Life begins at 40

Or at least it resumes for a Mr Schumacher from Germany, when he steps into a Ferrari in Valencia ready to take on the young guns.

When Felipe Massa had his accident on Saturday, I knew that there would be calls for Schumacher to pick up his helmet again. I didn't think he'd do it though, what has he got to prove? He's already the most successful driver of all time with a clutch of records which may never be broken.

For me it seemed likely that Fernando Alonso would step into the cockpit of Number 3 Ferrari in the next race as it has been widely predicted that he has a deal done for next year anyway. It made sense for him to move now when his second home race is coming up and Renault have been banned.

What I didn't gamble on was that Schumacher still loves driving F1 cars, he was pushed out of Ferrari by the incoming Raikonnen in 2006 before he had really made up his mind. He wants a chance to race the new machines fitted with slicks and KERS and see whether he is still the fastest out there. For these reasons, we'll see the Red Crash Helmet in a Red Car in three weeks time.

What do I expect to happen? I think he will be fast, maybe not as fast at first as he once was. When Mansell came back from the States in 1994 he was bested by Damon Hill in France in an identical Williams, and Mansell was a much better driver, but by years end Mansell was faster again.

So within a race or two Schumacher will be very fast again. Will he be faster than Raikonnen? I think so. In fact I think this could ruin Raikonnen's chances of retaining a Ferrari seat next year. Kimi is being paid vast amounts of money and hasn't shown the raw speed we expect from him, and I expect Schumi to be faster.

It will be fascinating to see a Schumi vs Hamilton battle on track, they have never faced each other and now both cars are heading towards the front of the grid it is a mouth watering prospect to see how they match up. We were deprived of the old vs new in the Senna vs Schumacher duel in 1994 when Senna was tragically killed, but we may see the next generation duel happen in a couple of races this year.

What of next year? I expect Raikonnen to be gone, maybe to World Rally. If Massa is fit again Schumacher will go back to being a put lane advisor. But what if Massa is unable to race next year too, would it be possible to see Schumi do one last full season alongside Alonso? Now that would be spectacular!

Squiffy.