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Ferrari planning special Schumacher tribute to mark injured racer's 45th birthday

Michael Schumacher may have completed his Formula One career with Mercedes-Benz, but the German racer will forever be associated with the Scuderia Ferrari, where he spent the better part of a decade winning just about everything. And as the seven-time World Champion continues to fight for his life following a skiing accident, the Tifosi are in the midst of organizing to pay tribute to one of their greatest heroes as his 45th birthday approaches.
According to the Scuderia's Facebook page, it's calling on Scuderia Ferrari Clubs from across Europe to show up at the Grenoble Hospital where Schumacher is being treated for a "silent and respectful" event to honor the injured champion, whose birthday is tomorrow. There's also a tribute being run on the Scuderia's website passing along the team's thoughts as Schumacher tries to recover from his injury.
The latest reports on Schumacher indicate that his condition continues to be stable, but he remains in a medically induced coma. News of the circumstances surrounding his ski mishap continue to trickle out, with the latest report from The Mirror heartbreakingly suggesting that Schumacher was actually attempting to help a friend's daughter who had fallen herself when he had his own tumble.

Romania's Forza Rossa to join 2016 F1 grid

Bazac's Maranello ties have prompted speculation that Forza Rossa could be as closely affiliated with Ferrari as Hass. Formula One may be in a bit of a crisis at the moment, with two of its smaller teams collapsing into bankruptcy, but there may yet be light at the end of the proverbial tunnel as two new teams are gearing up to take their place. One of those teams is Forza Rossa, and while we haven't much anything about the Romanian entry in in recent months, a new report from Pitpass indicates that plans are well under way – if not without their complications. Forza Rossa is being backed by a number of Romanian parties, including veteran race strategist Colin Kolles (who was most recently involved in the Caterham buyout) and Ion Bazac, former government minister and Ferrari's Romanian importer (pictured above next to Giancarlo Fisichella). Interestingly, the latter's ties to Maranello have prompted speculation that the team could be at least as closely affiliated with Ferrari as Haas (the American team being started by industrial machinery magnate and NASCAR team owner Gene Haas). A third Romanian individual – former soccer player Constantin Cojocar – turns out to have been the one who bought Caterham Sports Ltd, the company which designed and built the cars for the Caterham F1 Team until its recent collapse. The plan was to supply chassis and components to both Caterham and Forza Rossa, but Cojocar evidently had trouble paying the bills and keeping the lights on. Caterham's bankruptcy, however, could present a golden opportunity for Forza Rossa to scoop up the assets of both the team and the manufacturer at a good price, building the new team on the burnt foundations of the old one – even if it has already been granted the go-ahead by the FIA to form its own entry. That, however, won't happen until 2016 at the earliest, whittling down the grid in the meantime from 22 cars to 18. According to the arrangement between the FIA, Formula One Management and the teams, that threshold would oblige at least the leading teams to make up the lost places on the grid by fielding a third car each – something they couldn't prepare in time for US Grand Prix this past weekend, but which could be put into action for next season.

These are the front-runners to take over at Ferrari

Yesterday Ferrari announced a changing of the scarlet-clad guard with the departure of longtime chairman Luca di Montezemolo. Having run the company since shortly after the passing of Enzo Ferrari himself, Montezemolo built the Prancing Horse marque up to the benchmark supercar manufacturer, victorious racing team and household name it is today. In short, Ferrari - and most crucially, its parent company Fiat - will face a most difficult challenge in filling il Advocatto's handmade loafers and putting the company back on the track which Montezemolo laid down over the course of the past two decades.
The question on everyone's mind is, to whom will that challenge fall? To quote Goose from Top Gun, the list is long, but distinguished. Join us as we run down the roster of potential assentors to the leather-clad, carbon-fiber bucket seat at the head of the big table in Maranello.