That sounds scary, but it's true. Somewhat. Mercedes-Benz has tapped the former Formula 1 driver to help develop some of its future driving aides and things to stop drivers from crashing really expensive cars.
According to a press release, Schumacher will be involved in future stuff with Mercedes-Benz including future safety and comfort technology. I assume they're using future a lot because they don't really know what he's going to be doing yet.
What Schumacher had to say:
“The future interests me much more than the present and past. During my Formula 1 time I always believed that you must not allow yourself to rest on your laurels, but that you must continuously try to improve. In so doing I was very often able to rely on the help of all the technologies available to me in the car and use them to my advantage. That is why I am a declared supporter of driving assistance systems both in the racing car and in the road-going car."
Alright, then. What did you think he was going to do now, be content driving his kids to school sideways in an E63 AMG wagon? Actually, that doesn't sound half bad.
In all seriousness, though, is getting someone who's proven he knows how to drive fast without crashing (much) to give input on safety tech a great idea? Well, it definitely goes another step towards integrating really interesting technology with basic issues of driving at night or preventing low-speed collisions, etc.
If Schumacher is able to make it work more seamlessly and unobtrusive in everyday situations, I'm all for it.