An interesting by-product of Jenson Button moving to McLaren has been the return of Michael Schumacher, the sport’s most successful driver of all time. The Brawn team did not expect to be in a position to sign Schumacher and probably believed that Button would stay with the team. Brawn viewed it that the McLaren offer and negotiations were a ploy by Button’s management to get a more competitive financial offer from Brawn. As it was Button decided to move to McLaren and test himself against Hamilton and Brawn was forced to look for a new driver.
To illustrate just how sure Ross Brawn felt about Button staying can be seen in Brawn’s decision to allow Rubens Barrichello to move to Williams last summer. Ross Brawn has always preached continuity in the driver department of all teams he was with, ensuring least one driver would be kept on for the next season. When Barrichello was involved in his negotiations with the Williams team he was pushing Button very hard on the track and in the championship. With that in mind it is very hard to see why Ross Brawn would have allowed the Brazilian to leave unless he felt very secure that Jenson Button would remain with the team for 2010.
The signing of Nico Rosberg was completed at the same time as Barrichello’s deal with Williams and seemed to complete the Brawn team drivers’ line-up alongside Button. Once Button decided that he was going to leave the team to drive for McLaren in order to prove himself, an opening was created for another driver. In the mean time Mercedes had bought Brawn GP and they immediately looked for Schumacher to be their lead driver. There are question marks over the health of the German after he had to abort his return with Ferrari in place of Massa after injuries sustained in an earlier motorcycle accident had not healed fully. Schumacher made monumental efforts to return to the sport in 2009 and it is clear that he is still as determined as ever to succeed. Prior to signing with the team Schumacher was passed fully fit and ready to return to Formula 1. He will still have the speed to be a race winner and with a three year deal in his pocket he will undoubtedly look to earn another world title and move past 100 career wins in Formula 1.
From the team’s perspective Mercedes brought Schumacher out of retirement in an attempt to win a world constructor’s title for the first time since the 1955 season, when Juan Manuel Fangio also won the world driver’s championship driving for the marque. Can the team achieve what Brawn GP did in 2009 when they won both driver’s and constructor’s championships? With Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg driving for the team they have arguably a stronger driver line-up than last season. The team also has stability in its technical ranks which it lacked last season, after a year of upheaval when redundancies were required to allow the team to stay afloat. The team has spent a year determining how best to utilise their development resources throughout the season and arguably are in a very strong position to retain their titles.
Can Schumacher return to his former form quickly enough to win a world title at 41 years of age? It’s tough to rule anything out with a driver as successful as Schumacher, he will undoubtedly still have the sheer speed that he brought to the table to become the most dominant driver in Formula 1 history, but can he bring the same drive and desire that made him and his teams so successful? With Ross Brawn in charge of Mercedes just as he has been for almost all of his grand prix victories the smart money is on Schumacher’s return being successful.
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