Schumacher back in the hunt as Button and Hamilton impress

HE'S back. Michael Schumacher is in a car that just might allow him to add to his extraordinary career tally of grand prix wins.

HE'S back. For the first time since returning to the sport he once dominated, Michael Schumacher is behind the wheel of a car that just might allow him to add to his extraordinary career tally of grand prix wins.

The Formula One season at this stage is as unpredictable as the Melbourne weather, which yesterday dumped and shone intermittently on the world's fastest drivers, playing havoc with their preparations for tomorrow's race.

Yet through it all, Schumacher's return to competitive pace was one of the few constants.

At the age of 43, he ran within a second of fellow world champions Jensen Button and Lewis Hamilton in the day's first practice session, then finished the second practice with the fastest lap time to his name.

The final results of the rain-marred second practice session made for curious reading, with both Saubers and Force India cars -- usually laggards -- posting times in the top six.

Yet the prospects for the seven-time world champion and his Mercedes team have been growing throughout the cold weeks of winter testing in Europe. Schumacher is now the talk of the paddock.

Mercedes boss Ross Brawn yesterday added to the buzz around his team's prospects, saying whereas this time last year he was busy sorting out gremlins in the car, now they were set on pursuing the young German who idolised Schumacher as a kid: two-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. "All our resources are now being put into improving the performance of the car," he said.

The biggest distraction for all the teams was the torrential rain that swept over the Albert Park circuit one minute, only to be replaced by spotted sunshine the next. Race day is, however, forecast to be sunny.

"After nine weeks of anxious waiting we get our first day like that," said Mark Webber.

Webber's Red Bull clocked the fifth fastest time in dry conditions earlier in the day and the 11th fastest in the second session, as more rain closed in. Fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo, in his first Australian Grand Prix, recorded the seventh fastest time.

The reluctance of the teams to expose their cars to a wet track made for strange scenes midway through the second practice session. Rarely have the streets of Albert Park felt so lonely, as the world's fastest drivers and their gleaming machines waited on the weather.

With an hour of qualifying to decide the grid positions, there will be no such hesitation today. And it should surprise no one if, at the end, Schumacher is within striking distance of a sixth Australian Grand Prix.