Schuey’s Gain, Rosberg’s Pain

You have to feel sorry for Nico Rosberg. A while ago he signed up to drive for the new Mercedes (nee Brawn) Grand Prix team, expecting to be racing alongside the new world champion Jenson Button.

Then Button decided that he was going to McLaren instead to partner Lewis Hamilton and the rumours were that Nick Heidfeld would get the second Mercedes seat.

Rosberg - hopes dashed?

Rosberg must have felt quite pleased. There he was, driving for the world championship-winning team and confident that he could hold his own easily against the likes of Heidfeld, and that he would have given Button a good run for his money as well.

Then the bombshell was dropped that seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher would be his new team-mate instead. Any hopes young Rosberg had of challenging for the world title this year must have disappeared overnight.

The media and the F1 world immediately went into a state of frenzy over the news of the German’s return and all attention will be focussed on him at the first race of the year in Bahrain on 14 March. And it won’t just be the media’s attention either. Schumacher always had a close working relationship with Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn during his Ferrari days and even before that, when the pair were at Benetton. Brawn has already gone on record as stating that he thinks Schumacher will win the championship this year, which shows which one of his drivers he is backing.

Guess who's back - back again, Schuey's back etc. etc.

Schumacher is not known for favouring equal status within a team either. He likes, even demands, to be number one and to have the main resources of the team focussed on him, with first call on the latest pieces of equipment. Which means that Rosberg must realise he is going to play second fiddle all season.

Schumacher has already requested that the numbers on the cars be reversed – Rosberg is entered as No. 3 and Schumacher as No. 4 at the moment – but the former champion claims that he prefers to race with an odd, rather than an even, number. Nothing to do with apparent status within the team then?

It must be galling for Rosberg because after years struggling with variable cars at Williams, he finally has the chance to really prove himself this year in what should be one of the most competitive cars on the grid, but you get the impression he’s going to have one hand tied behind his back from the outset.

I would have been quite happy to see Schumacher remain in retirement, and I suspect Rosberg may well feel the same.