Eddie Jordan, the same man who broke the news that Michael Schumacher would race for Merc GP this season, says he has a "hunch" that the German won't be in F1 next year.
Schumacher's return to F1 after a three-year lay-off has been anything but successful as the seven-time World Champ has failed to even finish on the podium, never mind win a race. Added to that, he's been soundly trounced by his team-mate Nico Rosberg.
This has led to numerous reports - and denials - of Schumacher's pending (second) retirement. However, Jordan reckons it could be coming at the end of the year.
'There are too many indications that now give me the feeling he is reconsidering his commitment to his three-year contract'...
Eddie Jordan
"I've a hunch something fundamental has changed. I believe he is disillusioned and thinking of quitting," Jordan told the BBC.
"There are too many indications that now give me the feeling he is reconsidering his commitment to his three-year contract.
"There is far too much movement in the Mercedes motorhome involving managers from drivers from other teams.
"I have heard rumours that (team boss) Ross Brawn's continuity with the team is in doubt, which would be a huge blow.
"It's also rumoured that as a result of the lack of performance of the Mercedes car, expectations for next year within the team are not as high as they were at first.
"The (Rubens) Barrichello incident had an effect - he hadn't realised driver standards had changed so much, and that has surprised Michael.
"My guess is Michael has probably come to the conclusion that, despite his undoubted brilliance, just like this year he's not going to be able to drag that into being a winning car."
However, Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm insists he won't be quitting at the end of the season. But then again, this is the same woman who insisted he wouldn't be returning.
"Michael has no plans to quit at the end of the year," Kehm said.
"Michael is fully geared for next year. When he entered into the whole comeback scenario, he was fully informed about the situation with the car.
"That's why Michael chose it to be a three-year contract - you cannot expect to come back and win straight away in that situation.
"That's why he is not frustrated at all.
"Obviously he would have wished that the developments to the car improved its performance more than they did.
"But it is a three-year project to build a winning team and he is in the middle of the process."
