SEVEN-TIME Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is making a comeback for Ferrari to replace injured driver Felipe Massa.
Ferrari said Wednesday in a statement that the German had agreed to get back in the cockpit until Massa is fit to return. The next race is the European Grand Prix on Aug. 21-23 in Valencia, Spain.
The 28-year-old Massa was hit in the helmet by a loose part from another car and crashed into a protective tire barrier during qualifying Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Brazilian received multiple skull fractures in the accident and doctors say he will not race again this season.
“The Ferrari-Marlboro team plans to give Michael Schumacher Felipe Massa’s car until the Brazilian returns to competition,” Ferrari announced in a statement on its Web site carried by Italian news agency ANSA.
Schumacher, 40, commented: “Ultimately I like challenges and this is a great challenge.
“The important thing is that Massa gets better,” he continued, adding that he “just wanted to help the firm (Ferrari) when they needed it.”
“Though it is true that the Formula One chapter has been completely closed for me for a long time, it is also true that for reasons of loyalty to the team I cannot ignore this unfortunate situation.
“But as the competitor I am, I also very much look forward to facing this.”
Only this month he had made it clear speaking at the German Grand Prix that he was not interested in making a full time comeback.
But the offer of a temporary return to the Ferrari cockpit obviously proved too much to resist for the German, nicknamed Schumi, who has recovered from a neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident in February.
According to his father, Massa is due to be moved to the same hospital in Paris, which treated former three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldo’s knee injury last year.
“If he continues (to recover) at this pace he’ll be switched to a hospital in Paris where he will follow his recovery up to the time he can go home,” Titonia Massa said from Budapest in comments carried by Brazilian newspaper O Globo.(SD-Agencies)