Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen took pole position for the showcase Monaco Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday with world championship leading German team mate Sebastian Vettel alongside him on the front row.
Schumacher turned 50 on January 3 but has not been seen in public
The main suspense concerns the future of Michael Schumacher, who could announce his retirement.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said earlier in the year that the circuit near Bologna, which is looking for government funding to upgrade the facilities, would be making its final appearance on the calendar this season.
With 'team orders' now legal in Formula One, Ferrari's Felipe Massa will have to raise his game right from the start of the season in Australia next week.
In the interests of better visibility, teams were told last month they could fix mirrors to the halo head protection device that encircles the cockpit and that became mandatory this season.
Red Bull joined champions Ferrari in agreeing to extend Formula One's existing commercial agreement to 2012 and turning their backs on a rival series.
Ferrari agreed on Friday to end legal action against McLaren over last year's spy scandal for the good of Formula One.
Fernando Alonso got the win that he wanted in Sunday's German Grand Prix while his Ferrari Formula One team paid the price with a fine of $100,000.
Ross Brawn said the memory of Nigel Mansell's failure to win the 1986 title from a similar position still lingers.
Formula One motor racing: Team prospects for 2018
Lando Norris roared to his second successive pole position, and third in four races, in a McLaren front row sweep with team mate Oscar Piastri
The Brazilian has struggled for form in recent years but has agreed a one-year extension amid continued speculation that world champion Sebastian Vettel could join Alonso at Ferrari from 2014.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri celebrated pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, his 50th Formula One race, while dejected championship-leading teammate Lando Norris qualified sixth and said he had been "clueless on track".
Ferrari's new team principal Marco Mattiacci was taken by surprise when Luca di Montezemolo offered him the top job at Formula One's glamour team, the Italian initially believing the chairman's approach to be a joke.
Ferrari boss Jean Todt dropped a hint on Sunday that he expects Kimi Raikkonen to be heading for his Formula One team next season.
Australian driver Oscar Piastri, 23, emerged victorious in his first ever Formula One race at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn has made clear that he favours a return to the Italian team over Formula One rivals when he completes a sabbatical at the end of the year.
Kimi Raikkonen is not assured of racing for Ferrari in Formula One next season, team president Luca di Montezemolo said on Wednesday. Rumours have swirled for months that Raikkonen will be replaced by Renault's Fernando Alonso for next year despite the Finn's contract with Ferrari running until the end of 2010.
Ferrari's record-breaking season may go down in the Formula One history books as the peak of Michael Schumacher's career.
Spaniard Fernando Alonso handed Ferrari their first Formula One pole since 2010 in a wet British Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday.
World Champions Red Bull and rivals Ferrari will withdraw from the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) after failure to reach agreement over cost cutting measures.
Ferrari have added Jenson Button's name to their list of candidates to take over from world champion Michael Schumacher.
Sebastian Vettel, who joined in 2015 with the dream of emulating boyhood hero Michael Schumacher in winning titles with the sport's oldest and most glamorous team, is out of contract at the end of the year.
Mark Webber ended speculation about a move to Ferrari by signing an extension to his Red Bull contract that keeps him alongside Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel for a fifth season.
Oscar Piastri won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and sent McLaren top of the constructors' standings in a race that finished with a virtual safety car after a penultimate lap collision between Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Red Bull's Sergio Perez.
The 39-year-old German will test Ferrari's 2008 car in Spain next week along with reigning F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen.
Ferrari will replace Jean Todt as their Formula One team boss with Stefano Domenicali from January.
Max Verstappen, who could seal his fourth successive championship on Saturday, will line up fifth on the starting grid
While Ferrari's Fernando Alonso rates 2012 as his best season in Formula One, the Spanish driver says his car must be quicker next year if he is to fight for the title again.
Bringing Fernando Alonso to Ferrari to partner world champion Kimi Raikkonen would not be desirable, team president Luca di Montezemolo said on Tuesday. "To line up a Raikkonen-Alonso double act would mean wanting to damage yourself. I want two equal drivers that work together," the president said.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has summoned Mercedes and tyre supplier Pirelli to its international tribunal in Paris on June 20 on charges of breaking the rules by testing in Spain last month.
Ferrari are considering whether to lodge a protest that could lead to the result of the Formula One world championship being overturned.
Ferrari promised to pull out all stops on Sunday to help Fernando Alonso claim the Formula One drivers title and with the help of a rulebook loophole they head to the season finale still in the fight.
Retired seven times world champion Michael Schumacher believes Ferrari's new F2008 car gives them a good chance of retaining their constructors' title.
Ferrari's 2008 cars lapped quicker than the new McLarens in Formula One's first official test of the year in Jerez.
Valentino Rossi talked with Ferrari about racing in the team's second car at next weekend's Formula One Italian Grand Prix but decided against it, the MotoGP world champion said. Ferrari instead opted for Force India's Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella, who will race for the world champions for the remainder of the season.
Formula One esports race was the third in a series designed to give fans something to watch after the COVID-19 pandemic stalled motorsport worldwide and left Formula One still waiting to start its season.
Formula One's governing body upheld a $100,000 fine for Ferrari on Wednesday but kept alive Fernando Alonso's hopes of a third title after deciding to impose no further sanctions for the use of banned 'team orders'. Race stewards had handed the $100,000 fine to the Italian glamour team after the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in July when Ferrari were found to have ordered Felipe Massa to allow Fernando Alonso victory in a one-two finish.
