Manager rules out Schumacher return
Michael Schumacher's manager Willi Weber has moved quickly to deny speculation that the German driver could make a shock return to Formula 1
With Ferrari set to begin its hunt for a temporary replacement for the injured Felipe Massa, Schumacher's name has been mentioned because of his long-standing links to the Italian team.
The rumours intensified after his spokeswoman said that he would 'consider' any offer to drive the car if the team approached him.
However, following meetings between Schumacher and Weber at the seven-time world champion's Geneva home on Monday, talk of the German making a racing comeback has been dismissed.
Weber told The Daily Mail: "Whoever sits in the car at the next race in Valencia, it will not be Michael Schumacher. I am not 100 per cent sure; I am 200 per cent sure.
"The pressure on him would be huge. He would be expected to win, but he has not driven this car. When Michael was racing he would get as close to perfection as possible. In this case, it would not be perfection; it would be a gamble - and that's not Michael's style."
The news about Schumacher comes on the back of encouraging progress with Massa's recovery at the AEK Hospital in Budapest.
The Brazilian's personal doctor Dino Altmann said on Tuesday that he was hopeful Massa's eye had not suffered any damage in the crash - as had been initially feared.
"Felipe has opened his left eye and he can see," Altmann told ANSA. "There's no apparent damage. The eye is morphologically healthy."
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali visited Massa in hospital on Tuesday and was upbeat about how the driver was.
"He has recognised me and told me he can't remember anything," he said. "Felipe is making encouraging progress so we look forward to his return soon. The future? We'll try to understand how he reacts, then we'll take our decisions."
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