FORMULA ONE BAHRAIN PREVIEW:He might be feeling 'rusty', but Michael Schumacher's return is the talk of the pits. And rightly so, says JUSTIN HYNES

THERE ARE countless stories that could kick off the launch of this new Formula One season, but in the thousand-watt glare of the return of Michael Schumacher to the Grand Prix circuit, none stand up to examination.

There's the return of the Senna name to the track, Bruno, nephew of Ayrton, bringing the family name back to the circus 16 years after the death of the Brazilian legend at Imola. There's the tabloid-friendly Battle of Britain at McLaren, where 2009 champion Jenson Button has moved in with 2008 title-winner Lewis Hamilton. There's even an influx of mostly hapless new teams to contend with, but those almost faded into the background as soon as Schumacher arrived back.

The comeback by the German is the magic bullet F1 has been seeking, the perfect antidote to last year's increasingly lurid bouts of in-fighting, back-biting and, worst of all, cheating. The decision by the seven-time champion to throw himself back in the ring couldn't have come at a better time. The choice of "new" team Mercedes - the German legend at the German manufacturer - was an added bonus for a sport seeking to boost ratings in heartland countries such as Germany and Britain (the Button/Hamilton pairing is gold dust).

Yesterday, though, it didn't quite go according to plan. Schumacher, three years absent from F1 racing, was, in relative terms, badly eclipsed by young team-mate Nico Rosberg, half a second separating the former Williams youngster and the 41-year-old superstar.

It inevitably brought the accusation that the Schumacher myth had expired and expectations the former Ferrari driver would immediately re-stamp his authority on a paddock were wide of the mark.

That analysis, is, naturally, rubbish. Three hours of comeback is no yardstick of how Schumacher will measure across the course of a 19-race season. Indeed, the fact the German set the day's third quickest time with apparent ease was largely forgotten in the half-second gap to his younger team-mate. And the legend himself admitted to a large dose of ring-rustiness he hadn't, it seemed, expected.

"The car felt much better in the second session, although I am still a little rusty on one-lap runs and need to get back into the routine," he said after the afternoon practice session in Bahrain. What was more intriguing was the apparent pace of the Mercedes cars.

Rosberg and Schumacher were eventually split by the Mercedes-powered McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, but all day the car - born as Brawn before Mercedes beneficent intervention - looked as quick as any car on track, something of a step-up from pre-season in which the team had been competitive but never the outright class of the field.

That position had often been reserved for Red Bull Racing, the team who best exploited last year's massive rule changes, but yesterday, the scariest thing about that team was the amount of time their drivers spent sitting atop toolboxes in the garages. Mark Webber's car developed a gearbox problem, restricting him to just 12 laps, while a brake change caused Vettel to miss some of the action.

Friday practice is a notoriously unreliable yardstick, but despite the variable the afternoon top 10 seemed to adequately reflect the pecking order. The only real shock was just how far of the standard F1 pace the sport's new teams are.

The arrival of Bruno Senna would have been totally anonymous except for the alarming lack of pace of his Hispania Racing car - clocking a best just shy of 12 seconds adrift of Rosberg. In pre-season there were concerns about the safety of much slower cars and yesterday's times are sure to inflame the doubters.

Back at the front, if the Mercedes is as quick as it appeared and with the cobwebs rubbed off, the playground bully of old might just be back.

TEAM BY TEAM

McLAREN

Team principal: Martin Whitmarsh Drivers: Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton

Last season: 3rd (71 points)

MERCEDES

Team principal: Ross Brawn Drivers: Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg

Last season: 1st (172 pts, as Brawn GP)

RED BULL RACING

Team principal: Christian Horner Drivers: Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber

Last season: 2nd (153.5 pts)

FERRARI

Team principal: Stefano Domenicali Drivers: Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso

Last season: 4th (70 pts)

WILLIAMS

Team principal: Frank Williams Drivers: Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg

Last season: 7th (34.5 pts)

RENAULT

Team principal: Eric Boullier Drivers: Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov

Last season: 8th (26 pts)

FORCE INDIA

Team principal: Vijay Mallya Drivers: Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi

Last season: 9th (13 pts)

TORO ROSSO

Team principal: Franz Tost

Drivers: Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari

Last season: 10th (8 pts)

LOTUS RACING

Team principal: Tony Fernandes Drivers: Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen

Last season: n/a

VIRGIN RACING

Team principal: John Booth Drivers: Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi Last season: n/a

SAUBER

Team principal: Peter Sauber Drivers: Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi

Last season: 6th (36 pts)

HISPANIA RACING

Team principal: Colin Kolles Drivers: Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok

Last season: n/a