Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn has revealed that a decision on whether or not Michael Schumacher will remain in Formula 1 with the Anglo-German outfit past 2012, will likely be made within the next six weeks.
Schumacher hasn’t been best pleased with his comeback, but this season has been better than most with a pole position in Monaco (although he was then pushed back five-places), and a podium, his first since his return, in Valencia a fortnight ago.
Brawn was speaking at the FOTA Fans’ forum at the Williams factory on Tuesday evening when the subject of Schumacher and his current contract, which expires at the end of this season, came up.
“We will make a decision this summer,” confirmed Brawn. “We have not talked in depth about the situation – but we know it is coming and we have to make a decision soon.
“I think it can be driven from many different ways. But this year Michael has driven the best of the three years he has been with us this time, and it has been frustrating when we should have seen better results on track but there have been problems on the car or the way we have dealt with the races.
“I think in the next six weeks or so we will have to think about what we want to do next year – and that is the primary decision. Once that decision is made we will then know if we have to start looking around or stick with the drivers we have.”
