'Never say never', Schumacher says of F1 return

Formula One's seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher on Sunday refused to rule out an eventual return to the sport.

Schumacher, 40, retired in 2006 but had been primed to replace Felipe Massa in the Ferrari team for the Spanish Grand Prix in August following the Brazilian's high speed crash in July.

But Schumacher injured his neck in a motorcycle accident in February and medical examinations after test runs in a Ferrari showed he had not recovered enough to withstand the strains of F1 racing.

"From now to the end of the year, my neck injury will be healed to the point where I could drive again," Schumacher insisted in an interview that will appear in Der Speigel magazine on Monday.

"I have nothing to prove to anyone, not even myself. I still slightly regret having retired three years ago but there's no reason whatsoever for me to definitively announce that I will not come back.

"The life I lead makes me happy but who knows that will happen a few months or a year down the line?" said the German who won 91 Grand Prix in his illustrious career.

Schumacher has signed up for the Race of Champions in Beijing in November, where the world's best circuit racers and off-road drivers compete head-to-head.

He will race alongside both Formula One drivers Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel, as well as eight-time Le Mans 24 Hour winner Tom Kristensen, World Rally Championship leader Mikko Hirvonen and triple World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx.

According to Bild newspaper on Sunday, Schumacher might also take part in the International German Motorcycle Championship on a KTM bike.

"We wanted him to be the official rider all season long but he didn't want that," said KTM motorsport advisor Heinz Kinigadner.

"He didn't want to put himself under the stress of a whole season of racing."

Schumacher's agent Willi Weber admitted that the project was "possible".