Well the F1 media has woken up again with the rumours about Michael Schumacher quitting F1. Eddie Jordan has been reported as saying that Schumacher might quit F1 at the end of the year by AutoSport. BBC commentator Jonathan Legard has posted on his twitter that Adrian Sutil might be the first in line to replace him. Sutil being a German and no contract for next year might be the ideal option for the Mercedes GP team. Eddie Jordan was one of the first to speculate Schumacher's return last year. But that was based on information he had rather than based on observation this time round.
For most fans and including Michael Schumacher the season hasn't been as expected. One would have thought that Schumacher would be fighting for the title but instead of late is fighting to make the cut to Q3 in qualifying. On the other hand his team mate Nico Rosberg has been able to get the most out of the slower Mercedes including a few podiums.
Schumacher had shown a few flashes of his brilliance but only a few. The problem Schumacher and Mercedes have attributed is to the newer front tyres and their understeer issues. The initial wow factor of Schumacher's return is now gone. So next year there will be immense pressure on him to perform if he were to continue.
While the quit rumours will continue till the start of the next season, there are many factors for Schumacher to continue. The single most motivating factor for Schumacher is a eight Driver's championship. One would assume that only if he believes that he cannot get that title would he retire. With the telemetry data, his physical conditioning Schumacher would be in a position to gauge why he is slower than his team mate. In all probability Schumacher is not or not willing to adapt to a driving style that he feels would slow him down. The car this year would not have been designed with Schumacher's inputs, preferences etc. And for a long time Schumacher has said that his focus is on 2011. So he is probably taking the remaining races for to understand the newer aspects of F1.
True, this year has been lack lustre for him. Maybe an inspired drive on of the race weekend in the remaining races would keep the critics quite for some time. But Mercedes and Schumacher would know that a better year would be the next year. With new regulations in 2011 - KERS, Movable rear wing, new tyre supplier etc. Mercedes might be trying to pull one like last year with Brawn GP and that would be something Schumacher would not want to miss. So if 2011 were like this year then we can assume he might call it off sometime during next year. But in probability not this year.
The bad news for Schumacher fans is Mercedes GP record. Brawn GP/Mercedes GP haven't been on the league of the McLaren, Ferrari or Red Bull. Their inability to quickly resolve their issues this year would be a proof of that. Renault F1 and Williams F1 have shown a better rate of development than them so far. Now that is something that Schumacher would have observed this year working closely with the team. So if he feels that Mercedes might not be in a position to challenge for the titles the next year or the year after next he might take a decision to call it off this year (unlikely but probable)
But at the end of the day one would feel still that Schumacher wouldn't give up yet based on his season so far this year. Not when many of his fans have yet to see him cross the chequered flag first. So keep your fingers crossed :-)
