Schumacher Quits Advising Duties with Ferrari

Michael Schumacher will not be advising the Italian marque's Formula One team any more, as shown in a report by Spanish newspaper Diario AS. Although the German driver signed an extension with Ferrari through 2012, it seems the former 7-time world champion will use all his experience with the company's road car department from 2010 onwards.

We're now sure if this is a consequence of Fernando Alonso's come into town, but the aforementioned publication claims Schu will no longer be involved in decision making at the Ferrari pit wall.

However, this doesn't mean the 40-year old German will scrap Formula One action from his daily schedule completely, as he is expected to appear during some Grands Prix throughout the 2010 season. In addition, Ferrari's CEO Luca di Montezemolo is allegedly pushing to secure Schu a 3rd car next year.

In order to do that, however, the Italian official will have to get the approval of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), which seems highly unlikely at the moment. Frank Williams made it very clear that he would make use of his veto right to oppose such an idea, as he feels this would only enlarge the gap between F1's big guns and the independent teams.

Schumacher himself did not reject the prospect of one day making a Formula One return – after being so close to do it midway through the 2009 season – and will continue to train just in case that would be possible.