After Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have both expressed their excitement over getting to race the 7-time world champion in the near future, Niki Lauda also came to praise Schu's return to the series. In addition, the Austrian champion – who won some 3 titles of his own in F1 – argued Bernie Ecclestone should pay Schu a considerable amount of money for bringing back the excitement into F1.
As the political dispute between the FIA and the teams' alliance (FOTA) has pushed many of the F1 fans away from the sport, the 40-year old German's return has already raised a huge amount of interest within the F1 community. Regardless of how Schumacher will perform, Lauda thinks he should be awarded a prize for his decision.
“The return of Michael Schumacher is such a massive sensation that Bernie Ecclestone should pay him half his wages. Has there ever been anything more exciting in motor racing?” rhetorically asked Lauda in an interview with the Daily Mail.
“I am not saying that Michael will win because that depends on the speed of the car. But I have absolutely no doubts about his ability to perform as well as ever. After all the politics, the return of Michael Schumacher is the best thing for him, Ferrari and Formula One. Watch him get in and go,” added the Austrian.
Lauda also insisted that Kimi Raikkonen will now have to up his game, as he'll be teammate of Schumacher for the first time in career. Being outscored by a man who hasn't competed professionally on an F1 machinery in almost 3 years is not something he'd want written on his resume, argued the 3-time F1 champion.
“The most interesting thing will be to see him up against Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari - who will be faster? Put it this way: Kimi has to get his act together or be shown up,” added the 60-year old.
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