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

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

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.

Jenson Button wins world title

• Briton seals championship after steady drive to fifth position• Pole-sitter and team-mate Barrichello suffers bad luckJenson Button has secured his maiden Formula One world championship for Brawn GP in the penultimate race of the season as Red Bull's Mark Webber won the Brazilian Grand Prix.Button took fifth place as his team-mate and rival Rubens Barrichello finished eighth and Sebastian Vettel - the only other driver capable of winning the crown - finished in fourth position."It's really amazing," said Button. "That was just such an awesome race - I deserve the title after that race! 21 years ago I jumped in a car and I loved winning. I never expected to be world champion in Formula One but I've done it today."Team boss Ross Brawn, who also watched the outfit secure the constructors' title in its first season, said: "Jenson's a fantastic racer and he knew what he had to do today. He deserves everything he's got."Webber, who had been running second in the early stages, took the lead after his first stop and did not relinquish it as the Red Bull proved the quickest car around Interlagos. Barrichello's grip on the race was loosened when he lost places after his first stop, crucially to BMW's Robert Kubica, who finished second. The Brazilian, who had started from pole position, lost third place with ten laps to go as a storming Lewis Hamilton - who started from 18th place after a disaster in the rain-hit qualifying session - benefitted from an early safety car period. Barrichello then suffered further disappointment with a puncture in the dying laps, being forced to pit and rejoin in eighth.Button had also benefitted from the safety car to make up places early on, showing his determination with a great move to pass Renault's Romain Grosjean after which he also picked off Williams' Kazuki Nakajima. Button pitted for the first time on lap 29, a clean stop bringing him out in tenth with two cars ahead still to pit. A fantastic move on Sebastien Buemi a few laps later, outbraking him into turn one, brought Button seventh place. Barrichello, lying fourth, had all the work to do but his race unravelled and he was unable to keep his title hopes alive.Vettel had done his best to stay in the hunt by taking a very long first stint and would be satisfied with his fourth place, even though Button's finishing position meant the title was out of his grasp. Given Barrichello's bad luck, it meant the Red Bull driver overtook him for second in the standings with a race to go.The opening laps of the grand prix were filled with incident as first an off-track fight almost erupted between Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil. Replays appeared to show Force India's Sutil forcing Trulli wide onto the grass, causing the Toyota to lose control and slide off into the barriers, tagging Sutil along the way. Sutil also ended up in the gravel trap and had to face a fuming Trulli in a discussion that almost became physical.A lap later Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was caught in a flash fire in the pit lane. The Finn had pitted to receive a new nose cone after tagging the back of Red Bull's Mark Webber. Ahead of him, earlier spinner Heikki Kovalainen was leaving the pits but with the fuel hose still attached to his McLaren. Fuel sprayed over the hot Ferrari, which was briefly engulfed in flames, although Raikkonen was unhurt and carried on.Final points standings:Jenson Button, 89Sebastian Vettel, 74Rubens Barrichello, 72Formula OneMotor sportJenson ButtonBrawnGemma Briggsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | 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

Button takes the scenic route

Too often Jenson Button has lacked the instinct to pick the right team at the right time, but at last he's found his perfect matchSo there it is, the name of Jenson Button finally inscribed on the grand prix roll of honour at the end of a season in which a campaign that began with the rush of six wins in seven races appeared to have slowed to a crawl as it approached the chequered flag. There are many ways to win the world championship, and the 10th British driver to capture the title added to the suspense by taking the scenic route.Button may be still on the right side of 30, but he has had to wait longer to secure his title than all but one of his compatriots. The task that took Lewis Hamilton two seasons, Jim Clark and James Hunt four, Jackie Stewart, John Surtees and the two Hills, Graham and Damon, five and Mike Hawthorn seven to complete has occupied Button for an entire decade, longer than anyone except Nigel Mansell, the sweating, straining Sisyphus of formula one, who rolled his boulder up the hill for 13 fretful years before managing to get it to stay put on the summit.This coming January it will be 10 years since tears rolled down Button's boyish cheeks as he fell into the arms of his equally emotional father after being told by Sir Frank Williams that he was about to become Britain's youngest-ever grand prix driver. Less than a week earlier the lad from Frome had celebrated the end of his teenage years, and the future appeared to be one of unbroken promise.But it takes all sorts of experiences to make a world champion, and Button's path to the title has been strewn with obstacles. In retrospect his trials, although painful and sometimes humiliating, could be seen as a necessary counterbalance to the impression he can sometimes give of floating through life on a cloud of privilege and good fortune, with a yacht in the Monaco harbour, a yellow Ferrari and a string of girlfriends drawn from the ranks of pop singers, aristocrats and underwear models.But Button is not burdened with an overinflated ego, and a world championship is unlikely to change him now. According to his schoolteachers, he was careful to underplay his early success in karting -- "There was no boasting or bragging," one of them told me several years ago -- and he has remained an approachable and unpretentious figure, with much more to him (including a liking for competing in triathlons) than the celebrity nonsense."We always thought that Jenson was outstanding," Patrick Head, Sir Frank Williams' partner, said in Monaco this spring, when Button was in the middle of his early-season winning streak with the Brawn team. "He's always had great driving skill, and now he has experience, calmness, judgement and other things. He's also in the right place."Too often in the past he had found himself trapped in the wrong environment, creating a superficial and misleading impression that caused him to be written off by two of the sport's most powerful men. The now-disgraced Flavio Briatore sacked him from the Renault team in 2002 in order to promote his own protŽgŽ, Fernando Alonso, shortly before Bernie Ecclestone advised David Richards, the BAR-Honda boss, against reviving the Briton's career.Richards's decision to ignore Ecclestone's opinion set Button on the path that would lead, seven years later, to his coronation as the 31st world champion in formula one's 60-year history. Even then, however, it was hardly plain sailing as Button navigated his way unsteadily through a series of setbacks. A mini-scandal when his team was suspended for making illegal use of a hidden device in the car's petrol tank was followed by the messy aftermath of Richards's mysterious sacking by Honda, an expensively aborted attempt to return to the Williams fold and a succession of poor cars.Among the most valuable weapons in a world champion's armoury is the instinct for joining the right team at the right time, and until this year it seemed to be the attribute Button most crucially lacked. Williams let him go (in order to honour an pre-existing commitment to Juan Pablo Montoya) at the end of his first season, he was ejected from Renault just as the team was becoming competitive enough to win titles, and even when a period of improving fortunes with Honda climaxed in 2006 with his first grand prix victory, that success proved to be a mirage as the team went into a sudden and disastrous decline.His judgement was not always sound in his choice of personal managers and advisers, and it took him several years to settle on one he believed he could trust. Throughout it all, however, his resilience earned growing respect from the paddock cynics. He stayed on good terms with Williams and Head, he refused to trade insults with those who denigrated his ability, and he earned the loyalty of the Honda engineers and mechanics by never complaining or making excuses when, instead of the Stradivarius he needs, they kept giving him plastic ukeleles.Most of all, when Honda suddenly pulled the plug before the beginning of the present season, he refused to panic. Instead of fleeing into the arms of a rival team, he saw the sense in staying put, voluntarily cutting his £12m annual salary by about two-thirds and showing his confidence in Ross Brawn, his new team principal. That act of faith played a key part in restoring the morale of team personnel whose livelihoods had been threatened.On the track he has shown that while some champions are bullies and others are stylists, his smooth precision puts him firmly in the latter category. It is no accident that he grew up admiring the calmness and consistency of Alain Prost while the young Lewis Hamilton adored the panache and charisma of Ayrton Senna.And now he has proved himself beyond doubt, in and out of the car, to be anything but a flaky underperformer. In answer to those who claim that his run of six wins in this season's first seven races, which laid the firmest of foundations for his title challenge, was the achievement of the car rather than its driver, he can point to Mansell's eight of the first 10 with Williams in 1992 or Michael Schumacher's five of the first six with Ferrari in 2002. These things happen in formula one, and the champion is the one with the skill and intelligence to take advantage of his circumstances, as Jenson Button has done at last.Jenson ButtonFormula OneBrawnMotor sportRichard Williamsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds