‘Schumi paid price for dithering’

Michael Schumacher’s own indecision is reportedly what cost him his Mercedes drive and maybe his F1 career…

Michael Schumacher’s own indecision is reportedly what cost him his Mercedes drive and maybe his F1 career.

Undecided as to whether he wanted to remain in Formula One for another season or enter retirement for the second time, Schumacher was unable to give Mercedes a definitive answer at the end of the August summer break.

And that is when Mercedes approached Hamilton.

According to Press Association Sport, “Schumacher’s dithering on whether to re-sign with Mercedes for 2013 opened the door for the Brackley-based team to poach Hamilton.

“Fearing Schumacher would say no and with only slim pickings available at the end of the campaign, Mercedes pushed for Hamilton, ultimately winning out in the battle of the contracts with McLaren.”

Schumacher, though, was aware of the negotiations from the onset with the agreement being that if Mercedes were able to secure Hamilton’s signature he would bow out.

It’s not yet certain, though, if Hamilton’s move to Mercedes is the end of Schumacher’s racing days as the word ‘retirement’ was never mentioned on Friday while Ross Brawn later revealed the 43-year-old could take another role at Mercedes.

“I think Michael’s going to take a few months to think about things and reflect on things, to decide what to do in the future,” Brawn told Reuters Television.

“Michael’s been undecided for some time now in what to do.

“As Michael has been contemplating what he was going to do, then the opportunity to have Lewis join the team gradually increased, gradually grew to the point where we had to come to a conclusion.

“Michael’s very happy for the team but I think he is going to spend the next few months thinking about what he is going to do.

“There are opportunities within the team, within Mercedes for Michael to stay involved in some capacity or other, and he’s particularly interested in developing high performance cars, that sort of thing.”