Ross Brawn vows to help Schumacher
The 41-year-old once again failed to impress at the Chinese Grand Prix yesterday, finishing 10th after starting ninth on the grid at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Schumacher was involved in one of the more thrilling battles during the race with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton but signs that he no longer possesses the fear factor on the circuit were highlighted by Hamilton referring to the tussle only as 'exciting as racing with any other driver'.
The German is now 10th in the drivers' championship and trails leader and yesterday's winner Jenson Button by 50 points, making his declaration in the build-up to the Shanghai race that he can challenge for the world title appear somewhat optimistic.
Teammate Nico Rosberg once again grabbed the glory for Mercedes with his second successive third place but Brawn has stood by Schumacher, promising to get the bottom of his pace issues before the next grand prix in Barcelona on May 9.
'With Michael, we clearly had a more difficult time but at least we got a point out of it,' he said.
'We have some issues that we need to understand as the deterioration of his tires and therefore his pace is a problem that we need to resolve before the next race.
'We haven't quite got the car at the moment but when we do, we know that we can get the job done.'
Mercedes-Benz Motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug, who earlier this month had stated Schumacher would not walk away from the sport due to his indifferent start to the season, is confident better results are just around the corner.
'It was not a good race weekend for Michael unfortunately,' he said.
'We will investigate what the problems were and I am convinced we will all see much stronger results from him rather sooner than later.' RTE Sport