A Formula 1 sensation was in the air. This had already been indicated. But there was only certainty on December 23, 2009
This Wednesday went down in German sporting history as the day on which Michael Schumacher returned to Formula 1 – as the driver of the new Mercedes works team, which emerged from the world champion racing team Brawn.
There were turbulent months behind the team from Brackley in England: a year earlier, the former Honda workforce was still worried about their future. Then in 2009 the team completely unexpectedly shook up Formula 1 as “Brawn GP” and won both world titles with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
How Schumacher justified his Formula 1 comeback
This “fairy tale” was now followed by a “miracle”: the comeback of the then most successful Formula 1 driver, which Mercedes made official with a telephone conference the day before Christmas.
Schumacher, who had previously worked with Ross Brawn at Benetton and Ferrari and achieved almost all of his successes with the Brit at his side, explained his retirement at the time as follows: “Ross and Mercedes – this combination, which was unforeseeable, appeals to me. So I can give something back to Mercedes. I couldn’t refuse.”
Because as a Mercedes junior, Schumacher was once prepared for a Formula 1 works program for the star brand, which never came to fruition. Mercedes still helped Schumacher make his Formula 1 debut with Jordan in 1991, but “lost” its driver first to Flavio Briatore at Benetton and later to Ferrari.
It stayed that way: Nothing came of a “flirting” with McLaren-Mercedes from Ferrari’s early days, so “Schumi” stayed at Ferrari – and then acted more dominantly there than any Formula 1 driver before him. Until 2006, when he ended his career “tired and without energy” – for the time being, as it turned out later.
From the summer of 2009, “Schumi” wanted to go back
The signs were already pointing to a comeback in mid-2009: Because Felipe Massa was out after his accident in Hungary, Ferrari nominated Schumacher as a replacement. And Schumacher wanted. Only the neck didn’t play along: a motorcycle injury prevented him from returning to Formula 1. That was in August 2009.
In September, Schumacher announced that he would remain an advisor at Ferrari for another three years. In October it was said that Schumacher was aiming for another season on the motorcycle in 2010. And in November, silver headlines and corresponding rumors emerged for the first time: Mercedes was in line for Schumacher.
Mercedes wants Button, not Schumacher (yet).
At this point, Mercedes’ dream driver Button, the 2009 world champion, had already decided otherwise: against Mercedes and for McLaren-Mercedes, as Brawn confirmed years later: “We wanted Jenson to stay.” And: “The discussions about Michael only came up when Jenson told us that he was leaving. Before that, there was no contact with Michael at all.”
And initially another German was on pole position at Mercedes: Nico Rosberg. His move from Williams to Mercedes was made public on November 23, 2009. There was “nothing wrong” with a possible Schumacher commitment, emphasized team boss Brawn on the same day.
The rumor mill was churning in the winter of 2009
Two weeks later, then Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said it was “more than just a rumour”. Two weeks later, Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo spoke out loud when he first gave Schumacher permission to change and later revealed his goal for the change.
He said: “The real Schumacher, the one I know, will remain part of the Ferrari family forever, but it seems he has a twin brother who has the idea of going and driving in Formula 1 for Mercedes .”
Mercedes makes it official
It then took another four days until Mercedes itself came out with the language and officially introduced Schumacher as the second Mercedes driver alongside Rosberg. On December 23, 2009, one day before Christmas Eve. To many Formula 1 fans at the time, it seemed like an early Christmas present.
In terms of sport, the “miracle” turned out to be a farewell in installments: Schumacher achieved individual notable successes in three comeback years, such as third place in Valencia in 2012 or the best qualifying time in Monaco in the same year. However, “Schumi” was no longer able to build on his previous successes, lost to teammate Rosberg and retired a second time.
His successor from 2013: a certain Lewis Hamilton. And what no one suspected at the time: in the following years, Hamilton would surpass many of Schumacher’s Formula 1 records that were considered unattainable and, in turn, also become a seven-time world champion.