We don't want to sound a bit too biased here but with the utterly fantastic news that Michael Schumacher is returning to the grid in 2010 there are both winners and losers. We thought it would be a good idea to run this feature before PF1's Michelle Foster (the No.3 woman in his life after Corinna and Sabine) got back from holiday and crossed out all the losers.
Winner: Lewis Hamilton. Lewis has always said he wished he could have raced against Michael Schumacher and now he'll get the opportunity.
Loser: F1 Diversity. There are now potentially seven* German drivers on the grid for 2010 - Nico Hulkenberg, Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher, Timo Glock, Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel and Nick Heidfeld. No representative (yet) from North America, India, China, Africa or the Middle East.
Winner: The German GP. Even with six German drivers there was no guarantee that the German Grand Prix would sell out in 2010. The addition of one name to the list above makes all the difference. Tickets will be going fast.
Winner: German air horn sellers. (See above)
Loser: Rubens Barrichello. We would contend that the plan to sign Michael to Brawn/Mercedes was hatched a long way back and so with Jenson favourite to take the title, Brawn immediately knew they didn't need him for 2010, even though he did a remarkable job for most of the season.And if you think about it, it's thanks to Rubens' loose spring in Hungary that Michael's back in F1 at all.
Winner: Mercedes. What a way to announce your return to the grid - with the greatest living F1 driver.
Loser: Ferrari. Whichever way you want to dress it up Ferrari are the losers. They just didn't have enough cars to hold on to Michael. But Luca Montezemolo has been magnanimous in defeat
Winner: Nico Rosberg. Rosberg's stock as a driver is likely to rise if he can put in some fast performances against the wily old fox - and maybe even outpace him.
Loser: Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Massa and Vettel. Schumacher will take points off all of them - the kind of points that Nick Heidfeld could never have done in the same car.
Winner: Bernie Ecclestone. The value of Schumacher's return in terms of publicity and interest will make F1 a far more valuable sporting commodity in 2010 than it was going to be.
Loser: Corinna Schumacher. Given that Michael sustained a bad neck injury while riding a motorbike, Corinna might be relieved that her husband is getting rid of his speed demons on four wheels again. But she'll probably be just as worried as she ever was.
Winner: Michael Schumacher. Throughout the latter stages of his career Michael was always plagued with the perennial question - when are you going to retire? "When are you going to retire again?" isn't such a great question to ask, so he'll be free of that one at least.
Loser:Sebastian Vettel. Vettel was about to inherit the Schumacher crown and become the most outstanding German driver since...and now he's back again.
Winner There was a memorabilia merchant who printed up a whole load of t-shirts in 2006. 'Michael Schumacher 8 Times World Champion'. Fernando Alonso ruined the sales pitch, but if that guy's still got hold of them, you never know...
FH
* Eight if you include Mark Webber.
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