Will Mercedes offer Schumacher a new contract?

Latest rumor in the paddock is due to poor performances Button is getting sacked at the end of the year with Paul Di Resta moving to McLaren, Schumi continues at Macca.

I think that if he decides to stay for another year, Mercedes would not be able to refuse and consider other drivers...

I'd be surprised if McLaren ditched Button, even though his last few races have been dire. He's performed well for them overall, although if his current form continues for the whole year those rumours might gather pace...
Comeback Schumi is half the driver he was and although that still makes him very capable I do wonder whether a Di Resta or certainly a Hamilton would make more of that car. If they keep him mainly for his marketing clout then the great Michael Schumacher will be reduced to, essentially, a pay driver. That would be a shame.

I seem to remember him coming close to getting a podium at Canada last year, but I forget what happened. I'm not a fan, but still, it was nice to see him get some good luck for a change this year.

Rumour is exactly that i'm afraid, who exactly has the inside ear at McLaren and is privy to that kind of information?
I'm afraid that even Schumi admitted that he was surprised to be on the Podium on Sunday, and if we are totally honest with ourselves (as he was) he reversed into that position by the loss of Vettel, Hamilton, Grosjean, Maldanado etc. As for Mercedes having a problem, I don't think so. I strongly suspect that Schumi will draw a veil over his own career at the end of this season.

Another blog about Schumacher? seriously, Andrew Benson you are obsessed with the man!

Can't see Hamilton leaving McLaren, still one of the best teams on the grid and more likely to be consistently running at the top year on year than the Mercedes team.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Keep Schumi on. Yes he may be older, but since the last time he drove, F1 has changed drammatically. He is not able to get away with anything anymore, like in the old days (I still believe Hill should have been awarded the title in '94). So, his perfomances this year have been genuine, and he seems a nicer, more grounded bloke now than ever before. Even if Mercs did change their line-up, it wouldn't make much difference as it's down to the design and performance of the car. Shumi probably insists he is still fit and going strong, so why lose him, it'd be a shame. He's only moaned about the tyres, Button moans about everything that's not going right for him. I used to like Button, but growing a bit tired of him this year.

Can't see why his age has anything to do with, towards the end of his first career he was still winning races when he was one of the oldest drivers on the grid, it's not like he hasn't kept himself in shape!

Minus Spain, his luck has been awful this year comparable to the run Eddie Irvine had in 1996! Arguably this was his first 'clean' race of the year, and he delivers a podium, yes with other people tripping over each other, but his pace on new tyres in the last stint still would've taken him up to 5th.

The decision to carry on probably won't even by Schumachers to make, it'll come down to whether or not Brawn and Haug think he can still perform and do a job, if they didn't think he was up to it, he wouldnt be in the car now.

Comparisons to him now and during his first career are pointless, it was a completely different sport. Had he not retired and still been in the sport for the 3 years of his retirement I think he'd have still been winning races and competeing more often at the front of the pack.

I still think Schumi and Mercedes will get better as the year goes on and MS will finish on a high. Whether he retires (again) on that high or gives it another punt for 1 year, will be up to him. Not a number one fan, but it would be good to see the old boy stick one on the youngsters on the racetrack - for entertainment value!

Funny that 1 bad performance from schumacher earlier in the season prompted benson to lay into him yet he remains quite about the troubles afflicting his pal button.Why the silence andrew?

If I were Mercedes I'd sign up Paul Di Resta for next year and consign Schumacher to retirement.
Di Resta is a real talent for the future and would a valuable addition to the team.
I believe Lewis will join Red Bull in the next year or two given they will have no top driver for 2014 should Vettel join Ferrari.
Mark Webber has maybe two more years left in him and once he retires who are Red Bull going to get? The Red Bull driver programme has yet to discover another Vettel and Alonso and Button are all tied up on long term deals.
I also suspect the relationship between Lewis and Mclaren is not as strong since Ron Dennis handed over to Martin Whitmarsh and Mclaren's inability to deliver Lewis a consistent car capable of challenging for the championship.

To answer your question, I would keep Michael, dump Nico and employ Paul di Resta. Everyone's a winner then (apart from Nico). Mercedes has its driver bill reduced and the overall driver speed level has been increased, Michael has a chance to continue to improve (after all, he's on an upward curve) and Paul has youth on his side and a chance to learn from the very best.

^quiet

Mcclaren like all racing teams are going though a bad patch many would place the finger at the poor team management both last year and this year.Their difficulties seem to be that suffered by the team early 2011.Both drivers are very good,resources are available to technologically innovate quickly but somehow its not been drawn together to produce a winning package.Why? could Allen whit marsh be given his marching orders if things don't turn around for silver stone? A further win for Button could save his position at least for now.

Valencia-once again a good race upon a lack luster track.It is
hoped it will be dropped in 2013 in favor of Marie Cours once again.

Marrissa and HRT? are they good enough to race in 2013? Talk in the paddock says no....with harden racing companies like Lola in the wings they should sell out and move to other sports.

Once again Monaco was a procession on an inadequate street circuit.Industry consultants BSC are pushing for separate rules for street circuit races to produce the minimum of four mandatory stops to promote over taking.This was unexpectedly not achieved by Tyre supplier Perelli this year.

2011 _______
Adrian Sutil 42
Paul di Resta 27

And still people think he will replace Schumi ... i think everyone forgetting that it is F1 where at least for top teams like Merc talent is what matters most rather than where he is from ...I have to say for all the anti-schumi people not having good race weekends this year as schumi doing well..i believe he is going to win at least 3 races by the end of this season if merc can give a reasonable car... shame on those who compare schumi with any other driver ...if they are good they might have won pole position in Monaco ...

I can't see Schumacher settling for being a middle order runner in the name of corporate marketing. On the other hand Rosberg needs to step up if he's to avoid the humiliation of a driver of Hamilton's calibre joining Mercedes as de facto number one in Schumacher's place. Despite Ross Brawn's loyalty to Schumacher and his masters at Mercedes, he is a competitor first and foremost and given the option, would choose to have a team and a season like 2009 in preference to the current one. However it all shakes out, there may be as much drama off the track as on it.

Merc now have a winning car but they are not in a position to win consistently. I think they should keep both drivers for another 2 years.

The comments on Button are an obvious Troll and should be ignored.

Assuming the rules stay reasonably static Merc have a good chance of fighting at the top. I've never been a Schumi fan but it's great to see his progress over the last few years. It's even better to see the clueless journos who wrote him off in the first year of his comeback now trying to save face!

Benson is such a Jenson fanboy that the only reference he has to him despite his dismal form is his win in Oz LOL.

It seems to me that it is a chicken-egg situation if you follow the argument presented here. The top three aren't going to go to Mercedes because the car isn't proven and the point of this article seems that the drivers aren't good enough to prove the car.

Alonso is the perfect Ferrari driver and is Schumacher-esqe in the way he is almost single-handedly pulling results that just should not happen from the car. On merit and effort alone he deserves the title this year - and I'm not a fan. Hamilton to my eyes is a superb driver, but second only to Massa in difficulty to mind-manage, he'll bluster, but I think he'll stay at McLaren as despite his talent there's a question that hangs over his mental state. Vettel surely has to be settled at Red Bull until 2014 at least - only a Newey move / retirement would alter that relationship. This suggests that as a long term-lead driver, Rosberg is the best blend of speed, engineering and technical feedback (I understand this is a real strong point for Rosberg?) and experience they have available.

As much as I am a massive Shumi fan, surely even he won't be competetive in 2014. Di Resta, Grosjean, maybe even Perez may look really impressive this time next year to start to consider as a firey partner to bring Rosbergs' race-pace up, bringing between them a mix of youth, agression, experience and technical development.

I know he's expressed no interest in it previously, but a Brawn & Schumacher managed team in the future would be a seriously impressive setup.

What does Andrew Benson have against Schumacher? Any opportunity he has, he puts Schumacher down. I know he had a lot of detractors during his supremacy, but give him his dues for coming back and helping develop a car into something competitive. Really BBC, in the interests of a balanced argument, surely Mr Benson can struggle to write something positive about Schumacher's first podium?

As far as Mercedes are concerned, as long as Schumacher is competitive and wants to race, he should be allowed to do so. I also think give Hulkenberg another year to race and he'll be a very good driver, far better than Di Resta and a much better fit for Mercedes. Then Schumacher can stay on at Mercedes and help two young drivers develop with his guidance in the team.

Yeah, Button's excuses are getting a little tiring, but I still think he's one of the top guys out there (though obviously not one of the very best). He had the same inexplicable dip in form in his WDC year, but rediscovered his form later in the year and I suspect he'll come back strong at some point this year.
Schumacher's age doesn't necessarily affect the way he drives, but if Mercedes are looking long term they may be weighing up the options of Schumacher's experience and marketing potential for a year or so more only, or someone like Di Resta growing with the team and staying put for a few years.

The more McLaren cockup their pit stops and race strategies for LH the more likely he is to decide he's off, he's young and dumb enough to think the grass is greener on the other side, the trouble is, season to season you never know who will have the car to be in, only Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari can really offer a guarantee of producing a top 3 car. So LH to Red Bull to replace Vettel when he goes to Ferrari.

I can see DiResta going to McLaren, for stability they will retain Button, even though he's having a nightmare season at the moment .. what is going on with him ?

If Schuey manages more podiums I think the temptation will prove too strong and they will go for another year at Merc, Rosberg I believe is just getting a bit unsettled by the fact MS is enjoying a resurgence .. he can only improve from being around the old master.

I have to 2nd comment no.11 (standupforthechampions).

I'm a big fan of Button & think he's a brilliant driver but why Mr Benson are you not 'commenting' on him and speculating on his future?

For the record, I think Button will turn it around and we will have at least 1 Mclaren 1-2 this year. Hope Lewis stays on as well, they make a great team.

@11 Because Button is nowhere near the driver Schumi is/was. It's not a surprise to see Button struggle but seeing Michael being beaten by his teammate is a shock.

To be honest, everyone will probably stay put next year. Can see there being a big driver shake up when the new regulations come in 2014.

@25 i was just pointing out the bias in benson's writing and regular readers of the blog are familiar with it ..just wanted the others to realise that benson doesn't do logic and most of his blogs are filled with inane ramblings and biased opinions.Bottom line is he is no expert on f1

Oh come off it Andrew Benson, Michael Schmacher had a bit of help from car failures to Vettel and Grosjean and Maldonado deliberatly taking out Hamilton to enable MS to finish on the podium.

I would be very surprised to if McLaren ditch Button especially with the rumours around the paddock that a deal will not be struck for Hamilton and the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull ready to snap up the Englishman.

The thing about this season compared to last for jenson Button is the maturity of Hamilton. Hamilton was branded rash and was driving out of his mind according to Massa over his many incidents between the two and Button rightly benefitted from this. Now compare that to this season Button has been left trailing by Hamilton's brilliance. Four front rows (harshly penalised for a car infringement to deny one of them), poor pit-stops from his team and taken out at the Valencia race, Hamilton has shown maturity this season, where Button is complaining about this that and the other!!!

it'll be interesting to see what this podium does to his confidence...could unlock some special drives from him...

If Mercedes could get Hamilton then they would definitely go for that - chances are they won't. Otherwise stick with Schumi - not sure going for Di Resta now would be a better option. Without all the bad luck Schumacer has had his championship position could have been looking pretty strong now, so definitely give him another year.

This is another non-story to avoid talking about the real story of Jenson Buttons form.

With the British GP coming up and a string of poor performances from Jenson it is obvious that there is only one story to be covered.

Mercedes and Silver Arrows are a ICONIC german brand.They will hire a non german
driver ONLY if they cant find a German what is good enough.I dont think this is
the case 2012.Nico Hulkenberg,Timo Glock and also Adrian Sutil are all strong enough
to be as good as Nico Rosberg.Away from the fact that it is unlikely that MS stops
before he was winning his 100 GP.So please welcome Michael also in 2013

Schumi has not been as good since his return but is getting better, I'm confused why so many people tout Paul Di Resta as a future star. I cant see him being much better than Schumi in the Merc. Plus surely a future star is someone young with a long career ahead of them, forgive me if I am wrong but isn't Di Resta 28ish, hardly a rookie age. I would love to see Vettel in anything other than an RB to see how good he really is

27. At 10:06 26th Jun 2012, standupforthechampions wrote:
@25 i was just pointing out the bias in benson's writing and regular readers of the blog are familiar with it ..just wanted the others to realise that benson doesn't do logic and most of his blogs are filled with inane ramblings and biased opinions.Bottom line is he is no expert on f1
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I'll second that, Benson thinks that avoiding talking about Jenson other than harking back to his win is somehow going to stop us fans talking about it.

Not a chance!

So many people asking for an article about Button's poor form, but what exactly do you want to be said? Clearly you've all already noticed that Button isn't exactly setting the world on fire and have decided (wrongly in my opinion) that it's because he's useless. So if Benson writes an article saying 'Button is useless now' you'll all say 'yes, I've been saying it for weeks' and if he writes an article explaing why Button is struggling you'll accuse him of 'being a fanboy making excuses, when the real issue is that Button's rubbish'.
You don't rate Button. We get it.

I think all top 3 teams will have the same driver line up for 2013. I think the big change will come in 2014. My reasoning behind this, even though I may be so far off the mark is this:
Ferrari live Alonso, alonso is happy with Massa as his team mate. If Ferrari are seriously making a play for Vettel they have to keep Alonso happy.
RedBull are obviously happy with Vettel and again they want to keep him happy, Vettel knows he can beat Webber over a season so they will keep both drivers.
Mclaren will keep Button because they love him, and Hamilton will stay for one more season hoping they can turn things around and of not will have his eye on RedBull for 2014.
Mercedes next year will be interesting, I agree that Rosberg can't beat Vettel, Alonso or Hamilton over a season. But they are unlikely to be able to get either of those 3. So as much as I hate to say it they should not resign Schumacher and give one of the younger guys a chance hoping that they can develop a championship winning car. For me they should go for Paul Di Resta but if they want to keep the team all German then Nico Hulkenberg

P.S has anybody seen Martin Whitmarsh comments on Skysports.com? Say Lewis should change his driving style? I'm neither a Lewis or button 'fanboy' or in my case 'fangirl' lol but is he seriously trying to force Lewis out of Mclaren? Lewis is still 3rd in the championship and only 1win behind Alonso. Button is lumbering down in 8th and miles of the championship lead. Where are Whitmarsh's comments on Jenson's driving?! I really cant understand sometimes how this bloke runs Mclaren. Still it just gives Ferrari an edge :)

@31
Wouldn't it get boring though if thats all these blogs were about?
Button will turn it round, he has to.

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

I hope Shumacher stays, he is still mixing it with guys nearly half his age, I am sure he will win more races this year, Benson, Brundle, Jordan, have always been so negative about him, the fact that he is the greatest F1 driver of all time some how bothers them, Brundle hasnt even won a race in F1, they should appreciate the tallents of Schumacher, Senna was a great driver but, but not as great as Shumacher, check out the stats.

"He had the same inexplicable dip in form in his WDC year, but rediscovered his form later in the year and I suspect he'll come back strong at some point this year. "

Hm no, Buttons form didnt dip in 2009, he fell back as other teams developed their cars and Buttons speed was found-out as car performance became closer

Now that the field is so very tight in 2012, tighter than i can remember it ever being, Buttons typical 3-4 tenth defecite to Hamilton is _looking_ like a bigger gap than it normally is because those 3-4 tenths is now putting Button alot lower down the field.

I think Michael will go on longer than we imagine and than may be longer than would be healthy for Mercedes. Did anyone else see him at the end of the race? It is the same as it ever was, he bounded up the steps to the podium ceremony where Kimi Raikkonen was trying his darnedest to clean the film of murk from his eyes and face and regain some composure after a hot and long race. Even Alonso, once he finally got there, was more a sweat mountain than a man, but Shumi just stood there. Dry as a bone. He is becoming the archetypal Millionaire playboy racer, only in the sport because he loves it and drives without breaking a sweat to take a podium. He was clearly delighted, but the level of fitness he brings to the sport and his self discipline means his career will last exactly as long as he can get a drive in a top team. Frustrating for the rest as it may be.

38.At 10:34 26th Jun 2012, Typical_English_No8 wrote:
@31
Wouldn't it get boring though if thats all these blogs were about?
Button will turn it round, he has to.
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I think inevitably people start talking about Buttons form anyway so theres no point Benson trying to steer us onto talking about something else especially when its a non-story like this.

He should bite the bullet, write an article on Jenson, let people air their views be it good, bad or neutral and then move on.

@41 His results weren't helped by the other teams' developement, but he was also being outperformed by Barrichello in a few races, particularly the European GP.

I'm a Button fan and I back him to recover his form, but I don't think it's unreasonable to say his form dipped for a few races in 2009.

@41, 44 And I also acknowledge that maybe describing his loss of form as 'inexplicable' was perhaps a poor choice of wording.

Its a pity that we have totally forgotten Robert Kubica here. A consistent overachiever who is missing such a great season. Beats me to see the likes of Massa still driving an F1 car, leave alone a Ferrari.
This article happened solely because of one Pastor Maldonano mistake. Period.

'What would you do?'

Probably get rid of Rosberg. Looking over all his previous years, he qualifies well but has had too many races where he has poor pace and is not consistently finishing where his cars should have. Questions also over some of his overtaking and defending racecraft compared to Alonso etc.

Plus the Merc board must be considering that Schumacher's image in Germany, his wins and titles, coupled with the fact he was a Merc man at the start of his career make him more than just a driver for Mercedes, but a crucial part to their brand, impacting on sales etc.

Di Resta deserves a drive for a better team and is better than Rosberg, but do the Merc board want two Germans? I think they do but they would like the Germans to be Vettel and Schumacher with their perfect season of Vettel winning the championship and Schumacher winning a couple of races as well.

Perhaps though they should be focusing away from the drivers and concentrate on creating an attractive package for Adrian Newey get him from Red Bull and give him one final challenge before he retires.

An article about Schumacher by Andrew that doesn't seethe with hatred for the German. I'm a bit shocked.

It all hinges on how good Rosberg really is which none of us outside the team can really know for sure. Would he be capable of beating the likes of Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel in the same car? The team have all the data on Jenson Button so would have a good reference on how Rosberg compares to him but they aren't going to tell us.

As for Schumacher, he has continuously improved since his comeback. Who's to say that isn't going to continue? If the age isn't showing now why care unless considering a multi-year contract! Sure he lucked into a podium but as everyone is saying he deserved it after what happened so far this season.

The impressive thing about Sunday's drive was keeping Webber in a much faster car behind for most of the race. Would any of the big 3 been able to do that as good? On the circuit at Monaco where the driver makes the most difference was it one of the big 3 that was the fastest?

Is the depth today really much better than 10-15 years ago? Most of the best drivers today were around then, Alonso, Kimi, Button and Webber. Hakkinen and Montoya have been replaced with the likes of Vettel and Hamilton but I don't see a great deal of difference there. Go back to Schumacher's first years in F1 and I believe that was when the talent was much greater than now. Two of the greatest of all time still driving in Senna and Prost and the likes of Mansell around too.

The reason Andrew keeps posting blogs about Schumacher is because they get more replies than any of rest of his nonsense.

And somehow therein lies the reason why Schumi should continue this season. The man still makes headlines, draws in viewers to the sport, and divides opinion.

Anyone with half an understanding of F1 can see that Di Reista isn't ever going to be a top driver like Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton so why have him replace Schumi? At best Di Reista is a Coulthard clone, a solid number 2 driver who will pick up points consistently.

Hopefully the podium marks an upswing in Schumi's luck this season and we see him on the podium more often. And I hope he continues on for at least 2 more years. The sport will be slightly duller without him. And what would Andrew write about when he's gone? :)

46. At 10:51 26th Jun 2012, Kamallak wrote:
This article happened solely because of one Pastor Maldonano mistake. Period.
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This article happened for two reasons actually. The first is Jenson had another poor race and Benson needed to find something other than that to talk about and the second reason is what you mentioned.

Last race there was no Scumacher podium to use as a distraction from Jensons form so Benson came up with "Engine dispute threatens F1 schism" which was so boring and far away from the main talking point that it only generated 90 comments.

Poor Andrew it must have pained you so much to have to write a piece were your obvious loathing of Schumacher had to be reined in and heavily veiled if not damned with faint praise.
Rosberg is not and never will be as good as Schumacher, the multi-world champion even though nearly twenty years older than his team-mate him has still has shown better racing speed. But that doesn’t tell the whole story, when Schumacher came back from retirement he was substantially heavier than Mercedes admitted to at the time, he was carrying 13.5 kgs greater mass that Rosberg, last year he cut this to 9.8kgs and this year its down to 7.6kgs (between 1 and 2 tenths a lap)
The problem for Mercedes is that in 3 years Rosberg has not improved in any way shape or form, he has repeatedly capitulated during races surrendering place after place to rival teams due to a faint heart for battle.
It has been noticed by and commented on by the whole of team Mercedes, with your legendary inside sources at Mercedes Andrew you should have known this, but then again Andrew perhaps the mere mentioning of it would have stopped you from eating lunch as too much was sticking in your throat already.
Michael will be offered an extension at the end of the season for a further year however Rosberg can be thankful that Glock and Hulkenberg are of a lesser standard than himself or he surely wouldn’t be a favoured son of Saxony for much longer.

Button is off form and McLaren continue to make school boy errors, they just don't seem to have the rigour of old. I think Hamilton has had his best season so far, the incident in Valencia was regrettable, Mad Maldonado's fault BUT Hamilton's problem as he ended with zero points. Maybe he should have let him go, the Williams was much faster and with Maldonado at the wheel it carries a sting!

I think Schumi will stay on but Di Resta would be a good option for Merc as the UK is an important market for them.

Finally brilliant race by Alonso, he is fast, persistant and always brings the car home in the points. Driver of the season by a mile so far.....

@46 agree with you there it truly is a shame we have forgotten about Robert Kunica. The thing is will he ever be the driver he was after the numerous surgeries? Will he get the feel and strength back in his hand to be able to handle a formula one car? And then would somone take a risk on him? I don't think one of the top 3 teams would, but wouldn't be a bad punt for Mercedes to try him. He would be an upgrade on Rosberg if he could get back to his best.

@37 and your comments about Martin Whitmarsh. This is how I read it 'Martin Whitmarsh has refused to be drawn over whether Lewis Hamilton should let Pastor Maldonado pass rather than risk an accident, saying he's a "racer" and will always race'.

Maldonado should have had more of a punishment than a 20 second time penalty for this incident. It is not the first time that he has been punished for other infringements and it feels to me that Lewis Hamilton gets more harsher penalties tahn others. And before you all jump on the bandwagon - this is my opinion!!!

more pathetic journalism by Benson, Schumy has been Rosberg's match for large parts and has been mightily impressive in pure pace.

Trying to take away hypothetical positions in races just because it's Schumy is pathetic, utter rubbish, bitter journalism and it's no surprise that even when he was legitimately succeeding due to Mercedes finally giving him a reliable car that you'd STILL make it a negative article and take a pop at him for absolutely nothing.

You're a pathetic journalist and a pathetically bitter person Andrew, resign, you have no credibility.

@ 55 Whereas your comments are entirely rational, balanced and fully considered..?

I don't agree with everything Benson writes, but I'd certainly rather read what he has to say than your own somewhat bitter comments.

I love the way everyoen mentions his age yet also mention that there has been an upwards trend to his performances as time goes on - increased age comes with time does it not? The fact is, his age is irrelevant. He is as fit as any other driver out there and I can see no physical reason why he could not continue until he was at least 45. I'm sure Ross Brawn will get him another contract and I reckon it will be for another two years. He will be targeting 100 race wins, I believe that is what he came back for.

@54 Alun Rees wrote:

Maldonado should have had more of a punishment than a 20 second time penalty for this incident. It is not the first time that he has been punished for other infringements and it feels to me that Lewis Hamilton gets more harsher penalties tahn others. And before you all jump on the bandwagon - this is my opinion!!!
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Totally agree with this.

How can anyone in their right mind say its fair that Hamilton gets sent to the back of the grid for a technical infringement after legally getting pole on his previous lap and Maldonado gets a pathetic grid drop for using his car as a weapon in Spa and another pathetic 20 sec penalty for an extremely rash and dangerous move in Valencia.

We see this time and again and just looks like a person of influence with the stewards does not like Hamilton.

I am a Schumi fan, and like countless others, have grown somewhat tired of the criticism heading his way. But then I guess with BBC once employing both Brundle and Coulthard to comment on MSC's performances, we shouldn't have expected a neutral view.

Yes, he may not be the same driver as he was ten years ago, but let's give the guy some credit.

He's mixing it in the top 6/8 on a regular basis with a top 4 car and at the age of 43. He's been extremely unlucky with reliability this year, but he's still managed to set some records for being the oldest driver to get on the podium (since 1970) and for setting the fastest lap at Monaco.

That in itself, deserves some praise.

Final point; Benson completely ignores what else MSC brings to Mercedes, and that is knowledge and car feedback, which plays a crucial part in developing the car. He's the best in the business at this, so providing he can keep matching Rosberg, I think he'll retain his place for 2013.

@f1fan01 "Benson came up with "Engine dispute threatens F1 schism" which was so boring and far away from the main talking point that it only generated 90 comments."

Better to have an interesting blog with decent posts back discussing F1, than a blog full of nonsense posts from the few radically obsessed Hamilton 'fans'/stalkers or Button haters etc. Anyone agree?

@f1fan01 actually in isolation the maldonado penalty was right..but he does deserve something like a race ban if it continues

@58 Firstly I want to say I agree Maldonados penalty was pathetic, an should have been a grid penalty. However can we please get off this topic about Lewis in Spain. The rules state you have to get back to part ferme after qualifying. If you don't it's automatic disqualification. If it had been Button, Vettel or anybody else the same penalty would have applied. It's Mclarens stupid own fault for not calling him in when he had set that fast lap on the first qualifying lap. Whether the punishment fits the crime I don't know, but the rule is the rule, it was nothing against Hamilton. He didn't getback to part ferme so disqualified, end of

i think that mercades should sign di resta and tell shumi to retire. i also think that massa should be dropped from ferrari and give webber his last season at ferrari and hamilton should go to red bull and sign him on a 5 year longterm deal and put perez in a mclaren

55. At 11:16 26th Jun 2012, joemercersway wrote:
more pathetic journalism by Benson, Schumy has been Rosberg's match for large parts and has been mightily impressive in pure pace.

Trying to take away hypothetical positions in races just because it's Schumy is pathetic, utter rubbish, bitter journalism and it's no surprise that even when he was legitimately succeeding due to Mercedes finally giving him a reliable car that you'd STILL make it a negative article and take a pop at him for absolutely nothing.

You're a pathetic journalist and a pathetically bitter person Andrew, resign, you have no credibility.
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Can't argue with this at all. Benson lost his credibility a long time ago when he made the fatal journalistic mistake of allowing his personal like of Jenson and dislike of Schumacher and Hamilton to affect how he writes articles.

The only one worse than Benson was Sarah Holt who thank god no longer works for the BBC.

I say Benson should go the same way as Holt and the BBC should start to rebuild its tarnished reputation by getting someone balanced, knowledgeable and objective to take over. If the competitor channel can do it then why not the BBC?

@43

It's been covered enough anyway by people's posts in here, and lets face, any article about Jenson is just going to be the green light for hundreds of comments from both camps slagging each other off.

Personally I dont see why people get so worked up about the Jenson v Hamilton debate.

Yes Jenson is on a downer at moment, but Lewis had a pretty rank end to 2011.
Think someone posted an interesting comparison on the previous blog (yes I don't know why this one has followed so soon after) comparing both Jenson and Lewis at Mclaren, on the face of it, statistically at least they are very evenly matched, with Lewis just edging it by about 30 pts over the 2 1/2 years they've been team mates.

@55 No sure why you attack Andrew Benson
The whole story is quite balanced and only a bit sceptical.
But any team is certainly not seeing a 44 year old as perfect fit.
And Michael also certainly passed his peak.But away from that he is still a TOP driver
and only Seb,Lewis and Fernando would beat him in the same car.
SO dont underestimate Nico Rosberg he is very good otherwise he would not be
on the same level with Michael

@janner not a button "hater" but what gives when the "chief" writer of bbcf1 doesn't discuss about the particular failings of a british driver but wastes no opportunity in tarnishing the reputation of drivers he doesn't like .

40. At 10:38 26th Jun 2012, Digital2 wrote:

I hope Shumacher stays, he is still mixing it with guys nearly half his age, I am sure he will win more races this year, Benson, Brundle, Jordan, have always been so negative about him, the fact that he is the greatest F1 driver of all time some how bothers them, Brundle hasnt even won a race in F1, they should appreciate the tallents of Schumacher, Senna was a great driver but, but not as great as Shumacher, check out the stats.

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This is coming from the person who:
1. Can't spell Schumacher when the name is just a scroll upwards away
2. Really doesn't know that had Senna not have died he had 2 or 3 more Championships left in him
3. This would mean Schumacher would not have had the 2 Championships he won in '94 and '95 as they went to Senna

LOOK AT THE STATS NOW!

If you look at how many points Schumacher has lost this season through retirements, it must be enough to have given him a fighting chance in the championship. Certainly if Alonso finishes every race this season, I'd see a tight battle between him and Vettel for the championship.

As for Button, maybe he should go back to the pre-barcelona spec car. He was comfortable in that car with the more elegant and lower nose. Since McLaren have raised it and made it look like the one on the Lotus to get better airflow under the car, he's struggled quite a bit.

67. At 11:44 26th Jun 2012, standupforthechampions wrote:

@janner not a button "hater" but what gives when the "chief" writer of bbcf1 doesn't discuss about the particular failings of a british driver but wastes no opportunity in tarnishing the reputation of drivers he doesn't like .

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I completely agree. Benson wastes no time in slagging off other drivers who had one off day, yet as a Formula 1 follower he can't see how dismal Button's form has been. That's impossible, obviously he has at least noticed this but been too embarrassed to write.

62. At 11:34 26th Jun 2012, Forza_Ferrari wrote:
@58 Firstly I want to say I agree Maldonados penalty was pathetic, an should have been a grid penalty. However can we please get off this topic about Lewis in Spain. The rules state you have to get back to part ferme after qualifying. If you don't it's automatic disqualification. If it had been Button, Vettel or anybody else the same penalty would have applied. It's Mclarens stupid own fault for not calling him in when he had set that fast lap on the first qualifying lap. Whether the punishment fits the crime I don't know, but the rule is the rule, it was nothing against Hamilton. He didn't getback to part ferme so disqualified, end of
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The problem here is not the penalty as the rules are clear.

My issue is and has always been the fact that Force Majeure was not accepted by the stewards. It was a stupid mistake by McLaren but a mistake that the stewards fully knew would not have changed the quali result as Hamilton had already legally got pole on his previous lap. To apply such a severe penalty for a technical infringement that had no effect on the outcome of quali was completely over the top and rightly gets people asking questions.

I started reading this thinking benson was being positive about MSC, but only he could spin a podium spot into potential retirement!

Yes, Michael lucked into a podium, although he may have got past Hamilton anyway for 4th. But surely to god he deserved that after the poor reliability he's had this year. And what about Jenson, did he luck into 8th!

But surely if there was to be any article about a driver leaving F1 then surely that would have to be the abject Massa!

@f1fan01
"How can anyone in their right mind say its fair that Hamilton gets sent to the back of the grid for a technical infringement after legally getting pole on his previous lap..
We see this time and again and just looks like a person of influence with the stewards does not like Hamilton."

You're talking nonsense, again.
That's the rule for a 'technical infringement'. Nothing to do with it being Hamilton. It is in in the rules as McLaren cheated with Hamilton's pole lap in Canada 2010 which changed the qualifying rules. Understandable really as a car with 2 and a bit laps of fuel is much lighter over a qually fast lap than a car with 3 and a bit laps for fuel that does the out, fast and in laps.

Team mistake = technical infringement = back of grid.

Nothing to to with the stewards, the only thing Hamilton should be angry about this one is it is yet another case of his McLaren team messing up his season.

@67 If Benson has no credibility how exactly is he tarnishing reputations? None of the Benson haters take him seriously anyway and do you honestly think people that matter in F1 are reading these blogs and basing their decision upon them?
Will Ross Brawn will sit there with lap charts, pages of telemetry and Andrew Benson's blog while deciding whether to renew Schumi's contract...

"a man who could consistently dance on a limit beyond that of anyone else"?

Er, Hakkinen and Alonso were both better than MS during the latter's first career - comfortably beat him, arguably in inferior cars. While MS's powers will undoubtedly have waned with age, more pertinent is that the competition is somewhat tougher than being limited to Eddie Irvine in the sister car..

69. At 11:45 26th Jun 2012, Charlie wrote:

As for Button, maybe he should go back to the pre-barcelona spec car. He was comfortable in that car with the more elegant and lower nose. Since McLaren have raised it and made it look like the one on the Lotus to get better airflow under the car, he's struggled quite a bit.

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Well noticed! I completely forgot they upgraded the car, true he was much more competitive in the Pre-Barcelona spec but what about Malaysia?

Why are people suggesting Schumacher 'lucked' his way into a podium - As i remember, he used his strategy to perfection, passing 5 or 6 car on merit in the last 10/ 15 laps, and earlier on in the race was able to fend off all threats from behind when his tyres were going off. He definitely deserved the result he got and considering how he's done this season i highly doubt that if Schumacher wants to carry on, Mercedes would deny him.

Anyway, if Schumacher got lucky, then by that logic, Alonso got lucky cause Vettel retired, Kimi got lucky because Vettel & Grosjean retire, plus he escape an obvious penalty and Webber got lucky for same reasons Schumacher did. In fact, they all got lucky because of the safety car - Formula 1 has nothing to do with luck and if Schumacher didn't race as well as he did on Sunday, he wouldn't have achieved the result he did.

Carry on racing my friend until you feel necessary.

Actually the stewards are very leniant towards Hamilton:-

For the Turkish Grand Prix in 2010, Hamilton was sporting black studs in each ear on the grid before the race, however despite FIA policy prohibiting the wearing of earrings and jewellery at grand prix, the FIA stated that they had no issue with Hamilton's freshly pierced ears.

Lucky lucky lad. That would have been a 3 race ban, mandatory one year placement with the HRT team, 100 million euro fine and stripped of all previous race wins and championships had it been any other driver.

The question really, which I suspect is unknown to everyone outside of Mercedes, is how strongly is the car's development being influenced by Schumacher? Finally in a competitive car, Schumacher's performances have been solid this season and it is mostly reliability issues which have scuppered his chances of points.

If Mercedes are happy with Schumacher's contribution, why would they want to replace him? Rosberg has shown when the car's performance comes together over a whole weekend that he can win races, so the team need to work on making the car more consistent. Both drivers have helped them get this far, so I doubt either is under threat.

It's also a bit early to be talking about Button being dropped. We're not even halfway and with the field so close, it only takes a driver to have a couple of dominant races while everyone else takes points off each other and suddenly he can find himself challenging. If Button can get himself where he was for the season opener, then he can easily challenge for podiums and wins. It's far-fetched but if Mercedes magic half a second in performance and everyone else stays close, Schumacher could find himself back in the picture. There's a long way to go yet.

@68

Too many what "if's" surrounding what Senna would have gone on to end his career with had he not been killed. You can't take 2 titles away from Schumacher on the basis of Senna still being around. You do the same to Hakkinen when Schumacher broke his leg at Silverstone, he only beat Irvine by a couple of points, what would Schumacher have managed with a full season?

Comment 1: what a load of nonsense

@74 i meant his reputation among fans not the f1 paddock..and there are quite a few gullible souls who believe benson

@68

"Really doesn't know that had Senna not have died he had 2 or 3 more Championships left in him".

Great driver, but this is absolute tosh. Senna was past his best when he died.

And tiddler 27, do you remember what the Ferrari was like before 1998? - It was awful, and in 96 when Schumacher joined the team, they'd only had 2 wins in 3 years - By the end of his first year with ferrari, Schumacher had scored 3 wins, and every single year for the next 10 years (other than 2005), he was able to challenge for the championship, beating Alonso, Hakinnen and every other driver in the field on a regular basis - It's arguable that if it wasn't for the engine failure Schumacher suffered at Japan 2006, or Coulthard's break-testing in Belgium 1998, he would've won his 8th WC.

You can't knock a man who's had as much success as Schumacher.

I'm of the opinion that Di Resta will turn out to be no better than Rosberg. However I think Michael will decide for himself to retire and PDR will get promoted regardless.

Nevertheless I think MS will leave the sport with his reputation as a driver intact and his reputation as a man arguably improved so all in all it has been worth it. I suspect he knows that he won't get a chance to fight for titles in the future.

@82 Anyone who is stupid enough to harbour an opinion based on one journalist is probably too stupid to hold a conversation with other humans anyway, so among people who actually know anything about Formula One Schumacher's reputation won't be badly damaged at all. Besides, the extent of Benson's Schumacher hating and Button loving is exagerrated by a lot of people on here. Until he writes an article slating Jenson Button he will be labelled a JB fanboy by many.

@74 I actually laughed out loud at that :)

@71 can I ask if it had been Alonso in the Ferrari in the same situation, or Vettel in the Red Bull would you be arguing this so much? It wasn't a force majure, force majure would be if the fuel pump broke so it was out of the teams hands, or if their was a leak on the car so a sudden loss in fuel, the fact is the team didn't put enough fuel in the car, due to a mistake not a technical problem. Therefore force majure cannot be enforced. Do you not understand this is a team sport and the team made an error therefore force majure cannot be enforced? Frustrates me that this is still being talked about, because people are convinced everyone is down on Hamilton.

@78 this also made me laugh out loud

I would offer him a 3 years contract with an opt clause for him to end it when and if he wants it.

1st: Mercedes wouldn't have the decision to make and they can be confident he d quit if he feels he s not up for it anymore.

2d: he wouldn't have to face (at least in the next two seasons), only 3 months into a season, talks about him retiring.

3d:i don't think Hamilton would have a better input in developping a car than Schumacher. Rosberg-Schumacher thus being as far as i m concerned one, if not the best partnership in the current market.

4th: Di Resta? Still has a lot to prove. And on past seasons form why would he be above drivers like Maldonado, Perez or Kobayashi?

@67 I do think it's valid to do an article on Jenson, but I'd rather see it as a report from Gary Anderson than a Benson blog with hundreds of hateful comments and ha ha told you so's beneath it. Not because I'm a Jenson fan, which I'm not, unless being a Jessica fan counts ;) More because I'd like to read more interesting F1 comments and less constant 'my driver is better than your driver' comments in Benson's blogs.

It'd be nice to know what Gary thought were the technical engineering reasons behind McLarens problematic car to try to explain Jensons shocking tyre and car issues, why Jenson went from so good in Oz to so bad, and why Hamilton wrecks his tyres in one race and can do a brilliant tyre preservation one stop in another!?!

I suspect nobody really understands the reasons fully so it is hard to write about but it is more than just Jenson is mentally shot because Hamilton is on better from than his 2011 shocker.

One thing is for sure, with the Red Bull upgrades looking fast, McLaren and Ferrari better step up for Silverstone, and so should Jenson as it would be a shame to have a pitlane without Jessica...

Talk about Schumi inheriting a third place all you like, he was running third in Australia comfortably beating Nico then his car died. He was due a bit of luck, no question.

@89 I agree on every point you've made entirely, except the Jessica bit lol

@83 "Great driver, but this is absolute tosh. Senna was past his best when he died"

This is complete nonsense. Look what he did in 1993 with the poor McLaren, he won the final race in Australia then. He also took pole at every race in 1994 till he died. The Williams was noted as being shockingly tough to drive in 1994 after the massive rule changes removing all the gadgets they had in 1992/3. Newey sorted out the car later on in the season and Hill started winning, Senna would have raced it better than Hill.

In fact I don't think Schumacher took a single pole position when Senna was alive. Such a shame we didn't get to see them racing for a few more years though.

89. At 12:09 26th Jun 2012, janner_ wrote:
@67 I do think it's valid to do an article on Jenson, but I'd rather see it as a report from Gary Anderson than a Benson blog with hundreds of hateful comments and ha ha told you so's beneath it.
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Interesting that you seem to forget or have no problem with the multiple negative blogs Benson wrote at the drop of a hat last year on Lewis.

Let me ask you a question...

They are both British, they both drive for the same team but if Hamilton is performing poorly, Benson instantly slates him with blog after blog. If Jenson is performing poorly.......SILENCE (or the mention of a previous win).

So what is the difference between them that warrants such different treatment?

Am I the only one who thinks that Jenson's downturn in form has coincided with Ron Dennis's return?

Someone said "It's also a bit early to be talking about Button being dropped. "

Which is true but its not too early to be talking about Button!

Benson please note.

Is this the same Andrew Benson that pretty much claimed Schumacher was finished?

As it is, even as a Schumacher fan, he probably should retire again after this season - only he knows himself though whether he has another season in him. If he's still fit enough and hungry enough, why not.

@78 Regarding Lewis Hamilton getting his ears pierced, F1's governing body insisted it has "no concerns" about the ear studs worn by Lewis Hamilton during free practice in Turkey. The other known talented driver on two wheels Valentino Rossi also sports a much larger earring and the MotoGP who has the same standards also insisted that they had no concerns with this. So your ridiculous assumptions that anybody other than Lewis Hamilton would those stupid penalties imposed on them are thrown into the quagnire where they belong.

@93 No-one really knows why Button isn't performing this year, not even him. Some kind of technical issues that would be best explained by Anderson. Button's private life is stable, unlike Hamilton's last year. When Hamilton wasn't performing it was because he kept driving in to people. Long and short of it is that Hamilton's struggles last year were more 'interesting' than whatever is causing Button's perennial balance problems.

@F1fan01 will you explain how force majure applied to Hamilton in Spain or have I got you beat on that one?
Its so obvious you are a massive Hamilton fan and I have no problem with that, but what frustrates me with you is that if anyone says anything slightly against Hamilton it means we are haters. You need to widen your opinions beyond Hamilton as there is more to F1 than just him.
I like the guy, good hard racer, doesn't give up, was disappointed in his attitude last year, but has bounced back amazingly. I like Jenson also he seems like a genuine guy, worked hard to earn the Mclaren drive but has his faults with how much he sometimes complains. It's okay to like both of them, and an article about Schumacher has once again turned into Hamilton vs Jenson. Janners point is valid and plus Gary Anderson would write a much better column on the issue anyway.
Take off your Hamilton tinted glasses just for a while please

@95 I agree, but sadly we will have to wait for a very long time before Andrew Benson writes anything for and against Jenson Button!!