We look at Fleet Street's reaction to Michael Schumacher's decision to come out of retirement.
Maurice Hamilton from The Guardian gets us going and he fears the 40-year-old could be the only loser when this "fascinating story" finally ends.
'But what will happen if the Mercedes is not a race winner, regardless of the driver's efforts? Just because Brawn's car won the title in 2009 does not mean the next one will bring a repeat. Indeed, the effort required to give Jenson Button the championship will have diminished the effort put in to the 2010 car. Just ask McLaren and Ferrari about that, based on their experiences this year. How will Schumacher cope with finishing fourth, fifth or sixth (if he's lucky) in a field that promises to be just as competitive as 2009 when less than two seconds covered 20 cars on the grid?
'The answer is, he won't like it. We are talking about a driver who never finished lower than third in the world championship from 2000 until his retirement. This is when Schumacher will need to curb an inclination to recall the questionable driving tactics that blotted an otherwise impeccable record. And this is when running wheel to wheel with a 22-year-old with everything to play for may prove difficult for the oldest man in the field.
'The fear is that Michael Schumacher may be the only loser by his exceptional standards at the end of what will undoubtedly be a fascinating story.'
The rest of Fleet Street can't wait for the season to get going again so that we can all see the legend in action.
'Some judges wonder why Schumacher is prepared to risk his reputation again. How sad it would be, they argue, to see a champion trying to repeat his days of greatness at the age of 41 - as he will be at the start of next season - and make a fool of himself.
'But as Schumacher put it yesterday, he is a unique individual and driver and could be suited to a three-season commitment with Mercedes GP. The man is super-fit, he has the intensity that marked him out at Ferrari and Benetton and he cannot wait to get stuck in.
'Some sportsmen try comebacks as part of a personal road to redemption or a mission to prove that they can recover after losing their way in the real world. Drugs, alcohol, marriage breakdown or depression are sometimes features in the background. This is not the case with Schumacher - his neck injury apart. He is the man he always was and is ready to prove that even drivers in their forties can take on the best and win.
'He has one of the most astute technical minds on the grid, he knows how to wring every ounce of performance out of a car and he is among the best tacticians in the sport. It may take him a few races to get up to speed, but get ready for a thrilling ride.' - Edward Gorman, The Times
'Sport loves a comeback. Formula One is more conducive to the phenomenon than most since the greater part of the strain is taken by the power train, supplied in his case by Mercedes. Schumacher is not required to haul himself up the 21 hairpins at Alpe D'Huez as Lance Armstrong might in the Tour de France; he is not required to take a punch as the boxer eyeing one more punt does.
'There is no diminution in the talent Schumacher has for turning in at precisely the right point, for knocking out lap after lap after lap within a fraction of a second, and when that extra 10th is required, for taking a car by the throttle and driving the wheel nuts off it.
'Schumacher advanced his cause by taking fitness and preparation in F1 to unprecedented levels, by aligning himself to the right people and building teams around him. But that is not why he won a historic seven world championships. The explanation for that lies in the unique coalition of forces that torch the inner bonfire.
'Schumacher's desire was, is, arguably pathological. He would arm wrestle his grandmother for the glory that victory would bring, knowing it to be wrong but unable to resist his genetic coding.
'He wants to win too badly; enough to run Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve off the road, to park his car at Rascasse, to ambush his team-mate [Barrichello] coming out of the tunnel and almost push his brother [Ralf] into the wall on the ultimate lap at Monaco, with all of seventh place at issue.
'The hunger for that kind of action never went away. It was displaced, popping up again in sundry motorcycle races, skydiving and for all we know in tiddlywinks head-to-heads with the kids.
'Now he is back among the madmen of motor racing. Gentlemen start your engines.' Kevin Garside, The Telegraph
'Three o'clock, Sunday 14 March, 2010. Michael Schumacher's Mercedes lines up fifth at Bahrain's Sakhir Circuit, behind the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, and the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. The seven-time world champion faces 308km of gruelling racing, in 31C ambient temperature. The whole world wants to know: can he still do it?
'Four months ago they were asking the same question and Schumacher disappointed them, when his much-vaunted comeback as the injured Massa's temporary replacement at Ferrari faltered, because of neck muscle injuries sustained in a motorcycle racing accident.
'Now Schumacher, 40, is adamant he will deliver.' - David Tremayne, The Independent
'There are some who question his sanity in returning. With £500 million in the bank, he does not need the money. So, why risk damaging his legendary status and his health?
'That is not the angle from which Schumacher is viewing the situation, believing instead that he can actually add to his seven world titles. According to team principal Ross Brawn, Schumacher has told him that he feels in as good a condition as ever. Why should he, therefore, not follow greats of other sports - Lester Piggott, Sir Steve Redgrave and Lance Armstrong - by staging a final flourish?' Jonathan McEvoy, Daily Mail
And finally, Bob McKenzie from the Daily Express hails the "Second Coming".
'They had waited eagerly to see if the stories were true of a Christmas miracle. Sure enough the Second Coming happened when the bright light in the sky turned out to be Michael's private jet.
'In the deep midwinter at snowy Brackley, just six weeks after cheering their world champion, Jenson Button, the 300 Brawn GP staff gathered again in the factory and roared their heads off as Michael Schumacher emerged.
'The king was dead, long live the new old king.
'Schumacher shone like a star and, less than a fortnight ahead of turning 41, looked five years younger.
'He knows that he is putting his reputation on the line. And that a man who won seven world titles, 91 grands prix, 68 pole positions and 76 fastest laps in 249 races over 16 seasons, from 1991 to 2006, is a great scalp for the new guys.'
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