Michael Schumacher hopes that he can give his fans something special to celebrate in next weekend’s German Grand Prix when he makes what may be his final appearance as an F1 racer on home soil.
The 43-year-old seven times champion believes he and his Mercedes team have this season demonstrated the potential to challenge at the front and he hinted this week that he hopes to deliver a podium finish.
A good result might also help both Schumacher and Mercedes sort out a contract extension to ensure he remains with the team beyond the expiry of his current deal at the end of this year.
Team boss Ross Brawn last week said he wanted to finalise Schumacher’s future and hoped to have it sorted out by the end of F1’s summer break in August.
Schumacher, who has made no definite comments about his future plans, was clear that whatever he decides to do, he still feels he has plenty to offer both the team and a packed Hockenheim next weekend.
“This year is the first time that our Mercedes works team has been capable of racing right at the front and, because of that, we’re hoping for lots of support from the fans and to reward them with our performance,” said Schumacher.
“Hopefully we will see a lot of Mercedes colleagues in the grandstands and we want to do particularly well for them. We have set ourselves the clear target of giving everybody a reason to celebrate next weekend.”
Schumacher’s optimism is built on his resurgent recent form that saw him finish on the podium in third place at the European Grand Prix at Valencia and claim a grid spot of third last weekend for the British Grand Prix.
Brawn said he felt that the most important thing for Mercedes is to regain consistency after an ultimately disappointing performance at Silverstone.
“Our performance has been up and down recently, ranging from podiums to lower points finishes, and we need to work hard to improve our level of consistency and ability to challenge at the front of the field,” he said.
“I think Hockenheim’s layout should be more suited to the car than the high-speed Silverstone layout and we are bringing some further improvements to the car which should help our performance.
“It would be very special to achieve a good result in Germany so we will be working hard to achieve just that.”
Brawn added that he is not looking at his options for a replacement for Schumacher yet because he wants to deal with the German’s situation first.
“We are focused on Michael for as long as it takes,” explained Brawn. “Then we will see where we are elsewhere.”