Flavio Briatore, former Benetton boss of Michael Schumacher, believes that 7-time World Champion will have realised that returning to Formula 1 was a mistake by as early as the first pre-season test in February, adding that being able to keep up with the likes of new Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg could be close to impossible.
Briatore worked with Schumacher at Benetton as the German picked up his first and second world titles in 1994 and 1995. The Italian, who has been out of an active managerial role in the sport since the highly controversial ‘Crashgate’ race-fixing scandal of Singapore 2008, spoke to the official F1 website.
“I stick to what I said,” he commented, referring to his pre-season opinion that Schumacher should not make a comeback.
“I think when he signed the contract he honestly believed that it was the right decision - the same way I think that he already knew that it was a mistake at the first serious test.
“Then he awoke to the fact of how alarmingly fast these youngsters are today. At 41, you simply cannot keep up with Rosberg and all the other guys.”
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