Brawn not backing Ferrari’s three-car push

In the face of ever-mounting speculation, Ross Brawn has once again moved to play down suggestions that Michael Schumacher is set to return to F1 next year with Mercedes GP.

Fellow team chiefs Norbert Haug and Nick Fry added fuel to the fire on Monday by declining to echo Brawn’s earlier rejection of the 40-year-old German’s reported link to the Brackley squad.

“I spoke with Michael about his plans over a beer in Abu Dhabi,” Briton Brawn, 55, told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“He told me he would have only made a temporary comeback with Ferrari.  We are looking for a long-term condition.  So I don’t think we are going to be together,” he added.

Nevertheless, other figures are not reinforcing Brawn’s attempts to quieten the rumours.  Schumacher’s manager Willi Weber, for instance, is quoted by rtl.de as playing down the former seven time world champion’s neck injury.

“I recently spoke with (Schumacher’s doctor) Dr Peil.  He said Michael is making good progress with his recovery.  He is very content,” Weber added.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais referred this week to Schumacher’s media “omnipresence” since his retirement in 2006, and Mercedes’ Norbert Haug did not disagree that the latest rumours make for good PR.

“If you can have good stories every week it is good,” the German admitted, after new world champion Jenson Button defected to McLaren.

Brawn not backing Ferrari’s three-car push

Ross Brawn has played down the likelihood that F1 teams will be allowed to field third cars in the near future.

The Mercedes GP team boss’ former employer Ferrari has been running a high profile campaign for the rule change.

But Brawn told Bild newspaper: “I do not believe in three cars.  Ferrari keeps the dream alive, but the starting grid is filled completely normally with at least 20 cars and there is no space for more.”

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo insists the Maranello team would offer Michael Schumacher a full time cockpit if Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were allowed to have another teammate.

“We are not in a position to offer him a spot even if we would be in favour of having a third car on the track,” the Italian said in a radio interview with La Politica nel Pallone on Monday.

source: GMM