Schumacher can make 2006 season stand out

LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) The Formula One season starting in Bahrain on Sunday could be one of the most memorable in motor racing history.

Significant rule changes, new faces, the youngest defending champion in Renault's 24-year-old Fernando Alonso and what looks on paper like being one of the closest title battles in years are all part of it.

Yet the key figure, the driver who could make 2006 stand out forever even if he fails to win a race, is still Michael Schumacher.

At some point in the coming months, the most successful and dominant driver in the 56-year existence of the Formula One world championship will decide whether or not he wants to continue racing.

It could be that the world has just 18 more chances to witness the Ferrari great in full flow before people start to reminisce about his era and wonder whether his like will ever be seen again.

One of those races, although not his favourite Spa-Francorchamps track now that the Belgian Grand Prix has been cancelled this year, could serve as a backdrop for the German's final victory.

It could equally be that there is more life than people imagine in the oldest driver on the grid and that, even at 37 and in his 16th season, Schumacher can claim that unprecedented eighth title.

Briton Nigel Mansell, the former Ferrari driver who won his title with Williams in 1992 at the age of 39, believes he can. ''Ferrari look as though they should be stronger,'' he told the Times newspaper last week.

''I think Michael is ready and could win another championship.''

RENAULT STRONG

Schumacher, whose only win last year was a hollow victory at the six-car U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis after winning 13 of the 18 races in 2004, sees four teams challenging for supremacy in a year that also celebrates the 100th anniversary of the first automobile grand prix.

''Renault is still making the best impression so far, followed by Honda, Mercedes (McLaren) and ourselves,'' he said on his website.

For the first time since 2000, the word 'ourselves' refers to a new Ferrari line-up with Brazilian Felipe Massa replacing compatriot Rubens Barrichello.

REUTERS