30 Jul 2009

Schumacher return a warning for younger drivers

9:51 am on 30 July 2009

The man who gave former champion Michael Scumacher his first drive in Formula One believes the younger drivers better watch out with the German legend's return to Ferrari.

A bit more spice has been added to Formula One with the news that Schumacher will replace Felipe Massa until he's over his injury.

The seven-time champion retired after the 2006 season although he has kept some close links with the Italian team.

And while the technology has changed considerably while he's been away, and he has never driven against current world champion Lewis Hamilton, Schumacher's first F1 boss Eddie Jordan says it's a big, big wake-up call for those young drivers.

They'll now be looking over their shoulder for the legend bigtime, Jordan says, as Schumacher's "absolutely hardcore" and it doesn't matter if he's a millisecond slower as a 40-year-old, because he was faster as a younger driver than anyone else anyway.

Schumacher's first drive would be at the European Grand Prix in Valencia in three weeks.