Quest Starts For Schumi's Sub.

The British Grand Prix weekend began with speculation surrounding the identity of Damon Hill's replacement, but ended with the same questions surrounding a stand-in for Michael Schumacher.


The German has been ruled out of as many as five grands prix following his accident at Silverstone yesterday, and, although an official announcement from Maranello is due on Tuesday, the rumour mill has naturally started to propose several substitutes.


Luca Badoer is the most obvious candidate, as he is Ferrari's current test driver and is gaining greater grand prix experience by driving for Minardi in the year's world championship. The Italian has not always been on the pace of the regular drivers in testing, however, and may find himself overlooked as a temporary stop-gap.


Unemployed stars Mika Salo and Jos Verstappen must also come into the frame, although neither has raced much since the end of last season. Of the two, Salo has the most experience of 1999 conditions, having raced for BAR earlier in the year, while Verstappen was thought to be on the verge of replacing Hill at Jordan for Silverstone.


Most interesting of the many suggestions is Jean Alesi, despite the fact that the Frenchman is currently under contract to Sauber. If the rumours are right, however, Alesi could find himself returning to Maranello for a handful of races in exchange for a cut-price engine deal for the Swiss team.


Even more fanciful is the suggestion that Hill himself could replace his old adversary, thereby finding the perfect swansong to a waning F1 career. If there is any truth in the story that Jordan considers the Englishman's days with it to be at an end, there would be no reason why he could not make the switch, but his revitalised performance at Silverstone yesterday [Sunday] is more likely to see him stay on where he is.


One driver extremely unlikely to be considered is F3000 series leader Nick Heidfeld. Even if Ferrari decided that the young German was the man for to see it through the crisis, it is unlikely that McLaren - which holds his contract - would agree to release him.


By some bizarre ironic twist, the weekly cartoon in Britain's Autosport magazine shows Schumacher pondering a list of possible replacements for team-mate Eddie Irvine. The German continues to eliminate possibilities until only former Ferrari favourite Nigel Mansell is left. Surely not.....