Will he, won’t he… Bernie told the London Times that it would be “magic” if Michael Schumacher decided F1 with Mercedes was his future. And if Mr. Ecclestone says that it’s a good idea then, clearly discussions have progressed beyond Ross Brawn making a quick phone call asking “what do you think about coming out of retirement and driving for us?”
This rumour has been circulating for a couple of weeks now, clearly something is going on as there have been no denials from either the team, driver or his manager.
It would be quite a risk for Schumacher, but the longer this story runs, the stronger the possibility becomes. I think the other top tier teams would welcome the chance to have another go at Schumacher, they would certainly appreciate the additional exposure this would give the series.
There are days that I just love the British red tops and their jingoistic slant on life, and today is one of them.
“Button forced out”, “Team Germany” and “New world champion left out in the cold” are the favorite titles I’ve seen so far.
Mercedes and a Middle Eastern investment company have purchased a majority stake in Brawn GP, who is now being rebranded as “Mercedes GP”. With Nico Rosberg already signed for 2010, the second seat has been rumoured to be going to Nick Heidfeld or possibly Timo Glock.
The car will be prepared and run from the UK, but a championship win for the new Mercedes team with a German driver would be huge. Schumacher is the only German F1 world champion and a couple of years after his retirement may still be the highest profile German sports figure.
The Daily Mirror goes on to speculate that “British world champion Button was forced to quit Brawn because they fear [Rosberg] would be outclassed by Button, just as he was by Hamilton when they were team-mates in karting.”
Jenson Button wants a pay rise (and reasonably so) and as champion brings the number-1 plate to whichever team he ends up with. The serious money seems to be on Button getting a seat at McLaren along side Lewis Hamilton. That would be quite the team. If they can be given a competitive car, and the second half of the season indicates they can, it should be a very interesting looking package. .
In some good news Felipe Massa drove an F1 car for the first time since his accident in Hungary. He drove next to Alonso at an end of year Ferrari event in Spain over the weekend.
Next year just got a little more fun as the mighty Germans go against the British lads at McLaren. With the British inferiority complex in full swing I’m sure phrases like “underdog”, “plucky” and lots of references to the war will be thrown around as the season goes on.