Schumi lucky to have missed the F60

Felipe Massa has conceded that Michael Schumacher was "lucky" not have raced last year's F60 as the car "was not so quick" as what the German would have wanted.

Last season when Massa was sidelined for the latter of the Championship after his Hungarian qualifying accident, the Scuderia turned to Ferrari legend and seven-time World Champion Schumacher.

However, the German's comeback came to an abrupt end with news that he had not sufficiently healed from a neck injury of his own.

And although many Ferrari and F1 fans were disappointed, Massa reckons it was probably a good thing for Schumacher.

"I was not sure it was the right time for Michael, because our car was not so quick as he'd had in the past," the Brazilian told the Independent newspaper.

He added: "I think he was lucky."

A few months later, though, Mercedes GP announced that Schumacher would be back on the grid in 2010 having signed a three-year contract with the German team.

One driver who believes the 41-year-old still has what it takes is his former team-mate Massa.

"He has an incredible talent to analyse, and I watched him very carefully. He was the complete driver; aggressive, quick, consistent. He also had a lot of luck. When you're good, you have luck. And he was a good team-mate.

"It will be a nice experience to race against him again, because he is a great driver, one of maybe four or five great drivers out there."

'Schumi lucky to have missed the F60' - Planet-F1 News from planet-f1.com