Schumacher will not have an easy season, say Ecclestone, Button

Author: 
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Publication Date: 
Sun, 2010-01-24 03:00

HAMBURG: Bernie Ecclestone rates Sebastian Vettel higher than Michael Schumacher, and Formula One world champion Jenson Button is also not sure whether the returning Schumacher will be a title contender.

Speaking in interviews published on Saturday, the F1 commercial boss Ecclestone said that Vettel’s team Red Bull was very strong, while Button said that the seven-time world champion Schumacher must get used to racing again after an absence of three years. “I say Sebastian Vettel. He could have won the championship last year, he should have won it. I am convinced that he is ready now,” Ecclestone told Austrian paper Salzburger Nachrichten.

Vettel finished second in 2009 behind Button, whose Brawn GP team also won the constructors’ title ahead of Red Bull.

Ecclestone, who attended the famous Kitzbuehel downhill ski race on Saturday, said that Red Bull were a first class team.

“The team deserves to win the title. It is in a position to do so,” said Ecclestone.

Ecclestone also rates Schumacher highly in his return to racing at the Mercedes GP team (formerly Brawn). The 2010 season starts on March 14 in Bahrain.

“I have no doubt that Michael will be more motivated than he ever was as a world champion. He will be super fit; otherwise he wouldn’t be doing this. I know that he is already working with the team and encouraging them to improve the car,” he said. Button, speaking with German daily Bild, also expects Schumacher “to be fast again” but said that racing has changed during his absence. “He will suffer surprises in Formula One as well, it is different than it was three years ago,” said Button.

Button has moved on to McLaren-Mercedes and like Schumacher will have to adapt to the new team.

“It always takes a while to get used to a new team, to get to know all the people and to find your place in it. I am experiencing the same thing. And it will be the same with Michael,” he told Bild.

Ecclestone, meanwhile, doubted whether all four new teams would really make it onto the Bahrain grid in March.

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