F1: Massa recovers as Schumacher returns

There's no doubt, Ferrari need some good news. For the first half of this season, they have been off the pace despite a rapid development programme and considerable efforts from their drivers. Then Massa's horrible crash and the serious injuries caused to him quietened the whole pit lane but subdued Ferrari, already miserable, still further.

And so whilst the cars may not get pole position, the news that Michael Schumacher will return after three years away from the sport will ensure massive media coverage.

But whether his return is good news will depend on a number of factors: in theory Schumacher has not been allowed to drive this year's car since the season started. In-season testing is banned. This means that Schumacher has no experience of KERS nor of driving this year's car with its new aerodynamics and slick tyres.

But video footage broadcast on several news media this morning showed a Ferrari taking to the track from the garage. None of them carried a note saying the film was library footage. So is Schumacher taking a car out?

Another factor is that, after three years away, Schumacher is heavier than he was when he last raced and he is not race fit. For sure, he is fitter than the vast majority of the planet's population but whether he is as fit as other drivers in Formula One has to be open to doubt. That's not a criticism: it's a statement of fact based on the fact that the forced involved in driving a Formula One car are far beyond that in almost anything except flying a jet fighter. First to suffer will be his neck which is clearly not as thick, relative to his head, as it was when he last raced.

There is no getting away from Schumacher's competitiveness: in a recent series of interviews with the terminally dimwitted and puke-inducingly self-promoting Sanjeev Palar from Star Sports he was visibly irritated by the pathetic questioning including - incredibly - "how did that make you feel" about his first World Championship.

Massa's personal doctor, Dino Altmann, has said that Massa will not race again this year but that his career is "far from over." "The improvements have gone beyond our wildest expectations," Altmann said. He was responding to the news that Massa had taken a few steps yesterday. However, as he prepares to fly to Paris for more treatment, Massa is aware that there is damage to his left eye from the impact with the spring that bounced into his helmet during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The issue, it appears, is not whether Massa will be blinded - that's already known not to be the case - but whether the damage may affect his ability to gauge depth - approaching corners and other cars at high speeds requires the ability to judge distances immaculately.

Perhaps happiest to see Schumacher return will be Lewis Hamilton: the McLaren and Ferrari cars are evenly matched this year and have similar specifications. Hamilton has said that his only regret in Formula One is that he did not get to race against Schumacher who, Hamilton says, "baled" the year before Hamilton arrived.