Prost: Schumi’s injury just an excuse

UPDATE Like we said, sour grapes on the part of Prost after getting destroyed by Senna and annihilated by Schumacher. According to reports in the British press, the injuries sustained by Michael Schumacher in a motorbike accident back in February were a lot more horrific than anyone was led to believe with the German legend’s personal doctor explaining just why he was unable to return to the Formula One cockpit in Valencia this weekend.

Speaking to the London Evening Standard, Doctor Johannes Peil explained the full extent of the head and neck injuries the seven time world champion endured.

"He had a serious injury to the seventh vertebra of the neck, a fracture of the first left rib and a fracture at the base of the skull, roughly the size of a thumbnail but in a place supporting the whole weight of the skull. There was also a hairline fracture on the left side of the skull," he explained, adding that there was one of the two main arteries to the German’s brain was also damaged.

However, despite this, he still believes that Schumacher could be fit enough to return to racing in 2010, especially if the injuries continue to heal as well as they have been

1990 Italian GP podium, Aryton Senna (C) celebrates yet another cleaning of Alain Prost's (L) clock

08/16/09 Alain Prost has suggested that Michael Schumacher’s decision to abandon his Formula One comeback was more to do with the damage he might do to his reputation, should he prove uncompetitive, than any physical injury to his neck.

“It is questionable whether he only called his comeback off because of health problems," Prost told the French newspaper Parisien.

“Perhaps, when he climbed back into the cockpit, he realized that there was an enormous task ahead of him. The body changes very fast when one stops driving, the reactions and awareness dull, [and] he has not driven an F1 car for three years, and had only three weeks of preparation [following Felipe Massa's injury]."

Schumacher’s entourage have rubbished the claims. Willi Webber, Schumacher’s manager said: “Unfortunately, I must disappoint Mr. Prost."

“Michael’s times in testing at Mugello suggested different – his decision to call off his return was due only to the neck problem. He can now continue to work on his fitness in peace, without the pressure to prove anything. Perhaps then we will see the times."

[Editor's Note: Just sour grapes on Prost's part. When Aryton Senna was his teammate Senna destroyed Prost and later Michael Schumacher destroyed any records Prost had set.]