Schumacher to race for Mercedes in 2010

German firm welcome back their former 'apprentice'

After weeks of speculation Mercedes confirmed on Wednesday that Michael Schumacher will make a comeback to race for the team next season alongside fellow German Nico Rosberg.

Schumacher, who retired at the end of 2006, has signed a deal that will see him return to the Formula One grid at the age of 41, bidding to add to his record tally of 91 wins and seven world titles.

It follows a planned comeback earlier this year for Ferrari - the team with which he won his last five drivers’ championships - to replace the injured Felipe Massa. Those plans had to be abandoned because of a neck injury from a motorbike accident.

Now fully fit, Schumacher will revive his relationship with Mercedes, a company with whom he had close ties earlier in his career. The German carmaker recently purchased the 2009 title-winning Brawn GP team, retaining team principal Ross Brawn, who previously helped lead Schumacher to title glory at Benetton and Ferrari.

"Mercedes GP Petronas represents a new challenge for me both in a sporting and a personal context,” said Schumacher. “It is a new chapter in my racing career and I am really looking forward to working with my old friend Ross Brawn and my companions from my days with the Mercedes Junior Programme.

“I am convinced that together we will be involved in the fight for the Formula One World Championship next year and I am already looking forward to getting back onto the race track. For me, this partnership closes the circle. Mercedes supported me for so many years when I began my Formula One career and now I can hopefully give something back to the brand with the star."

Ross Brawn commented: "I am delighted that we can confirm today that Michael will make his much-anticipated return to Formula One next year and drive for our Mercedes GP Petronas team. As seven-time world champion, Michael's outstanding record in Formula One speaks for itself and I am looking forward to working with him again.

“With the completion of our driver line-up, I believe that we now have the most exciting partnership in Formula One with Michael and Nico, who provide the perfect mix of talent, experience, speed and youth. We can now turn our full attention to the preparations for the new season and everyone at Mercedes GP Petronas is extremely excited about the challenge ahead.”

Explaining Schumacher’s previous Mercedes relationship, Norbert Haug, Vice-President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsports, added: "In April 1991, when I had been in charge of the Mercedes-Benz Motorsport programme for just six months, Michael was standing beside me on the balcony one evening. Without the slightest doubt, he said in a low voice: ‘It's about time that I got into Formula One’. Michael had just turned 22 years of age and four months later, he made his debut at Spa in a Jordan. Mercedes-Benz helped him to this point and the rest is history: seven world championship titles, more than any racing driver, 91 Grand Prix wins, more than any racing driver. Michael has more of everything than every other driver.

“As part of the Mercedes Junior Programme, Michael had raced in Group C sports cars and competed in a few DTM races. Ross Brawn, then our opponent at Jaguar, quickly realised Michael's talent and they went on to win all seven of his drivers' world championship titles together at Benetton and Ferrari. Our sporting ambition has always been that Michael should drive again where his professional career had started and Michael knew that. We often joked about it after the races and discussed the prospect seriously several times during the last 14 years in Formula One. It didn't happen in 1995, it didn't happen in 1998 and it didn't happen in 2005. I am delighted that it will now happen in 2010. I am very much looking forward to working with Michael and everybody at Mercedes-Benz and Daimler extends a very warm welcome to our 'apprentice' of 19 years ago. That apprentice is now the most successful racing driver of all time."

Top 10 Worst Car Names

At Cars.com, we spend a lot of time discussing how a car handles, what it looks like or how it performs in crash tests, among other things. Sometimes, however, our very first impression of a car comes from its name — and the impression isn't always a good one. Below are 10 vehicles from the past 30 years with names so awful and awkward that we're sometimes surprised consumers gave them a shot. Keep in mind this list is based solely on the car's name and has absolutely nothing to do with the car's actual merits.

10. The Entire Lincoln Lineup

2010 Lincoln MKZ

Lincoln is a brand with a considerable history, and we know they know how to give cars strong iconic names such as Continental or Navigator. Somewhere around 2007, many of those easy-to-remember names went out the window, leaving consumers with a hodgepodge of names starting with "MK." That's a shame because Lincoln has a strong lineup right now. What's the difference between the MKZ, MKX and MKS? Gimme a second to look it up because I honestly can't remember which is which.

9. Hyundai Equus

2011 Hyundai Equus

The inclusion of the Equus might be premature considering it's not even on sale yet, but this could be the push Hyundai needs to give the car a proper name before it's released. Companies occasionally give Latin names to products to make them sound sophisticated or fancy, but Equus just makes us think of the Broadway play of the same name — most recently starring Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame.

8. Toyota Yaris

2010 Toyota Yaris

There was a girl in my dorm freshman year who organized her shoes alphabetically by mood. She majored in dead languages and responded to every single question with "no worries." She once set the dorm microwave on fire by overcooking a ham-and-cheese Hot Pocket. Yes, that story is ridiculous and nonsensical ... sort of like naming a car Yaris.

7. Kia Forte Koup

2010 Kia Forte Koup

As writers, we're particularly offended when companies take liberties with the English language in an effort to be cutesy — and this is no exception. We actually like this car! But Kia is asking us to overlook years of schooling and experience to accept their quirky spelling of coupe. It might require a few sessions with a therapist before we can get to that happy place.

6. Subaru B9 Tribeca

2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca

Here we've got a family crossover named after a fashionable neighborhood in lower Manhattan and ... a World War II bomber? Consumers didn't understand the B9 moniker either; that part of the name got the ax when Subaru redesigned the SUV for the 2008 model year.

5. Volkswagen Touareg

2007 Volkswagen Touareg

A few Volkswagens could've made this list, but the Touareg was easily the name that tripped up our American mouths the most. Early Touareg commercials in the U.S. even depicted people struggling to say the name. When an automaker has to spend precious time and ad dollars helping consumers learn to pronounce the car's name — something is wrong.

4. Ford Probe

1993 Ford Probe

There are many borderline inappropriate jokes you could make about a 1990s sport compact named Probe, but we're far too classy for that. Even if you don't take into account the tasteless jokes, this is just a bad car name. There is nothing cool about a probe (the word, not the car). What thesaurus was Ford using where probe was synonymous with sleek and sporty?

3. Subaru Brat

1982 Subaru Brat

Although Brat is technically an acronym — it stands for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter — it's a particularly unfortunate one. "Brat" is almost never used to describe something positively. A brat is not a calm, confident driver who knows what he wants and how to get it. A brat is busy throwing a hissy fit in the corner because his mom won't let him borrow the car to go buy the new Styx album.

2. Isuzu VehiCROSS

2000 Isuzu VehiCROSS

Isuzu deserves a little credit for creating an attention-grabbing crossover before it was even a recognized vehicle segment, but the name practically beats consumers over the head with the idea (think SUV plus a cross-training sneaker). Add to that the unnecessary capitalization and the fact that VehiCROSS is a mouthful, and you have one bad name.

1. Ford Aspire

1997 Ford Aspire

It's pretty safe to say that many drivers' dream cars fall under the category of sports car or luxury auto; few children hope to one day spend their commuting hours behind the wheel of a 63-horsepower subcompact hatchback. When Ford slapped the Aspire name on the back of this car, they were basically saying: "Yeah, even our car knows you wish you were driving something cooler."