Schumacher gets injury all-clear; F1 adjusts points

Valencia: Michael Schumacher was Tuesday given a clean bill of health from his personal doctor after his first day of testing ahead of the Formula One season.

The seven-time world champion, returning to racing after a three-year retirement, can train fully without any ill-effects from the injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash early last year."He is now in the normal cycle and can train to the normal extent," Johannes Peil said. Peil has accompanied 41-year-old Schumacher at the Circuit Ricardo Tormi where the German completed 40 laps on Monday, recording the third fastest time, as he prepares for the new season beginning in Bahrain on March 14. Mercedes GP team-mate Nico Rosberg Tuesday tested again on the circuit but Schumacher was not due to drive again until Wednesday, the last day of the three-day session in Valencia. Last year Schumacher called off a planned comeback with Ferrari as a replacement for the injured Felipe Massa because of problems with injuries to neck and the base of skull suffered in the February crash. But Peil said Schumacher, who is also accompanied in Valencia by his physiotherapist, was `back to normal` and `can now concentrate on driving again.`Schumacher is spending four to six hours daily training and undergoing treatment and was now focusing his physical training more on coordination, agility and speed. "That requires more training work than stamina," he said. Formula One is meanwhile set to make last-minute changes to the points system for the 2010 season to give winners a greater advantage. Under a new `race to win` proposal by the Formula One commission, the winner will get 25 points, with 18 going to second and 15 to third, the international motorsport federation FIA said on Tuesday. The points format, due to be submitted to the FIA`s World Motor Sport Council for final approval within the next 48 hours, will be 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. The commission, comprising Formula One teams and major stakeholders, have also agreed to changes to tyre rules for the 2010 season as well as a ban on double diffusers from 2011. The points system had already been altered for 2010 so that the top 10, rather than the top eight finishers, are in the points. With the number of teams growing from 10 to 13, the FIA World Motorsport Council in December had scrapped the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system and instead approved a scale of 25-20-15-10-8-6-5-3-2-1. IANS