After suffering a season of surprises, the F-1 will get back its greatest champion in 2010. Michael Schumacher, 40, 41 next January 3rd, who owns seven world titles and almost all records of the class, announced yesterday his return after three years of retirement.

The German, who had not competed since the GP Brazil 2006, will pilot the Mercedes GP, old Brawn, who closed the season earning the title of both drivers, with Jenson Button, as the constructors.
With a three-year contract, Schumacher will become in 2010 the oldest man to fly an F-1 since 1995, when Nigel Mansell, who was then 41, played in two races for McLaren. The German, however, is back with clear intentions. “I do not think of anything less than the title.”

The news of the return of seven-times champion could not have come at a better time for the F-1. In 2009, the category had its credibility shattered after Piquet’s admission that hit in the Singapore Grand Prix the year before to facilitate the victory of his team-mate, Spaniard Fernando Alonso.

After the scandal of the Renault, the F-1 went through hard times in the middle of the season when other teams threatened the category if the parallel regulation of 2010 was not revised. The FIA president Max Mosley, then, was forced to withdrew himself from the command to lead and a new FIA president was elected, Jean Todt.

Via: Folha.