Michael Schumacher will no longer be an advisor to Ferrari’s Formula One team, according to reports from Spain.
The seven-time world champion's sole role will be on developing its future road cars, rather than advising the F1 team, says sports daily Diario AS.
Massa drives 2009 Ferrari F1 car
Schumacher has been heavily involved in the development of the Ferrari 458 Italia and the Italian marque is keen to utilise his talents in future projects. He signed a new three-year contract with Ferrari in September, but no reference was made at the time about his future F1 involvement.
The German has been a high-profile presence on the Ferrari pit wall at grands prix since his retirement in 2006. He was set to make a comeback to the cockpit this season following Felipe Massa’s injury, but this fell through over fitness concerns.
Elsewhere, MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi has been lined up for another test with Ferrari in January. He has impressed with his pace in the past and the Italian told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper that he has asked team boss Stefano Domenicali for another test by text message.
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Re: Schumacher loses Ferrari F1 role
Ferrari have spoken recently about it being a team and they drive for Ferrari not for themselves. I think that was a clear indicator to Alonso that he better behave. He's a really good driver, there's no doubt and has pulled a few sponsors over to Ferrari with him, but he does seem a little wrong in the head at times. If Schumacher does become F1 Commissioner for Jean Todt and is still helping Ferrari with road cars, then that's still going to leave Todt open to suggestions of bias. So maybe he'd quit the road car job too. How much does he actually do for that though? Dario Benuzzi's team does most of it, so it can only be a couple of meetings and test drives a month. The marketing value is worth more, I suspect.
Re: Schumacher loses Ferrari F1 role
Or perhaps Schumacher decided he didn’t want to work with Alonso? I think Alonso could be a liability for Ferrari, he’s prone to throwing tantrums and I’m surprised that Ferrari have employed him.
Re: Schumacher loses Ferrari F1 role
Alonso probably insisted on it before signing his contract. Potentially it achieves the double whammy of destabilising Massa and making sure he can have maximum influence in the direction of the team. Kimi should have insisted on it.....