Thought Schuey had
lost his edge?

HE MAY HAVE been absent from the podium since his comeback, but Michael Schumacher's move on Rubens Barrichello in Hungary showed that the old master has lost none of the controversial instincts of his glory years. Whatever your view, that ruthless streak remains - even though he lacks the car to partner his personality. But it must be curious for a man of his achievements to be constantly answering questions about the merits of his return and whether he will see it through. We're now happy to report that he will see out his three-year contract with Mercedes: "There's no question about that," he told F1 Racing in an exclusive interview. "I love challenges, and this will be my last big one."

While we were at it, we asked some of the sport's biggest names what they thought about Schuey's return, and their straight-talking views follow Michael's on page 64. Prepare yourself for the opinions of Bernie Ecclestone, Jenson Button, Jackie Stewart and a very angry Gerhard Berger, among others.

There's plenty more in the issue - not least our comprehensive mid-season report (p47), where David Coulthard, Mike Gascoyne and Pat Symonds rate every team and driver as F1 takes its customary summer break (and we do mean every driver, Sakon Yamamoto fans). We've also followed Vitaly Petrov on his first exhausting trip back to Moscow since the season began (p82), learned about F1 drivers' homework from Rubens Barrichello (p58) and discovered how Lewis trains for races (p80).

Finally, keep sending your comments about our new look to letters.f1racing@haymarket.com

HANS SEEBERG
EDITOR