Michael Schumacher’s brother has tipped the seven time world champion to keep racing beyond his 44th birthday.

Schumacher’s Mercedes deal runs out this year, but talks about a new contract for 2013 are yet to be discussed.

Ralf Schumacher, also a grand prix winner and six years younger than his more famous sibling, was asked by Bild am Sonntag newspaper about Michael’s recent anti-Pirelli outburst.

Asked if it was an overreaction to the fact his teammate Nico Rosberg was the first Mercedes driver to win in 2012, Ralf answered: “It has nothing to do with it.

“But for sure Michael came back to celebrate successes with Mercedes. And until he succeeds, he will not give up.

“I still see a lot of fire in Michael,” said Ralf Schumacher, now a DTM driver with Mercedes.

“He is pushing hard, as we saw as recently as Mugello last week.”

Ralf said Mercedes’ 2012 F1 car, the W03, is well built.

“I think we will see Michael on the podium soon,” he insisted.

“At some point, there surely comes a point when the body can’t do it any more. But when I look at Michael, that’s still a few years away.

“I certainly won’t be racing as long as he has,” he laughed.

Ralf Schumacher has ruled out following his older brother Michael back into formula one.

At the weekend, 36-year-old Ralf kicked off his fifth consecutive season driving a Mercedes in the German touring car series DTM.

He was a respected winner of 6 grands prix, driving most recently for Toyota in 2007, but despite his famous brother’s return to F1 with Mercedes, Ralf told Germany’s Der Westen that his own grand prix career “is over”.

“Formula one is exciting and beautiful, but the DTM is much more friendly, we don’t have to travel all around the world, everything is familiar.

“I like that,” the German said.

A prominent race engineer has returned to Williams for the 2011 season.
Spaniard Xevi Pujolar switched from the famous British team to the new Spanish outfit HRT last year.

At Williams, he formerly worked with the likes of Mark Webber, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher and most recently Kazuki Nakajima, and this year will engineer fellow Spanish speaker Pastor Maldonado, according to virutasf1.com.

Another departed HRT team member is press officer Tabatha Valls, who has moved to Virgin.

Niki Lauda has equated Red Bull’s apparent approach to the Abu Dhabi finale this weekend as akin to handing the title to Ferrari.

The energy drink company’s chief Dietrich Mateschitz has been quoted as insisting it is “never a possibility” that Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber will be asked to swap positions.

“It is a sporting choice, but in the end it is (Fernando) Alonso who will laugh,” Niki Lauda, pointing out another 1-2 result with Vettel in the lead this Sunday will result in the Spaniard winning the title, told ORF.

Even Jaime Alguersuari, the Spaniard driving for Red Bull’s second team Toro Rosso, said the use of a team strategy this weekend is “logical”.

“I’d be very surprised if they didn’t (use team orders),” he said on Spanish radio Cadena SER.

Pedro de la Rosa also thinks Red Bull would be mad to give up the opportunity of its first drivers’ crown.

“Everyone can think what they like, it is my opinion that they will (use team orders),” he said.

Ralf Schumacher does not agree.

“I doubt it,” answered the German when asked if he can imagine Vettel pulling over on Sunday.

“It would mean Webber becoming world champion at Red Bull before him, and defeats within your own team never feel good,” he told Bild newspaper.

So while Mateschitz has ruled out team orders, less clear is what the team feels about Vettel making his own personal decision to help Red Bull Racing.

“The drivers race for the team,” boss Christian Horner told Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten .

“Our drivers are team players and know that at stake is the biggest title in motor sport,” added the Briton.

“I don’t think it is a decision I will have to make. Ultimately, if he was in that position, it would be down to Sebastian,” said Horner.

Of course, all the speculation about team orders in Abu Dhabi could prove meaningless given that Fernando Alonso can guarantee a third drivers’ title if he just finishes second.

“The Ferrari should suit the track with its many fast straights,” said former Swiss driver Marc Surer.

De la Rosa agreed: “That is a weak point for Red Bull. It is also why McLaren will be very strong in Abu Dhabi.

“It is a far less suitable circuit for Red Bull than many people seem to believe,” added the Spaniard.

The Schumacher brothers are adamant Red Bull must now impose team orders if it wants to win the 2010 drivers’ world championship.

Their young countryman Sebastian Vettel looked set to take the points lead from his Australian teammate Mark Webber, who crashed on the slippery Yeongam circuit, after controlling Sunday’s Korean grand prix from pole position.

But Vettel also retired from the race with an engine failure, leaving him 14 points shy of Webber, who is now 11 points behind new championship leader Fernando Alonso.

With just two races to go, Ralf Schumacher thinks Red Bull’s new strategy should be obvious.

“Now Red Bull need to play a single card; Mark Webber,” the former grand prix winner, in Korea to commentate for German television, is quoted by Bild newspaper.

“Sebastian needs to get as many points as he can, but Red Bull must see to it that Webber gets the title,” Schumacher added.

Reluctantly, because it will be to the detriment of his friend Vettel, seven time world champion Michael Schumacher also said a team strategy must now be taken by Red Bull for the remaining Brazilian and Abu Dhabi grands prix.

“I’m sorry for Sebastian,” he told German television Sky. “I have to recall almost a decade ago, when everyone thought we at Ferrari were crazy to be thinking about the championship so early.

“But if Red Bull had done the same, their worry lines would be much smaller now,” added the German.

His reference to “almost a decade ago” must surely be about 2002, when Ferrari was roundly condemned for moving Rubens Barrichello aside so that Schumacher could take maximum points from the Austrian grand prix.

Ferrari implemented a similarly controversial strategy at Hockenheim earlier this year, and on Sunday Fernando Alonso moved to the head of the drivers’ title standings.

But Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was quoted on Sunday as saying he will not be making Webber the number 1 driver for the rest of 2010.

But he also told reporters at Yeongam: “I haven’t had time to look at all the mathematics and scenarios. It’s something that obviously we will look at pretty closely between now and Brazil.”

Vettel, however, made clear he is not personally ready to give up, even though his engine failure seriously dented his charge in Korea.

“It is very significant for the championship situation, but I am the last to give up,” German media quote him as saying.

Susie Stoddart has revealed she would like a formula one team to give her the opportunity of a proper track test.

The 27-year-old Scottish driver, whose partner is the Williams co-owner Christian ‘Toto’ Wolff, currently races a Mercedes in the German touring car series DTM.

“I dream about formula one,” Stoddart, no relation to the former Minardi owner Paul Stoddart, told the Austrian magazine SportWoche.

“I would at least like my first test. That’s what I really want to do. But I don’t want it to just be a PR stunt.

“I want to show them what I can do,” added Stoddart, who has also raced in Formula Renault and British F3.

She is currently 12th in the 2010 DTM standings, ahead of former F1 drivers Ralf Schumacher, David Coulthard and Markus Winkelhock, with two races to go.

Ralf Schumacher on Sunday indicated he thinks it is possible 2011 will be his older brother’s last season in formula one.

Mercedes this weekend denied reports that 41-year-old Schumacher could be shown the door is he again fails to match the pace of his teammate Nico Rosberg next season.

Currently, the seven time world champion is contracted to the end of 2012.

Asked about his brother’s full three-year commitment, former Williams and Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher, standing in this weekend for absent RTL commentator Niki Lauda, said: “You have to be realistic, and Michael is a realist.

“If he finds out next year that it is still not working, he will base his decision on that,” added the German.

Another rumour flying about at Suzuka this weekend is that Felipe Massa could leave Ferrari at the end of the year, even though Sebastien Buemi laughed at wild Italian reports indicating he might be the replacement.

“I will have a Ferrari engine but not a Ferrari car,” the Toro Rosso driver told BBC television.

And Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali also said it is “categorically wrong” that Massa, who failed to qualify inside the top ten on Sunday morning, is leaving the team.

Jarno Trulli is this weekend bidding to maintain a perfect qualifying record on the streets of Monaco.

Since his first visit to the Principality as a formula one driver in 1997, the 35-year-old Italian has never been outqualified by the occupant of the sister car.

His conquests include Ukyo Katayama, Olivier Panis, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Ralf Schumacher and Timo Glock.

His Lotus teammate in 2010 is Heikki Kovalainen, who has so far outqualified 2004 Monaco winner Trulli on two occasions.

Finn Kovalainen told Turun Sanomat: “I will just concentrate on my own performance.”

(GMM)

The former grand prix winner is in the Barcelona paddock this week as the team principal of the new GP3 team RSC Mucke, which has performed strongly in Spain.

Asked by Germany’s Bild-Zeitung, the 34-year-old refused to rule out one day turning his management skills to F1, where he won 6 of his 182 career grands prix.

“I am very interested in the view from outside of the cockpit,” DTM driver Schumacher admitted.

(GMM)

(GMM)  On the opening day of the fifth grand prix weekend of 2010, Michael Schumacher’s brother thinks the seven time world champion may have turned the corner.

6-time GP winner Ralf Schumacher, six years younger than the Mercedes driver, is in the Barcelona paddock this weekend as sporting boss of the GP3 team RSC Mucke.

Mercedes has heavily updated its 2010 car for the Spanish grand prix, including a longer wheelbase that is touted to suit 41-year-old Schumacher’s famous affection for strong front-end handling.

In morning practice, he was ahead of Nico Rosberg by more than three tenths, having been outpaced by the younger German in nearly every previous track session.

Schumacher looked comfortable and competitive once again in the afternoon.

“Here in free practice we have seen that everything for Michael looks a whole lot better,” Ralf told Sky television.

Apr.22 (GMM) Two more of Michael Schumacher’s supporters have backed the seven time world champion amid his currently lacklustre 2010 return to formula one.

On Wednesday, Bernie Ecclestone and Norbert Haug hit out at the negative reports about Schumacher’s form in the W01 Mercedes, and now his younger brother Ralf Schumacher is asking the critics to “lay off a bit” and “stay fair”.

“He himself knew that, after a three-year break, he could not go in and win again straightaway like before,” 34-year-old Schumacher told the German daily Bild.

“But the expectations from outside were, of course, very big. Clearly Michael probably hoped to be somewhat nearer the front after four races.

“With regard to the times he is not so far away as the points make it seem. I believe a good result is soon possible,” added Ralf.

David Coulthard said in the German press after Shanghai that the weekend had been “the darkest” in the 41-year-old’s entire career.

But on Wednesday, ahead of his debut in the DTM series this weekend, Coulthard insisted it is “ridiculous” to write off Schumacher now.

Niki Lauda said after China that the German’s performance had been “mediocre” but he thinks it can be remedied with “practice, practice, practice”.

And another former GP winner Jochen Mass, who raced in the 70s and 80s, said he is neither “surprised nor disappointed” about Schumacher’s current form.

“No one should forget that he hasn’t driven for three years and could do hardly any testing,” he told Express.

“We might not see the old Michael back again, but he can still be very good, further forward in the rankings and with a little luck winning again,” added Mass.