Michael Schumacher is back

It's official. Michael Schumacher, the seven-times world champion Formula One driver, is to come out of retirement to race once again for Ferrari, replacing Felipe Massa who was seriously injured in last Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
 
Ferrari has confirmed that the 40-year-old German will drive Massa's car in the next race, the European Grand Prix at Valencia on August 23. If all goes well, he will continue to race until Massa is fit to return - which, given the seriousness of his eye injury, could mean the rest of the season.
 
"For team loyalty reasons I can't ignore this unfortunate situation," said Schumacher, who has worked as a consultant to the Ferrari team since his retirement in October 2006.
 
Because Massa's accident came on the eve of Formula One's annual summer break, Schumacher still has three weeks to get himself in physical and mental shape for Valencia. However, he will not be allowed to practice in the actual race car - because F1 rules on in-season testing will not allow it.
 
Despite that, Ferrari chose Schumacher ahead of their two reserve drivers Marc Gene and Luca Badoer and, ominously for the rest of the F1 pack, Schumacher said yesterday: "As the competitor I am, I also very much look forward to facing this challenge."
 
His return brings an added thrill for Formula 1 fans - the first ever opportunity for Britain's Lewis Hamilton, the reigning world champion, to race against the iconic German driver.
 
After a miserable start to the new season in his McLaren car, Hamilton, finally enjoyed his first victory in Budapest last Sunday. After the euphoria of that win, he will now be spending his holiday contemplating racing against the man who won 91 Grand Prix races during his fabulous career. Or should that be the first stage of his fabulous career? ·