[Rumours] Schumacher Extends Mercedes Deal For 2013

[Paradise City]

Michael Schumacher has extended his Mercedes deal for another season, the German weekly Sport Bild reports.

The 42-year-old's existing contract was set to run only until the end of next season, but Sport Bild said the seven-time World Champion is now staying at least until the end of 2013.

"There is no reason why Michael should not continue," said team boss Ross Brawn. "He's very valuable to the team and has not lost his edge."

Schumacher hinted that he is not yet ready to return to retirement.

"I have proved I can run in the races faster than my teammate Nico Rosberg; overall we are on the right track.

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/artic...deal-for-2013/

[Mekola]

Great deal for Schumi

[strider]

"I have proved I can run in the races faster than my teammate Nico Rosberg; overall we are on the right track."

I'd say he has by no means proved that conclusively and it has taken an awful long time for him to be able to say it with at least some justification.

[Carsandmotorracing]

That will probably be his last year in F1.

[Bononi]

I heard that story other times, and it always had the same ending...

[VIVA GT]

Looks like the Rosberg announcement has been attributed to the wrong driver...
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96059

[stripedcat]

Interesting news. However, will the Mercedes be competitive by then? I suspect Schumi would expect to be be challenging for wins by 2013.

[Paradise City]

I'd like to see him back for '13. He may have another race win in the pipeline and if that is going to happen, it will be a great day indeed.

[kart_racer]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I'd like to see him back for '13. He may have another race win in the pipeline and if that is going to happen, it will be a great day indeed.

Hope so.

[TF110]

Lets see what next year's car is capable of. I really hope the Silver Arrows are fast next year, I always liked Rosberg- soft spoken kinda guy, but I wanna see Shumey do his thing as well. Show Vettel what he's about!

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by strider

"I have proved I can run in the races faster than my teammate Nico Rosberg; overall we are on the right track."

I'd say he has by no means proved that conclusively and it has taken an awful long time for him to be able to say it with at least some justification.

I think he's been watching different races to me. If he'd said "I have proved that I can have a few stonking laps at the start of a race having qualified way behind my teammate," I might have agreed with him.

[beau1]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

I think he's been watching different races to me. If he'd said "I have proved that I can have a few stonking laps at the start of a race having qualified way behind my teammate," I might have agreed with him.

But he's gone on to beat his team-mate a lot this season despite qualifying way behind him so its more than a few stonking laps...
In races that they've both finished Nico has finished ahead 7 times (including today) and Michael has finished ahead 6 times.
Michael has also recorded Mercedes' highest finish of the season (4th) and has been in 5th place more times (3) than Nico (2).
The real reason why Michael is behind on points isn't due to his pace, its due to his on-track incidents and retirements. For a start, he's not finished 5 races while Nico has only failed to finish two.

[b1ackcr0w]

I've had a little think about this. It seems that Merc are currently at a win-win with Schumi. He's basically getting the potential out of the car. But if you look where they are relative to other teams, it makes more sense. At the moment, the best they can expect is to split the Ferraris in the hope that weather, lucky tyre stratagies or safety cars give them a shot at a sneaky podium. In that case, just about any other driver wouldn't hit the headlines (ok, maybe Senna, or a tail end driver might). But if TBC got a podium, there would be a media frenzy out of all proportion to the acheivement. Brilliant for bringing home the sponsorhip and advertising bacon.
Conversely, if he does something daft, says something contraversial, has a bad day, it's not just a mid-field slugger doing it. It's a seven times champion doing something daft, being contravercial or having a bad day. Until either the car is a winner and he insn't or Nico regularly thrashes him, he's a very bankable asset to them.

[Marbot]

Indeed. You would have to say that if the driver of that particular Merc was a 'rookie', then they would be doing rather well. And that it's unlikely a driver form any other team would be doing the job any better in that car as it currently is.

[kart_racer]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Indeed. You would have to say that if the driver of that particular Merc was a 'rookie', then they would be doing rather well. And that it's unlikely a driver form any other team would be doing the job any better in that car as it currently is.

Agreed!