The Observer

I nearly choked on my coffee earlier this week - twice. On the first occasion, I'd just opened autosport.com and saw the headline 'Raikkonen may get Schumacher's help'.

Yes, of course he will, I thought as I mopped up the spilt coffee on my keyboard. A seven-time world champion - who spent the last four years of his career competing directly against the man who has replaced him, who it seems was pushed into a decision to retire and wasn't exactly delighted by the prospect of Kimi's arrival, who was hardly known for his professional benevolence to teammates during his career - is going to make a concerted effort in retirement to help Raikkonen and Ferrari get the most out of each other.

Schuey's new 'advisory role' at his old team is suitably woolly. And in reality, what can Michael actually do to help the new partnership gel?

I do have some sympathy with Jean Todt's view, or at least what I perceive he is getting at. The quotes that were taken from an Italian newspaper interview hint strongly that Schumacher has benefited greatly from Ferrari's excellence over the years and now it is his duty to put something back.

Fair enough. Schumacher's incredible success wasn't achieved single-handed. But is this really the best way for him to serve Ferrari in his retirement?

Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher in the post-race press conference of the Italian Grand Prix © LAT

And if Michael does agree to get 'hands on' within the race team structure, what would his presence achieve? In such a scenario, it would be very understandable if Raikkonen felt undermined. As a top-line driver and the confident man he clearly is, Kimi would surely baulk at any intervention or offer of advice from Schuey.

The long shadow of the greatest driver of his generation already hangs over this team, and will do so until Raikkonen wins a world title. Kimi will want to create as much distance from Schumacher as possible - both physically and metaphysically.

Of course, what really intrigues us every time Todt speaks about Raikkonen is how he will manage him. The failure of McLaren's relationship with this tricky character (who likes a drink, etc.) has been a personal disappointment to Ron Dennis. But will Todt have more success?

Ferrari have been used to the puritan-like Schumacher. Kimi isn't necessarily less intense or less hungry than Schuey, but Todt will have to adapt his man-management skills. Will he be willing to do so or will he take a hard-line approach and risk alienating Kimi?

Todt is the best in the business when it comes to management. His record with teams and drivers in rallying, sportscar racing and F1 says it all. But the size of his latest challenge - to keep Ferrari winning in a new era and build a strong relationship with Raikkonen - should not be underestimated. And I'd be surprised if he's relying on Schumacher's help to succeed.

The second time I nearly choked this week was when we heard the news about the McLaren share sale. A very different story to the one about Ferrari and Kimi - but just as juicy!

Talk about Ron Dennis and his business partner Mansour Ojjeh selling off their shares has been on-going for ages, of course. But the general perception was that Mercedes' parent company, DaimlerChrysler, was the only likely buyer. Given that the automotive giant already owns 40 per cent, a gradual buy-out of all the shares made sense.

We'd got an inkling this week that something could be happening involving a sale to a Bahrain group, so it didn't take us completely by surprise. But I must admit we were not expecting a statement being posted on the team website.

To recap: once the deal has been cleared by competition regulators, Dennis and Ojjeh plan to each sell 15 per cent of their shares to a company owned by the kingdom of Bahrain called the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company.

That means DaimlerChrysler will hold 40 per cent, the Bahrain company 30 per cent, and Dennis and Ojjeh 15 per cent each. The current management structure will remain in place.

The news sheds new light on comments Dennis made during a McLaren media lunch before Christmas. I asked him whether there was a plan for Mercedes to take further equity in McLaren. This is what he said in reply:

Norbert Haug and Ron Dennis © LAT

"I don't know how many times we have discussed it. We certainly discussed it last year. Obviously when you have these discussions inevitably they get into groups of people, board members realise the sensitivities of the discussions so sometimes elements leak out.

"I have said at GPs and I'll say again. There are many opportunities that present themselves in our lives, as an individual and as a corporation.

"Any opportunity that presents itself to this group that can make it better, is completely supported by its management who are non-equity holders, I would embrace it.

"But I would never endorse and nor would Mansour, a simple exit strategy. What we would endorse is something that can grow the group. We have got some really exciting programmes outside of our F1 programme. There is a fierce ambition within the group to pursue those programmes.

"Of course, F1 is core and we will focus on that. But we have a lot of depth and we want to grow. And I don't aim this at Frank [Williams], I just look at history - F1 teams historically cannot survive when they are solely and exclusively an F1 team."

Added to that, McLaren's chief operating officer Martin Whitmarsh told my colleague Steve Cooper on Monday that the company was now debt-free following the move to the McLaren Technology Centre. This had been a thorny subject that has aggravated Dennis for the past year.

Before Christmas, Dennis proudly stated: "I can tell you our prediction on being debt-free on February 10 was wrong - we will be debt free on January 28. It is a target. We are virtually debt-free today.

"We will have positive bank balances dipping and rising throughout the year. Our profitability we target to be greater this year than last, greater the year after. We have never been as commercially healthy in the entire history of the group. That's a fact."

So Dennis has beaten his January 28 deadline and has seemingly strengthened the financial status of the group through this new deal, while maintaining his approach of a 'gradual' retirement.

Martin Whitmarsh, Dr. Werner Hubert, and Ron Dennis © XPB/LAT

But why hasn't DaimlerChrysler bought the shares? Were they even offered to the car giant? What will be the fall-out of this announcement? In fact, has there been a literal fall-out between the partners?

As with the questions surrounding Kimi at Ferrari, time will tell. McLaren will not comment on the situation until the deal goes through, so all I can do is add fuel to the speculation!

If the Bahrain deal is a snub to DaimlerChrysler, it could have all sorts of ramifications. And if a schism does grow between McLaren and Mercedes, what effect will that have on Fernando Alonso this year?

What does seem certain is that the announcement this week will mark a significant milestone in the history of McLaren.

Now all I need to do is to get through the rest of the week without spilling any more coffee.