Ferrari look for quick return by Schumacher

Michael Schumacher has been asked by Ferrari to step up his recovery programme. The Italian team want to bring the injured German back into their world championship campaign as soon as possible.

An early return for Schumacher was ruled out two weeks ago when the driver, who suffered leg injuries in a smash at the British Grand Prix a month ago, underwent a second operation to adjust surgery performed on him after the accident. But in the wake of Ferrari's poor showing at last Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari's needs have become more urgent and Schumacher has been asked to try and speed up his recovery.

Eddie Irvine's lead in the world drivers' championship was cut to just two points on Sunday after the Irishman forfeited second place when he slid off the circuit under pressure from David Coulthard in the second McLaren. Irvine's eventual third place means that his lead over winning McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen is in danger of being quickly eradicated.

Next up is the daunting Spa Francorchamps circuit for the Belgian Grand Prix in a fortnight's time and the circuit will hold little promise for the current Ferrari number one. Irvine has never scored at Spa and has crashed out on his last two visits to the notoriously demanding track. Given Hakkinen's two second place finishes there in 1994 and 1996 and Irvine's admission that he feels the McLaren is capable of performing on any circuit, regardless of the poor conditions that so often affect the Belgian race, Ferrari fear the worst.

Ferrari were also shocked by the poor showing on Sunday of stand-in driver Mika Salo. The Finn, who had played the perfect number two to Irvine in the team's one-two win at Hockenheim, could only manage a dismal 12th place after starting from a lowly 18th on the grid. Salo later described his performance as "terrible" and "embarrassing".

While Irvine and technical director Ross Brawn gave their support to the Finn, saying that the technical demands of the Budapest circuit were too much for a driver with only two races and a couple of Fiorano tests behind him, sporting director Jean Todt was less charitable. "To all intents and purposes we ran the race with one car given Salo's position on the grid," he said.

However, despite Ferrari's need, Schumacher is unlikely to make an appearance for the team in Belgium, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza still remaining the probably venue for his comeback.

Meanwhile, Jean Alesi, who sensationally quit the Sauber team after Sunday's race, is likely to find a new home at Prost for the 2000 season. Current Prost driver Jarno Trulli is expected to sign on as Heinz-Harald Frentzen's team-mate at Jordan later this week and Alesi is heavily tipped to replace the 25-year-old Italian at Alain Prost's outfit.

Prost are likely to undergo a major upheaval as pit-lane gossip also links newly-crowned Formula 3000 champion Nick Heidfeld with the French team. With relations between Alain Prost and Olivier Panis strained, Heidfeld, whose second place at the Hungaroring on Sunday was enough to earn him the F3000 championship, is ready to step in.

The 22-year-old German, contracted to McLaren Mercedes' junior formula partner West Competition, has made no secret of his desire to make the step up to F1 in 2000 and Mercedes are believed to be exploring the possibility of berthing Heidfeld at Prost.

The future of Arrows boss Prince Malik also appears to be in some doubt. The Nigerian prince, who along with Morgan Grenfell bought a majority shareholding in the troubled team at the beginning of the season, was not present in Budapest last weekend. With Malik apparently at odds with team boss Tom Walkinshaw over the future direction of the team, the Nigerian's involvement at Arrows could soon be over.

Despite the renewed financial uncertainty surrounding Arrows, the team recently signed a contract to purchase Supertec engines in 2000 and are rumoured to be on the verge of signing up a new aerodynamicist. Supertec powerplants are currently being run by Williams, Benetton and BAR, but with Williams bringing in BMW power and BAR taking delivery of Honda engines in 2000, Arrows snapped up the chance to run the engine of choice for the current crop of midfield teams.