Neck injury prevents Michael Schumacher’s return to F1

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It’s over before it’s even begun. Michael Schumacher, seven-time world champion and former Ferrari Formula One driver, will not be taking the injured Felipe Massa’s seat for this weekend’s European Grand Prix.

Schumacher, who had been spending his retirement racing motorcycles, crashed during a race in February, injuring his neck.

During testing in a 2-year-old Ferrari Formula One car (the sport has a testing ban in order to keep costs down), Schumacher said he was experiencing some pain in his neck. After medical examinations, it appears that Schumacher’s neck is in no shape to handle the rigorous G-forces that drivers are subjected to during a Grand Prix.

Luca Badoer, Ferrari’s test driver, will be taking Felipe Massa’s seat in Valencia next weekend, August 21-23 instead.

Naturally, this is a huge disappointment to Ferrari fans worldwide, and we just have to ask: Couldn’t Schumacher just have played shuffleboard or bingo like a normal retired person?

-- J. Mark Sternberg

FOR THE RECORD: The original post referred to the Valencia race as ‘this weekend,’ but has since been corrected to read: ‘’next weekend, August 21-23.’