Schumacher Officially begins testing F2007 at Barcelona

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Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher will return to a competitive Formula 1 environment for the first time since his retirement when he drives in an official test at Barcelona next week.

The 38-year-old will test Ferrari's title-winning F2007 on both Tuesday and Wednesday at the Spanish circuit in the first group test following the end of the season.

Following his retirement from F1 at the end of 2006, Ferrari has left the door open for its most successful ever driver to drive its car and a team spokesman has confirmed the German has now expressed this wish.

?Yes, he will test it on Tuesday and Wednesday,? a spokesman told ITV-F1.com.

?As we have always said throughout the year, if Michael had the desire to drive the car, we would be happy to fulfil his desire.

?Of course, for us it is helpful to have his input in the development of the car.?

Schumacher?s input into the team?s work ahead of 2008 will prove particularly useful in Spain as F1 begins a new era without traction control and other ?driver aids?.

Traction control has been allowed in the sport since the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix ? meaning Ferrari?s current two drivers, world champion Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, have only limited experience of running without it between them.

Raikkonen drove the first four races of his F1 career without it, while Massa has only driven with traction control.

Schumacher ? incidentally a staunch advocate of traction control ? raced when the device was last banned (1993-2001), making his experience next week invaluable.

"Michael has a big experience in driving cars with no traction control and no electronic aids, so it makes sense for him to give his input," Schumacher?s spokeswoman told Reuters.

Since quitting the sport in October last year, Schumacher has taken up an advisory role at Maranello and attended five grands prix during the course of 2007.

Although he has already driven the F2007 in a demonstration at Fiorano last month, his Barcelona run will mark his first extensive run-out since retiring.

He will follow this up with a kart race in Brazil before heading to Wembley to take part in the Race of Champions on December 16.
from itv.com
 
http://www.f1i.com/content/view/6909/1/
If you haven't read this article then I suggest you do it. It paints fairly interesting scene around the reasons what made Schumacher retire and how twisted the relationship between Todt and Montezemolo actually is. It's a bit long but well worth a read.
 
^ Interesting stuff. Not sure how reliable it is and whether its just sensationalist journalism, but good read nonetheless. It doesnt answer why Schumacher spent a good portion of 2007 on the Ferrari pitwall, or is about to test their F2007 soon. Surely if he and Todt lost their battle, he would've left the company completely, and maybe even done a deal with Briatore to step into the R27. A good way to fulfil his promise made to the Benetton team at the end of 1995, and still be competitive.
 
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http://f1today.nl/liveupdate.php?liveupdateID=19
Top 20 (laatste update: 17:27)
Coureur Team Chassis Laptime Verschil Laps
1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari F2007 1:21.922 64
2 Luca Badoer Ferrari F2007 1:22.129 + 0.207 71
3 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren MP4-22 1:22.687 + 0.765 63
4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault R27 1:22.802 + 0.880 68
5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1.07 1:22.883 + 0.961 55
6 Gary Paffett McLaren MP4-22 1:23.008 + 1.086 46
7 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing RB3 1:23.159 + 1.237 55
8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams FW29 1:23.187 + 1.265 66
9 Jarno Trulli Toyota TF107 1:23.624 + 1.702 46
10 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.07 1:23.671 + 1.749 75
11 Nico Rosberg Williams FW29 1:23.847 + 1.925 58
12 Franck Montagny Toyota TF107 1:23.861 + 1.939 61
13 Sebastian Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso STR2 1:24.048 + 2.126 77
14 Andreas Zuber Honda RA107 1:24.065 + 2.143 77
15 Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso STR2 1:24.193 + 2.271 51
16 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri F1 SA07 1:24.246 + 2.324 70
17 James Rossiter Super Aguri F1 SA07 1:24.480 + 2.558 69
18 Karun Chandhok Red Bull Racing RB3 1:24.896 + 2.974 39
19 Giedo van der Garde Force India F8-VII 1:25.317 + 3.395 84
20 Roldan Rodriguez Force India F8-VII 1:26.297 + 4.375 87
Schumi_Barcelona_TC_OFF.gif

Schumi still got it ^^.
 
God I miss him, good to see him drive

Thanks for posting that GIF, imagine a lot of car doing that in 2008 :woot:
 
A year out of the seat, and immediately the fastest... daaaaaamn.

That's not really saying anything though. Everyone else apart from Rosa and Paffet are in crap cars, and Rosa and Paffet aren't exactly known for their outright speed.

Let's wait till Massa, Kimi and Lewis come out with their times to make judgements on fast he is, or how much slower he has become over the past year.
 
19 Giedo van der Garde Force India F8-VII 1:25.317 + 3.395 84
20 Roldan Rodriguez Force India F8-VII 1:26.297 + 4.375 87

Aaah... a Spyker by any other name is still just as awful.

Can we download this anywhere?
 
fooller where did you get that Schumi slide?

I would love to see more.
 
Some pics of the new Force India livery:

https://pic.armedcats.net/2007/11/13/88550.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/2007/11/13/88556.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/2007/11/13/88538.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/2007/11/13/88568.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/2007/11/13/88570.jpg

Chandhok has a Mansell-esque 'stache, but it's not where you'd expect it to be:

https://pic.armedcats.net/2007/11/13/88516.jpg

I'm just joking, I'm actually not a horrible person! :p
 
The Force India aint bad, but too many red-white combination in F1. I saw switch the white with the gold and there you go.
 
I have to agree on the Force India livery, not terrible looking, improvement over the orange from last year.

On an unrelated note, is Ferrari running a number on their cars right now? If so, is it 1 and 2?
 
That GIF is awesome!!! God I want to see that whole session now!! Not particularly surprising he is fastest. You don't forget how to drive overnight.

Sucked in to everyone that said he wouldn't be valuable.
 
The Force India aint bad, but too many red-white combination in F1. I saw switch the white with the gold and there you go.

I have to agree on the Force India livery, not terrible looking, improvement over the orange from last year.

That is not the finally livery for the team, it is a quick job they came up with for the test sessions, the real livery will be unveiled next year.

That GIF is awesome!!! God I want to see that whole session now!! Not particularly surprising he is fastest. You don't forget how to drive overnight.

Sucked in to everyone that said he wouldn't be valuable.

:+1:
 
Big kudos to Schumacher. I always said, no matter how little I liked him, I thought he was underappreciated as a talent in his comtemporary era. I thought perhaps past stars were rated higher than him unfairly because of their non-living status. I really do think he's the best driver ever, or at least since F1 was widespread enough to record such things.

The force india livery actually looks fantastic to me, very classy. It's just too Super Aguri. That monobrow is RIDICULOUS! Is personal grooming illegal in India?
 
Man, I would like to see Schumi make a come-back.

You may now proceed to flame

https://pic.armedcats.net/2007/11/13/88516.jpg
Man... :lol: :lmao: :lol:

EDIT:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8zg3BwLv7E[/youtube]

[rant] Dang it, you stupid, bloody IDIOT. Look, I don't CARE about your "mad vidoe editang skillz", your #!$&y taste in music, or your "kewl" transitions; all I want is engine noise, so get that through your thick-as-the-Earth's-crust skull!! [/rant]

On a positive note, Honda looks fantastic in black!
 
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Schumacher fastest again on Wednesday
Source:
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2007/11/14/schumacher-fastest-again-in-spain/
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/testresults.php?testID=792
Pos. Driver Team Tires Time Laps
1 M. Schumacher Ferrari Bridgestone 01:21.489 90
2 P. de la Rosa McLaren Bridgestone 01:21.857 60
3 H. Kovalainen Renault Bridgestone 01:21.894 65
4 F. Massa Ferrari Bridgestone 01:22.044 56
5 G. Paffett McLaren Bridgestone 01:22.293 57
6 N. Rosberg Williams Bridgestone 01:22.333 64
7 D. Coulthard Red Bull Bridgestone 01:22.555 74
8 N. Heidfeld BMW Bridgestone 01:22.946 102
9 K. Nakajima Williams Bridgestone 01:23.031 77
10 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso Bridgestone 01:23.187 74
11 K. Chandhok Red Bull Bridgestone 01:23.255 57
12 J. Button Honda Bridgestone 01:23.358 79
13 J. Trulli Toyota Bridgestone 01:23.465 54
14 R. Kubica BMW Bridgestone 01:23.488 37
15 A. Davidson Super Aguri Bridgestone 01:23.547 80
16 L. Filippi Honda Bridgestone 01:23.596 74
17 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso Bridgestone 01:23.753 72
18 F. Montagny Toyota Bridgestone 01:23.977 45
19 C. Klien Force India F1 Bridgestone 01:24.446 56
20 A. Sutil Force India F1 Bridgestone 01:24.537 105
21 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 Bridgestone 01:24.555 55
He beat Massa by almost half a second, and closes to him was De la Rosa +.3 second off. God he is awesome.
 
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It's just amazing isn;t it, how no one can even get close to the times he is setting...he is probably kicking himself for having retired when he sees these times...
 
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