Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug has refused to rule out Michael Schumacher driving for the team next season.
Team principal Ross Brawn distanced the team from the reports over the weekend, describing them as “a fantasy of the media".
But speaking at a press conference to announce Nico Rosberg as a Mercedes driver for 2010, Haug refused to categorically rule out a Schumacher return.
“When will you ever say categorically anything in F1?” he said. “I fully understand that these speculations are ongoing as long as we don't announce who is driving the other car but that's what we have to live with.”
Mercedes GP chief executive Nick Fry was also non committal on the Schumacher rumours. “We've got nothing to add to that," he said. "We are here to talk about Nico Rosberg and we should stick with that subject.”
Fry, however, was keen to have a new driver in place within the next month.
“We don't have huge time pressure at the moment, but once one goes beyond Christmas and into the new year it becomes slightly more difficult with seat fits in time for the engineers to talk to the driver,” he said. “I would hope on the other driver to do it before Christmas purely for logistical reasons.
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