Schumacher ready for 2010 return, completes test

After waiting 24 hours due to rainy weather, Michael Schumacher completed his final day of testing in a special GP2 race car. The seven-time Formula One World Champion covered 715 miles in total for all three days, with 350 of them on Thursday at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

Michael Schumacher tests a GP2 car.

Photo by GP2 media service.

The German was testing the GP2 series development single-seater after being out of the cockpit for over three seasons, and proved he was ready to return to a Formula 1 car on the final day, by running most of the time on dry slick tires.

Schumacher himself was delighted about the test, and did not fail to express his joy about it. "I could really drive a lot on this last day of testing and it worked out perfectly."

The "new" driver for the Mercedes GP team said, "I am very happy with the way testing went here: we worked well, times and consistency went well, we could do everything we had scheduled to do. I feel fit, I felt comfortable immediately back in the car - hey, let's go for it!"

The former champion did not let a slightly recurring sore neck damaged his chances either, which began last year during an accident in a motorcycle event in Germany.

"There is some minor muscular strain, but it's completely normal," said Schumacher. "There will be an acclimatisation phase when I sit in the real [F1] car at the beginning of February. In the past I have never managed to be able to train the muscles in the neck so that you feel nothing at all."

The German wore his famous red helmet with a Mercedes emblem on it, but in a few weeks, he will unveil his new helmet livery, designed by the German helmet manufacturer Schuberth, whose headquarters are in Brunswick, Germany.

Schumacher now can prepare for his return to Spain but this time it will be on the circuit in Valencia for the start of the 2010 pre-season F1 testing (February 1-3).