Schumacher, who announced that he will not be able to race for Ferrari where he said "I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans which crossed fingers for me. I can only repeat that I tried everything that was within my power. All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races."
For that, it is now up to Badoer, the team’s test driver who had a stint with Minardi 10 years ago to take up the responsibilities. According to Luca di Montezemolo, the president of the team, "I am very unhappy that a problem means that Michael cannot return to racing. In the past few days, I could appreciate his great efforts and extraordinary motivation which had spread through the team and fans around the world. No doubt his return would have been good for Formula 1 and I am sure it would have seen him fighting for wins again. In the name of Ferrari and all the fans, I wish to thank him for the strong attachment he displayed for the team in these circumstances.
So it is now official as well, with Schumacher out and will not be racing, it is Luca Badoer to race alongside Kimi Raikkonen. Montezemolo said "In agreement with Stefano Domenicali, we have therefore decided to give Luca Badoer the chance to race for the Scuderia after he has put in so many years of hard work as a test driver."