Brawn rules out Schumacher return

• Nico Rosberg confirmed as first nominated Mercedes driver• Fellow German driver Nick Heidfeld likely to join RosbergMichael Schumacher's return to Formula One was effectively ruled out today when Nico Rosberg was confirmed as Mercedes-Benz's first nominated driver for next season's world championship.From the moment Jenson Button, having won the title for the team as Brawn, signed for McLaren last week there had been mounting speculation that Schumacher, who will be 41 next year, was considering a comeback to spearhead the official return of the "Silver Arrows" to grand prix for the first time since 1955.However, Ross Brawn, the Mercedes team principal, made it clear that Schumacher would not be picking up the threads of a full-time Formula One career that ended in 2006, even though he gave serious consideration to taking the role of temporary stand-in for the injured Felipe Massa at Ferrari this year. This plan was thwarted by a neck injury sustained earlier in the year in a motorcycle testing crash."The issue now haunts the media, I know," Brawn told the German newspaper Bild, "but there is nothing in it. The media are trying to put together a dream. Michael would have returned to the cockpit for Ferrari but only temporarily. He has no ambitions to start a new career."If we get a combination of two equally strong drivers, then the strategy will be different than if you have a winner like Michael. Following Button's move to McLaren, we will think differently. My desire is to find two experienced drivers. Nico Rosberg has more than three years in Formula One, so I count him to be experienced."Brawn seemed to be steering speculation in the direction of Nick Heidfeld, another German driver, and one with 167 grand prix starts under his belt. "I do not want a novice who must find his way around racetracks because we have very few opportunities to test drivers now. Performance without much practice is therefore the task. The good thing is we are not in a hurry."Formula OneMichael SchumacherBrawnMotor sportAlan Henryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Schumacher sets sights on eighth title

• German signs one-year contract with Ross Brawn's team• Schumacher will be 41-years-old upon return to trackMichael Schumacher believes he can win an unprecedented eighth Formula One world championship next season after confirming that he will come out of retirement to drive for Mercedes.Schumacher, who will be 41 on 3 January, has signed a one-year contract, with options for a further two seasons, to partner Nico Rosberg at the former Brawn team. Brawn GP collected the drivers' championship, through Jenson Button, and the constructors' title last season and Schumacher is targeting identical success for the rebranded squad."I have won it seven times and I'm with the team that won both titles last season, so what do you expect?" he said. "You can't expect anything else other than to go for the world championship and that's what we are aiming for."Schumacher secured the last of his championships with Ferrari in 2004 and has not raced in Formula One since 2006. The German will be the grid's oldest driver. Button, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, three likely title rivals, will be 30, 25 and 22 when the season starts.A neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident in February ruled out Schumacher's proposed comeback for Ferrari last season as a substitute for the injured Felipe Massa. But he has no doubts about his fitness or competitiveness in joining the Mercedes team run by Ross Brawn, who managed Schumacher's seven world championships at Benetton and Ferrari."I am absolutely confident I can do what's necessary," Schumacher said. "When I returned to the go-kart [for a recent race against F1 drivers in Brazil], I straight away was on the pace. Now I have to prove it in the real car and go wheel to wheel with many of those guys."The motivation is pretty straightforward. I got a call from Ross at the beginning of November asking me to race again, telling me Mercedes were going to be involved. That seemed pretty good to me. I was tired of F1 by the end of 2006 and three years' absence gave back all the energy that I'm feeling right now. Having played around with motorbikes and go-karts, I feel ready for some serious stuff."Before I gave a final OK, I had to be sure 100% that there were no further issues with my neck. Unfortunately it was too close to the accident in the summer when I considered going to Ferrari after Felipe's accident. But the time is enough now to heal [the injury] completely. I have tested everything that I can and I have no problem whatsoever now."Brawn said the renewal of his association with Schumacher did not come at the expense of Button, who has joined Hamilton at McLaren for 2010. "We made a big effort to keep him but it wasn't possible in the end," he said. "I had a loyalty to Jenson but, when that started to look difficult, I started talking to Michael."Brawn said he had let Schumacher answer questions about his motivation and speed following a long absence from such a competitive arena. "I trust him implicitly and he told me he can do it. He has always been his own best critic, the man himself knows what he is capable of. I am very comfortable and confident and put my trust in Michael, and it won't be misplaced."Schumacher's lengthy list of records includes the most world titles, most race victories (91), most pole positions (68) and highest number of wins in one season (13 in 2004). His return with Brawn severs a 14-year connection with Ferrari, Schumacher having spent the past three years as a consultant and ambassador there."The only reason I seriously thought about my return is because it is old friends that have asked me. Working with Ross and Mercedes is now possible and I'm happy to give something back that Mercedes gave me in the early days," he said, referring to its support for his career before he reached Formula One.Hamilton welcomed the chance to race Schumacher, whom he described as "a legend". He said: "I used to watch Michael race when I was in the junior categories and I always hoped that I would be in F1 while he was still around. I'm really looking forward to seeing him on the track and back at the top. It's brilliant news."Michael SchumacherMercedes GPFormula OneMotor sportMaurice Hamiltonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Mercedes hope to keep hold of Button

Mercedes will bow to Ross Brawn's wishes and negotiate to keep the world champion Jenson Button as a driver next season, a team source has confirmed.

Fernando Alonso win delights Ferrari

• Spaniard leads Felipe Massa in team 1-2 on debut• Sebastian Vettel loses out to exhaust problemA sweeping one-two victory for the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in the Bahrain grand prix could not obscure the overall dullness of a contest in which, for the first time since 1993, the drivers were not allowed to refuel their cars. A processional race was brought to life only when the Red Bull-Renault of Sebastian Vettel, a convincing leader for the first hour, developed an exhaust problem which reduced the power from his engine, allowing the Italian cars to pass and relegating the young German driver to an eventual fourth place behind the McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.Even the new lightning-fast pit stops to change tyres failed to add to the excitement, partly because they were too brief to provoke much in the way of incident. Most of the drivers made only one mid-race stop and spent most of the time on their radios, talking to their race engineers about the best way to achieve a safe balance between tyre wear and fuel consumption.Add the unwelcome addition of fiddly new corners which turn the Sakhir circuit into a giant go-kart track and this was the recipe for an unsatisfactory start to the most eagerly anticipated season for years. Apart from the Scuderia Ferrari, overjoyed by their success after the travails of 2009, the team gaining most pleasure from their afternoon's work were probably Lotus, rewarded for their Malaysian-backed efforts to revive a famous name by having their two cars classified as finishers, albeit at the tail of the field in 15th and 17th places. The other new low-budget teams, Hispania and Virgin, saw their cars retire.For the McLarens, which finished third and seventh in the hands of Hamilton and Jenson Button, and the new Mercedes outfit, for which Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished fifth and sixth, there will be some head-scratching among the engineers after their failure to match the leaders' pace. Hamilton found encouragement in his podium place but Button was unable to get past Schumacher over the last 15 laps which he spent on the tail of the seven-times champion.Nothing, however, could dim the excitement in the Ferrari pit, where a new regime came under severe criticism after suffering disaster after disaster last season. Following the example set so successfully 12 months earlier by their former technical director Ross Brawn, they abandoned last year's hopeless car midway through the season and concentrated their efforts on preparing for 2010. Today their new F10 showed the kind of reliability that underpinned five of Schumacher's championships and enough speed to be in the right place when Vettel faltered and the Red Bull's 4sec cushion started to shrink.For Alonso, watched from the grandstand by the King of Spain, this was the best possible start to his career with his new team, making him the sixth driver – after Juan Manuel Fangio, Giancarlo Baghetti, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Kimi Raikkonen – to win his maiden race for Ferrari. Starting from the third slot on the grid, behind Vettel and Massa, he slipped past his team-mate between turns one and two on the opening lap and was in position to take advantage of the pole man's misfortune with 15 laps to go."It's even more special because of the history of the team and the expectations of those who drive for this team," he declared, articulating a sentiment guaranteed to endear him to the numberless fans of the Scuderia around the world. "The guys here at the track and back at the factory in Maranello worked day and night to make this car and we've arrived here very well prepared."There was an extra surge of emotion inside and outside the cockpit of the second Ferrari as Massa crossed the line 16sec behind his team-mate on his return to racing after the accident that almost took his life in Hungary last July. "It's fantastic to be here," the little Brazilian said. "I didn't get a good start and lost a position to Fernando but the race was great and the car was perfect."The day's biggest disappointment was endured by Vettel, whose pole position had been achieved with a lap that won praise from his rivals. "It seems something broke," he said, "but luckily we could continue and finish fourth, but we should have won today. It was positive all weekend, except for the exhaust failure."What became clear today was that Formula One is the new Premier League, with a Big Four whose cars finished in the top eight positions followed by a group of worthy midfield runners (Force India, Renault, Williams and Sauber are the equivalents of Spurs, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Everton) and a sweaty bunch of relegation contenders. Despite spinning his Force India on the opening lap while blinded by a cloud of oil smoke from Mark Webber's Red Bull, Adrian Sutil looked the most likely to disturb the established order.The last time Ferrari opened a series with a 1-2 win was with Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in Australia in 2004, prefacing the most crushing of the German's championship seasons. Vettel will win races this season and so will Massa and Hamilton but the intelligent and consistent Alonso, with 25 points to his name under the new scoring system against Massa's 18 and Hamilton's 15, must be feeling optimistic about the prospect of a third title.Formula OneFerrariMotor sportRichard Williamsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Button agrees to join McLaren

• Button will sign contract with McLaren in the next few days• Champion unfazed by being Lewis Hamilton's team-mateJenson Button has agreed terms to join McLaren on a £6m-a-year deal and could sign his formal three-year contract to partner Lewis Hamilton in an all-British line-up within the next few days.The Guardian understands that the world champion has turned his back on Brawn following protracted negotiations and will almost double his salary with the Woking-based team. The 29-year-old was given a guided tour of McLaren's factory last Friday and, although neither the team nor Button's management would confirm the deal tonight, sources close to McLaren hinted: "I think Jenson liked what he saw and they liked him too."In switching to McLaren Button will be going against advice from Formula One grandees including Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Martin Brundle, all of whom feel he might be biting off more than he can chew taking on Hamilton on his home turf in equal cars.But for Button the prospect of going head-to-head with a close friend and the man regarded by many in the pit lane as possibly the fastest of all will just be part of the challenge of defending his title. It is unlikely either Hamilton, who earns about £12m a year at McLaren, or his father Anthony, who has managed the 2008 world champion since his days as a teenage kart racer, will have been consulted on this beyond the normal deployment of good manners. McLaren have always had the resources and philosophy required to field two fully competitive cars and have always sought the strongest possible driver line-ups they could engage.The decision by the newly crowned world champion to leave the team built from the ashes of Honda by Ross Brawn came on the day it was officially announced that Mercedes-Benz had switched allegiances from McLaren and purchased a controlling interest in Brawn GP. They will field their cars under the Mercedes banner in 2010.It had been widely thought that Button would remain with the team alongside Nico Rosberg, the preferred Mercedes nominee, for 2010 following Rubens Barrichello's move to Williams. But there are suggestions that Button was never at the top of the Mercedes wish list. In fact, on Sunday Norbert Haug, the Mercedes motor sport vice-president, hinted that the company was already in talks to sign Nick Heidfeld from BMW, raising the possibility of two Germans going head-to-head with two Englishmen for next year's championship. Nick Fry, Brawn's chief executive, played down those rumours tonight, saying: "I can confidently say that [speculation] is totally incorrect – Mercedes is an international company. Clearly a German driver would be nice for them but we don't need two German drivers, that's not the intent."He added: "I hope Jenson is still with us next season. We've been together for a good few years now and we have succeeded in winning the world championship together and we want Jenson to be with us. But we have to recognise that Formula One is not divorced from the rest of the world. We have worked within a budget [and] if we spend in one area then we cannot spend in another area."The purchase of Brawn was funded by Mercedes' parent company, Daimler AG, who will own 45.1% of the team's equity, while Ross Brawn and the other senior management will hold 24.9% and the Abu Dhabi-based Aarbar investments will hold 30%. The team will continue to be run from its headquarters at Brackley in Oxfordshire.Under the new arrangements finalised today McLaren will have the facility of using Mercedes engines through to 2015 if they wish to. "This is a win-win situation, for both McLaren and Daimler," said Ron Dennis, chairman of the McLaren group and the man who originally forged the team's alliance with Mercedes back in 1995. "I've often stated that it's my belief that in order to survive and thrive in 21st-century Formula One a team must become much more than merely a team. In order to develop and sustain the revenue streams required to compete and win grands prix and world championships companies that run Formula One teams must broaden the scope of their commercial activities."Nonetheless, all of our partners will of course continue to play a crucial role in our Formula One programme. For that reason, and because the engines they produce are very competitive, we're delighted that Mercedes-Benz has committed to continue not only as an engine supplier but also as a partner of ours until 2015 – and perhaps thereafter."McLaren will not be disadvantaged by no longer being perceived as Mercedes-Benz's standard bearer in the Formula One front line. They and Mercedes have gone their separate ways because of conflicting interests in the high-performance road car arena. But out on the circuits McLaren remains potentially a consistently formidable winning machine. Button knows this and that is why he will be driving one of their cars next season.Jenson ButtonMcLarenBrawnFormula OneMotor sportAlan Henryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Hamilton storms to pole for Italy GP

• McLaren's Hamilton on front row with Adrian Sutil• Button and Brawn team return to formPolitics ought to be put on hold for at least 90 minutes this afternoon as the Italian Grand Prix returns the emphasis to the 2009 championship rather than who might have affected the outcome of last year's race in Singapore. Crashing deliberately is unlikely to be a strategic part of 53 laps spent racing on the fastest track in Formula One, although even the best intentions could fall foul of the first chicane as 20 closely bunched cars attempt to negotiate the notorious bottleneck at 50mph.Lewis Hamilton is in the best position to avoid a repeat of his elimination on the first lap of the previous race in Belgium. Apart from starting from pole for only the second time this season, Hamilton will have additional help from his McLaren's Kers energy retention system on the 600-metre charge to the chicane. Kimi Raikkonen will be making similar use of the 6.6-second power boost as the Ferrari starts from third and tries to overhaul the Force India of Adrian Sutil, who is on second. Hamilton and Sutil, good mates and former adversaries in Formula Three, are unlikely to have their friendship tested if, as expected, Hamilton leaves the field standing."I'm really happy to see Adrian here," Hamilton said. "It's a long time since we've sat together in a press conference – at least four years. Qualifying was very close and it's such a great feeling to be able to put together a good lap. When you have a single shot right at the end of qualifying and it comes off, it's so exhilarating. I really didn't anticipate being on pole."Sutil had the same feeling even though Giancarlo Fisichella signalled the dawn of a dramatic improvement for Force India by taking pole two weeks ago at Spa. Sutil's previous best qualifying had been seventh for his home grand prix, otherwise the German had been more familiar with the back of the grid.Although using a Mercedes engine similar to Hamilton's McLaren, the Force India does not have Kers, a serious disadvantage at the start at Monza."The car is amazing, really quick, unbelievable," Sutil said. "It's such a different feeling in a car that gives you a chance. The good feeling of being a racing driver is back and being here with Lewis adds to that. After two years consistently at the back, you forget the feeling of fighting for pole and racing to win. You get the passion back and drive much easier with a smile on your face when at the front. But I must admit it's not the best feeling to have Kers cars around me at the start. We saw what happened in Belgium when my team‑mate lost the race."Sutil was referring to Fisichella being overhauled by Raikkonen's use of Kers at Spa, the only circuit similar to Monza in terms of requiring the cars to run minimum downforce, a set-up that suits the Force India and, to a lesser degree, the Brawn.Fifth and sixth fastest times for Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button was an indication of the extra fuel carried by the Brawns and disguised a timely return to form for the British team as the championship enters the final five races."I'm really happy with sixth position," Button said. "Rubens and I have been so close on lap times all weekend and he's ended up just fifteen-hundredths ahead of me, which is the difference between getting your head down on the straights [to reduce aerodynamic drag at 205 mph]. I obviously didn't do it enough!"We got the best out of the car today and it felt good on the heavy fuel load, which is important because it's not just about qualifying, you have to consider your race. It's been a positive day and I'm confident that we can have a good race."It has been a while since Button exuded such confidence at the end of qualifying, the leader of the championship poised to make the most of a one-stop strategy while the front three drivers stop twice. A pit stop at Monza can cost up to 28 seconds from leaving the track to rejoining."Rubens and Jenson drove extremely well with our chosen one-stop strategy to secure fifth and sixth positions," Ross Brawn said. "The closeness of their lap times shows that they achieved everything possible from the car. We have the majority of the Kers cars just ahead of us so, provided our drivers get a good start, there is everything to play for in the race."Button will also have been heartened by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber struggling to match the pace of their championship rivals. The Red Bull pair have been restricted in mileage by Renault engine failures, which have eaten into the allocation of eight engines per driver for the season. The use of a ninth engine will bring a 10-place grid penalty."We'll see how the strategy pans out," Webber said. "We've got to try and grab everything we can now. I'm pretty happy with the job I did today but we're just lacking a bit of pace. We'll do what we can and salvage something from 10th – it's certainly possible."Depending which forecast you read, today's race could be similar to last year's and run in the rain. Vettel was unbeatable after starting from pole. Given Hamilton's record in wet conditions, the world champion is in the perfect position to win before the sport returns to less attractive business away from the race track.Lewis HamiltonFormula OneMotor sportMaurice Hamiltonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds