Michael Schumacher finishes disappointing Formula One season

It’s not what Formula One expected.

When seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher announced last year that he would come out of retirement and again drive in the international racing series, it seemed the ingredients were in place for the German to be a threat yet again.

Schumacher, who had retired after the 2006 season and was now 41, would drive for automotive giant Mercedes and again be teamed with Ross Brawn, Schumacher’s technical director when he was winning his championships, including five at Ferrari.

But as Formula One’s season ended last weekend with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Schumacher had become more footnote than formidable driver as 23-year-old Sebastian Vettel of the Red Bull team won the race to become the youngest champion in F1 history.

Vettel prevailed over three other drivers with a shot at the season championship: two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton of the McLaren-Mercedes team, who had been the youngest champion when he won the title in 2008.

Schumacher, in contrast, finished a mediocre ninth in the standings for the season with 72 championship points compared with 256 amassed by Vettel.

Schumacher’s Mercedes teammate, 25-year-old Nico Rosberg, earned 142 points, or nearly twice as many as Schumacher, and finished seventh in the standings.

Abu Dhabi was illustrative of Schumacher’s difficult season, as his car spun on the first lap and then was slammed by the car of Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi, which narrowly missed Schumacher’s head. Neither driver was injured.

Yet despite months of speculation that Schumacher’s struggles might prompt him to pull out of his three-year contract with Mercedes and retire again, Schumacher said he plans to return in 2011.

“It’s a shame, obviously, as I would have liked to finish the season with a more positive ending, but I am already looking forward to fighting again next year,” he told reporters after the Abu Dhabi race.

Schumacher’s best finish this season was fourth, which he accomplished three times — in Spain, Turkey and South Korea. But he seldom was in contention and finished ninth or worse in 12 races.

Brawn and others have said Schumacher’s main problem was adjusting to the 2010 design of Formula One cars and the Bridgestone tires they used, and that he should improve next season when the sport moves to Pirelli tires.

“Next year we expect the Pirelli tires will work better for Michael’s driving style,” Brawn said a few weeks ago. “In 2011 all drivers start from zero [with the new tires] so any disadvantage Michael might have will disappear.”

Brawn last year headed his own team, Brawn GP, which won the championship with Jenson Button. After Button moved to McLaren, Mercedes took over the team and renamed it Mercedes GP with Brawn remaining as one of its principals.

“I predict that in 2011 we will again see the true Michael, when we’ve delivered him a better car,” Brawn said.

Others agree, including NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Burton. Asked recently which driver he most admired outside of stock-car racing, Burton picked Schumacher.

“I think he’ll be better next year, assuming he comes back,” Burton told SBNation.com. “He brings every bit of himself when he comes to the racetrack ... a tremendous amount of effort. From a driving standpoint, he’s incredible.”

james.peltz@latimes.com