous biking accident. This did not stop him but prompted him to train harder and get back into shape. There was even a talk of a possible comeback towards the end of the season since Luca Badoer (oh! my God. What a Drone) was literally sleeping on the track. Ferrari however found Fisi to replace the drone.(that can be a different story if one feels like it).

Schumacher lives for racing. The one thing in his life that keeps him going is racing. So after he retired he took a nice little break with his family and then came back to the track at Ferrari in a different capacity. Ferrari created that role of an advisor just to keep Schumacher with them and on the track. You could see that at many races, he was actively involved on the pit wall. Racing just does not go away from a man like that. He must have felt there is more to achieve. He was surely looking for an opportunity. Eventually his hunger for more victories, his thirst for more titles and his endless passion for racing brought him back. What probably made his decision easier was the fact that he was joining Ross Brawn. And with Mercedes having a bigger stake in the team now, Schumacher will surely have the confidence and resources for developing another championship winning car.

I just hope it ends just like when Aragorn came back to Minas Tirith and claimed his rightful place.