Brawn wants to continue with Schumacher in 2013
Michael Schumacher's contract with Mercedes GP expires at the end of 2012, but Ross Brawn would like to continue his collaboration with the seven-time world champion for at least an additional year, until the end of 2013.
Michael Schumacher had signed a contract for two years plus an optional year upon his return to F1 at the beginning of 2010 after three years of absence. The seven-time world champion still seems motivated and will therefore continue to be present in F1 with Mercedes next season.
The German team recently signed Nico Rosberg on a long-term basis and would like to keep its current driver duo for a few more seasons, thus extending Michael Schumacher. This was revealed by the team director, Ross Brawn, who would like the Rosberg/Schumacher pair to continue together at least until the end of the 2013 season – despite rumors of a possible arrival of Kimi Räikkönen with the Silver Arrows.
«We have a contract (with Michael Schumacher) for next year and if he is happy then I see no reason not to continue with a new contract for 2013,» Brawn told Autosprint.
Schumacher had announced that he would aim for an 8th title upon his return, but due to a lack of a sufficiently competitive car in 2010 and 2011, he wasn’t even able to secure a single podium in two seasons. But Brawn also acknowledged in his interview with the Italian magazine that the MGP W02 did not meet expectations—particularly because of a poor design choice.
« We thought it was important to have a rather short wheelbase, but in reality, the exhaust system showed that we were wrong. So we didn’t start with the right working base, » explained Brawn.
