No neck trouble as Schumacher takes no.3 for 2010

Michael Schumacher has confirmed there is no sign of the injuries that thwarted his return to F1 last year.

In the wake of Felipe Massa’s Budapest crash, the 41-year-old German had to call off his agreed return for Ferrari due to the effects of a motorcycle testing crash early last year.

Schumacher, who is returning full-time with Mercedes GP in 2010, tested for three days in a GP2 car last week and announced on Wednesday that he is in perfect health.

“The after-effects of that accident are gone since long, that’s why I was sure that the neck would not cause any problems,” he said in an interview with his official website.

Schumacher admits that the final hurdle will be the lifting of F1’s winter test ban in on 1 February, when he will get at the wheel of the 2010 car.

“Only then the old feeling will be completely back.  I can’t wait to be back there,” he added.

A spokeswoman for the Brackley based team, meanwhile, confirmed that Schumacher’s request to take the higher race number (3) from his teammate Nico Rosberg has been granted.

“Michael has a preference for odd numbers,” she said, also revealing that the FIA has already approved the switch.  “He asked if he could be the odd number and we were happy to accept.”

© RIF|GMM