Michael Schumacher has hinted that he will probably not make an announcement about his future racing plans until the end of this season.
Fans and people involved in F1 were expecting an announcment soon especially with all the rumours going around that Kimi Raikonnen is poised to join the team and the ongoing speculation of MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi interesting in driving a Ferrari in F1 next year.
What I can’t figure out is whether this is a ploy by Schumacher to have people stop asking him about his plans or whether he is really undecided and needs that much time to make up his mind. Ferrari of course are publicly saying they will wait until the cows come home for a decision by Schumacher but I have to wonder if they can really afford to wait that long. I assume if they wait until the end of the season the pool of available top drivers will be very shallow if not completely dry and can they really afford to go a season without a superstar number one driver? let’s say they wait and Schumacher decides not to race. I’m assuming Raikkonen will have signed with a team by October. Will that force Ferrari to rush Rossi into F1 by making an offer he can’t refuse. They’ll need his popularity to sell the Ferrari glamour.
Sir Jackie Stewart seems to agree with me; there is no way Ferrari can afford to wait that long but Gerhard Berger is quoted as saying in the same article:
“It doesn’t surprise me,” said the Austrian when asked about Schumacher’s Spanish revelation. “If he needs until the end of the season, then it is correct that Ferrari gives him this time.”