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Seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher will add an eighth title to his name this season, according to Mercedes GP team boss Ross Brawn.
Brawn said, however, that the return of 41-year-old Schumacher to Grand Prix racing after a four-year hiatus would necessitate a period of acclimatisation.
“I don’t think that Michael Schumacher can win the first race” in Bahrain on March 14, Brawn told the Bild daily newspaper.
After 1,239 days without competition, Schumacher “will need some races to get get used to the other cars and the numerous new drivers”, he said.
But when Brawn was asked which of the four world champions who will compete in this season’s Formula One circuit – Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Schumacher – would win the overall title, he replied: “Michael Schumacher will be world champion.”
For Mercedes GP’s first official tests in Valencia from February 1-3, Germany’s Nico Rosberg will be the first driver behind the wheel of the new car, Brawn added, explaining that that had been decided well before Schumacher joined the team.
“There’s no doubt that Nico also has the capability to win the title,” he said, adding that the duel between Rosberg and Schumacher promised to be “very interesting”.
Schumacher signed a three-year deal with Mercedes GP last December and has said his ambition is to win an eighth World Drivers’ Championship title.
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