Michael Schumacher is returning to F1 for personal than professional reasons. For, professionally, he has achieved what no other man has, in F1. So what could have brought Michael back in a F1 car?

Michael Schumacher hates losing. In 1994...he clashed with Damon Hill at the last GP of the season at Adelaide... In 1997, he collided with Jacques Villeneuve again in the last GP Jerez, this time though he was on the losing side. Schumacher rides to win and like a true winner, he hates to lose... rather even if he loses once, the next time he has to win.

While he managed to outclass names like Mika Hakkinen, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Kimi Raikkonen, Juan Pablo Montoya and his brother Ralf, there is one driver who not only beat the German methodically and mercilessly but also managed to spoil his retirement. Alonso's back-to-back wins with a relatively weaker team like Renault in the presence of the might of Schumacher and Ferrari must have hurt the seven-time world champion the most. For someone like Michael, ending his glorious career with two successive losses must have been humiliating to say the least.

Never before had Michael tested such defeats after he began his spectacular rise in 1994. He won the 1994 and 1995 championships before moving to Ferrari. When he moved from Benetton to Ferrari in 1996, the Italian team was in a big mess. Therefore, it was not surprising that Michael didn't win the championship for the first four years. Nevertheless, he came within a hair's breadth of winning the crown in 1997 and 1998. In 1999, he broke his leg and was therefore out of the championship. As a result, even in the developing Ferrari, Michael was able to stamp his own class.

From 2000 onwards, there was no stopping his juggernaut. No one was able to dislodge him for five years from the throne. Michael had become invincible. It was assumed that the only person who could stop him from winning more championships was Michael himself by retiring from the sport.

Then came a big shock in 2005. A young Spaniard by the name Fernando Alonso upset the applecart and put a leash on the prancing horse. With Flavio Briatore as his mentor, Alonso shattered the aura of invincibility that surrounded Schumacher.

Not one to give up, and that too to an upstart like Alonso in a small budget team like Renault, Schumacher must have earmarked 2006 to teach his younger rival some driving lessons. Instead, 2006 was a bigger shock as Alonso, Briatore and Renault proved that their performance in 2005 wasn't a flash in the pan and that they had the talent and wherewithal to beat the most powerful driver-manufacturer combination in F1 history.

Michael announced retirement after two straight defeats to the same team and same driver. He didn't get any chance to get the better of Alonso, the way he had done with other equally talented rivals till then.

Schumacher may have been waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on Alonso. This year, Alonso would be driving a Ferrari and Schumacher would be desperate to give Alonso a taste of his own medicine.

Meanwhile, Ferrari boss Stefano Dominecali has predicted Alonso would beat Schumacher. The battle lines have already been drawn. It woudl be interesting to hear what Michael has to say about Alonso.