Ecclestone: Schumacher Would Win Races in Red Bull Car

Bernie Ecclestone once again reiterated his belief that Michael Schumacher's poor performances at his return in Formula One are not the result of lost skills, but a rather poorly-designed car. According to the F1 supremo, the overall classification would have looked completely different with Schumacher at the wheel of a Red Bull RB6.

“He has found a much more difficult situation than he would have counted on. It's not a question of him, but of the car. If Michael was sitting in the Red Bull, he would immediately be as he was before,” said the 79-year old Englishman in a recent interview with Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport.

Of course, no one can dispute those comments, especially since the very people of Mercedes GP, headed by team boss Ross Brawn, admitted in recent weeks that the W01 challenger is not at the level they'd expected to be at this time of the season. Most importantly, the huge update introduced by the team in Valencia brought nothing new to the table as compared to Merc's rivals.

“The car is currently not fast enough. There are some things in the development that have not quite gone to plan,” said Schumacher's teammate Nico Rosberg, admitting himself that the 2010 car is not what he had expected prior to start of the season.

Additionally, Brawn confirmed that if the car doesn't evolve into a regular podium finisher in the upcoming few races, the Brackley team will likely make a decision on switching to the 2011 challenger.

In the overall classification, Schumacher is currently placed 9th overall, 97 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton and trailing his teammate by 41 points. Two weekends ago, on the unknown (for him) circuit of Valencia, he recorded his worst race finish in career, P15.