FRANKFURT: Michael Schumacher says he wants to win the Formula One championship with Mercedes within the next three years.
The 41-year-old seven-time champion who is coming back after three years in retirement says winning the title is the goal in his long-term plans.
Schumacher told the Thursday edition of Bild newspaper the title may not come in his first season but that it was a realistic goal over the next three years.
“In our long-term plans, we have a clear goal: I want to be world champion with Mercedes GP,” Schumacher said.
“Perhaps it won’t work out in the first year but it’s realistic over three years,” Schumacher said.
Schumacher said he had not been planning a comeback until his former team Ferrari asked him to step in temporarily for the injured Felipe Massa.
That comeback attempt fell through because of the lingering effects of a neck injury Schumacher suffered in a motorcycle crash.
“Actually, I shut the book on a comeback for good when I turned 40. I was more bored than frustrated during my recent visits to the races. Then came the (Ferrari) situation in the summer and Ross Brawn’s inquiry in November,” Schumacher said.
Brawn, Schumacher’s former chief strategist at Ferrari, headed the title-winning Brawn GP team last season and will remain in charge after its purchase by Mercedes.
