By Elmar Dreher Nov 22, 2009, 16:23 GMT
Stuttgart - Speculation is increasing that seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher could make a sensational Formula One comeback next season.
'I know that Michael spoke to Dieter Zetsche and Norbert Haug at the final race in Abu Dhabi,' Schumacher's manager Willi Weber told the German press agency dpa on Sunday.
Earlier former Formula One team boss Eddie Jordan told the BBC that Schumacher met with Brawn GP boss Ross Brawn, Daimler chief executive officer Dieter Zetsche and Mercedes motorsport Director Norbert Haug.
Haug remained cagy in an interview on Sunday, telling the Bild am Sonntag: 'Let yourself be surprised. I am pretty certain that our choice will keep you and your readers happy,' he said.
Mercedes had last week announced that they were taking over the majority shares in Brawn, which won both the constructors' championship, as well as the drivers' championship last season.
Haug added during the interview that there was always speculation in sport and especially if Formula One teams still had vacant driving seats.
'And there are dreams and that is good. But just because there are dreams, that does not mean they will happen,' he said.
Jordan, for whom Schumacher drove his first Grand Prix as a 22- year-old in August 1991 at the Belgium Grand Prix, told BBC: 'The possibility is being actively pursued and I believe it is going to happen.'
He added that he believed Schumacher would be driving until Mercedes choice Sebastian Vettel was free to join the team from his current employer Red Bull, with whom the youngster, who finished second in the title race this season, still has a contract until 2011.
Weber said that he did not know anything more. 'I do not want to add further fuel to the fire, but it is legitimate that wishes are mentioned.'
Schumacher, who is turning 41 on January 3, is said to have been offered a new contract by Ferrari, for whom he has been acting as consultant since retiring from the sport in 2006.
The German's media spokesperson Sabine Kehm said that Schumacher's return was unlikely, but did not say that it was out of the question.
There is much speculation that the new season will see a German- British duel in the sport, with McLaren, which will be racing with Mercedes engines, having already confirmed the 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton and his successor Jenson Button as their drivers for next year.
Mercedes, which will take over the Brawn team, is expected to soon announce Nico Rosberg as one of their drivers, while Nick Heidfeld could join him if Schumacher does not come out of retirement.
Schumacher, who won 91 Grand Prix races, was to drive the final races of the season for Ferrari this year after Felipe Massa's crash during practise for the Hungarian Grand Prix, but medical problems ruled him out.
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