In other words, Schumi has not driven in F1 since the end of the 2006 season, he does not know the Valencia track, which he intends to make his comeback, thanks to the F1 rules he is not aloud to test, and he has to make sure his neck is up to it since he injured it not too long ago racing motorcycles.

Add to that the fact that the current Ferrari is not very competitive, and the prospects of seeing Schumi on the top podium again are probably not very likely.

Having said that, this is a huge opportunity for Schumi, and his personal statistics.

To date, Schumi has won 91 races in 250 starts. That ratio will unfortunately be hurt since winning should be more difficult than in previous years, but one more race victory would give him the exact total that both Alain Prost AND Ayrton Senna won. Imagine that: Senna + Prost = Schumi.

Plus, he can take a couple steps closer to 100 victories, something I always wished he would have done, and that I think he would have done by now had he not retired (just think of the races Massa and Kimi won since Schumi's retirement. They would have been almost all Schumi's had he not retired, not to mention an extra championship or two).

So, maybe we shouldn't get too excited about Schumi's prospects. Maybe this is an encore final lap, giving fans who didn't get a chance to see him race in person before he retired a second chance.

What ever the case, though, it should help F1 and it should also rejuvenate the Ferrari team, which is in desperate need of positive change.