Brawn: “Schumi will be back on the podium”

Ross Brawn returns to the Mercedes pit wall in Monaco this weekend: the Mercedes team principal missed the Spanish GP due to illness, but assures that he is now well.

His absence, however, triggered many rumors in the paddock: one claimed that he was seriously ill, while another wanted his absence to be due to Mercedes' disagreements with Bernie Ecclestone, due to the Concorde Agreement. “On Tuesday before Barcelona I felt ill so I went to the doctor and then spent a night in hospital for some tests. When I returned home, I decided on the advice of the doctors to give myself a weekend of rest, to make sure I was fit for Munich.", Ross Brawn told the German weekly Bild.

But during his absence a lot was said and the position taken by the CEO of Mercedes, Nick Fry, regarding a possible future replacement of Michael Schumacher with Paul Di Resta caused a sensation. “Much has been said and written”, Brawn acknowledged, “but we must not forget that we as a team disappointed in three out of five races, and we did not give Michael the means he should have. We have to do better. We saw Michael's true qualities again in the first race, so that's why I believe we will see him on the podium this year.". Regarding the contract extension for the former Ferrari driver, Brawn insisted: “When the time comes, we will sit together and talk about the future”.

Lorena Bianchi