Schumacher, the underdog?

People are chanting for the ‘God’ out there. They think Schumi can return to the paddock, wear a slightly larger racing suit, jump into Massa’s Ferrari and start winning races. Whatever the outcome may be, the return of The Champion is the best thing that could have happened to Formula One this year after the Brawn 1-2 at Albert Park.

But do you really think he can win a race or two? Expert opinions across the globe and collective thinking at Internet forums is that if he manages to do that, he will consider those victories above the 91 victories and seven World Championships in his cupboard.

Because it is not easy — even if your name is Armstrong or Schumacher — to return to top-flight modern day sports. So what are the odds against him? Lots, actually.

Come August 23, Michael Schumacher will not be getting into a Ferrari tailor-made for him by F1’s dream team using millions of tobacco and oil dollars. Instead, he will have to do with a used car that has been campaigned by a Brazilian and beaten by the Red Bulls and Brawns throughout the season. He has not raced in tracks like the one at Valencia at all. And then there is the small matter of sharing the starting grid with a Torro Rosso driver who was just two years old when Schumacher first won the championship with a Benetton.

Though Schumacher won his first two championships in 1994 and 1995, it took all of five years and a combination of Jean Todt, Luca Montezemolo and Ross Brawn for him to start winning races. But when he started winning, nothing could stop the Scuderia wagon — he dominated the sport from 2000 onwards for five illustrious years. So much so that Sunday afternoons became utterly predictable. The last two years of competitive racing was not easy for Schumacher, though, and he couldn’t really challenge the Alonsos and Raikkonens of the new world. On his comeback, he will have a much younger champion in Lewis Hamilton to contend with, alongside Sebastian Vettel whom, ironically, the media has labeled as the ‘new Schumacher’.

If the Stefano Domenicali-led Maranello outfit needed a big-bang wake-up call, then they have got it now. The PR machinery of Scuderia Ferrari has something to tell the world about. They need to get a racing car ready for someone who is a household name across the globe. Someone, given a slight drizzle, a bit of pit-lane wizardry and a few mistakes from the front runners, could unleash the kind of racecraft that can send a scarlet car gunning for the checkered flag.

Underdogs don’t come better than this 40-year old package!