Between 1994 and 2004, Michael Schumacher was the driver to beat, as he won seven F1 Driver’s Championships during that span. After retiring following the 2006 season, Schumacher took a cushy “Advisor” position with Ferrari. It was clear that racing was not out of Schumacher’s system yet and he returned in the 2010 season to race for Mercedes->ke187 GP. Schumacher never regained his form and endured very rough 2010, 2011, and, thus far, 2012 seasons.

Well, after finding out that Lewis Hamilton was taking over his slot at Mercedes in 2013, we all pretty much assumed he would fade off into retirement. It didn’t take long for Schumacher to confirm our assumptions, as he just announced this morning that he will retire (again) following the 2012 racing season. There was some speculation that he would head to Sauber to take the place of Sergio Perez, but that is apparently a no-go.

Schumacher, in a cheeky manner, poked fun at himself via the Associated Press, by saying “…at some point it's time to say goodbye and this time it might be forever.” Well, we wish Michael all of the best and we thank him for his 18 years of involvement with F1. We’re sure he’ll back his way into management somewhere – possibly even with Mercedes, who just signed the new Concorde Agreement. Regardless of the last three years, he will forever go down as one of the best drivers to ever grace open-wheel racing.

We’ll keep an eye on Schumacher’s movement and let you know if he is considering moving back behind the scenes as he did with Ferrari.

Click past the jump to read Michael Schumacher's press release.

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