Schumacher cancels break to test at Jerez

The Ferrari driver, who is tied at the top of the world championship standings with Fernando Alonso, had originally been set to skip next week's pre-Brazilian GP test at Jerez.

But with the title fight being so close, and even though he is retiring at the end of the year, Schumacher has demanded that he be drafted in for the run.

Instead of staying for the annual post-race Log Cabin party, Schumacher will now fly out of Japan on Sunday and test in Spain on Wednesday and Thursday.

Ferrari are planning to evaluate new aerodynamic components, make their tyre choice for Brazil and evaluate the duty cycle of the engine that only has to last the Interlagos event.

"There are one or two things we want to try in Jerez before we make the tyre selection for Brazil," said technical director Ross Brawn. "The engine will be following a representative duty cycle to make sure we get a check for Brazil."

The only circumstance that could force a late change of plan would be if Schumacher won the drivers' championship here at Suzuka, but even then Ferrari would still be locked in a fight with Renault for the constructors' title.