The Formula1.com web site, the official web site of the series, ran an interview with Ross Brawn, the Mercedes team director. In it, obviously, there was a question about Michael Schumacher, who is now 43, and whose contract runs out at the end of this season. Will he sign up again?
“I think this is a very important decision for all the people involved,” said Brawn. “We won’t be rushed on the decision and when the time is appropriate we will announce what we are going to do. I don’t want to increase speculation by commenting on where we are.”
It got me to thinking, though, about Schumacher’s situation again, since his return from retirement three years ago after three years off. This year it was his teammate, Nico Rosberg, who finally took the first victory for the Mercedes team, not Schumacher. Schumacher must have been jolted by that, despite putting on a happy public face. But as I thought more about the situation, I realized that it seems absolutely astounding to me that Schumacher is still here. When he returned and started the 2010 season saying he might stick around for three years, I just laughed to myself, thinking the then 41-year-old would probably leave part way through his first year back.
How wrong I was. Schumacher has always surprised with his talent, even in this return from retirement as the oldest man on the grid.