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Formula 1

David Coulthard believes Formula One fans will witness a "real-life experiment" this season thanks to Michael Schumacher's return to the sport.

Schumacher retired at the end of 2006 after winning the drivers' title seven times, but has made a remarkable comeback at the age of 41 with Mercedes.

Doubts have inevitably been raised about whether the German will be able to compete with the younger generation of F1 stars, including world champion Jenson Button and his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

And Coulthard will be as fascinated as anyone else to see if Schumacher can reproduce the form which brought him 91 Grand Prix wins in his glittering career.

"I think he can still drive the car quickly, I have no doubt about that," Coulthard told Press Association Sport at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Abu Dhabi.

"Will he still be as ruthless as he was at the height of his career? I can't answer that but I'm curious to see. What we're getting is a real-life experiment to see if a 41-year-old can compete in Formula One.

"In football you would have no chance, you just wouldn't have the legs for the job. But can a 41-year-old compete like the Michael of old against the hungry drivers like Hamilton, Button, Alonso and all these guys that are still very much in the prime of their 'selfish' life?"

During his career, Schumacher was famous - or rather infamous - for his ruthless streak on the track, often clashing with other drivers like Britain's former world champion Damon Hill and Coulthard himself.

But the Scot bears no grudges despite numerous run-ins with Schumacher and is interested to see if the current "mellower" Schumacher reverts to type when the racing gets under way in Bahrain this weekend.

"People have been very successful without being as ruthless as Michael has been at times but that ruthlessness is part of his make-up, it's part of his package," Coulthard added.

"So if you take that part away can he still deliver? He'll still have speed and tactical ability, but is that ruthlessness the final key ingredient that meant he was the guy who could park it at La Rascasse in Monaco and get out and say he didn't do anything wrong, and believe it.

"When we were racing I struggled with the fact that he would never admit his portion of any incident. It's never 100% someone's fault, but when we had our various run-ins and tried to sort it out afterwards, he would never acknowledge it.

"It was like he wasn't there. After Spa in 1998, when he ran into the back of me and then came into the garage threatening to kill me, I spoke to him afterwards and asked him 'Are you ever wrong?' and he said 'Not that I remember'.

"I get on fine with Michael and he is a mellower character today than he was when we were competing. What's going to be interesting is will he switch it back on against Lewis and people like that when he goes back on track.

"There's no question he's a great driver and has an amazing record in Formula One, seven world titles, 91 victories. How many more does he need until he's satisfied?

"It's like sex, if you really enjoy something you want to keep doing something. Maybe Michael is the perfect example, he hasn't run out of legs so he's coming back for more fun."