Schumacher: far from over

CHINA GRAND PRIX:EVEN A reduced Michael Schumacher looks capable of being fast in this city of scooters and traffic jams, and it was here the seven-time Formula One world champion emerged yesterday to remind his multiplying doubters that he is still in the title race.

After three rounds, the man with a record 91 victories has had a best finish of sixth, and he has been out-qualified by his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg on each occasion.

He is disappearing so quickly in the mirrors of championship leader Felipe Massa that the Brazilian he mentored at Ferrari is already 30 points clear.

But Schumacher, whose black scarf might have been a sign of mourning for his lost lustre as well as a way of keeping out the icy wind that howled through the paddock, said: "It's far from thinking this season is over. The results have not been as great as some people have expected, even myself, but the competition is high.

"If we have quick enough development speed there's no reason why we cannot fight for the championship. It is such a long season ahead of us. It does need a little bit more time, especially with less winter testing available. But I'm feeling pretty good, I have to say."

It was here, in 2006, he last won a race, and his appearance yesterday, in this most ancient and modern of cities, ached with symbolism. Shanghai is home to the cobbled streets of the Bund, the colonial area with its vast neoclassical structures, but is also a place of pecking cranes and cloud-puncturing skyscrapers, a city fast-forwarded into the future with alarming haste. In Formula One, to merely stand still is to be hurtled into history and the German, now 41, has had cause to ruminate on his three years away.

He appeared encouraged by Fernando Alonso's observation that he was still in the fight. Asked if he agreed with the Spaniard, he said: "Indeed, yes, I do. If you take the points system. Fernando had a retirement in Malaysia, I had a retirement in Malaysia and, most likely, that will hit the guys who are fighting for the championship.

"I'm not a person who looks too much into the past, quite honestly, so forgive me if that's not in myself. I would rather look forward and have slightly better races than I have in the past two races, which were a bit out of my control."

Opinion is divided on Schumacher. Some shake their heads and point to an uncompetitive car, while the reduction in front tyre width this season does not suit his style.

If Tiger Woods looked a slightly diminished golfer after five months away, what does three years' absence from the rapidly evolving world of Formula One do to a driver?

Others are convinced he will get it back, that he will win races, if not the title.

Importantly, there is a ruthlessness about his driving that cannot countenance long-term failure. When his eyes glinted with mischief yesterday it was a reminder of Bernard Shaw's observation that every man over 40 is a scoundrel.

Schumacher, though, was able to claim some precocity in that regard, as a previous generation of drivers would ruefully confirm.

Guardian Service