Schumacher contemplates his exit strategy
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-13 13:56

Like all great sportsmen, he is now facing that most difficult of decisions -- how and when to end his career.

IDEAL SCENARIO

It would not be engaging in excessive mind-reading to guess that Schumacher's ideal scenario would involve him clinching his eighth world title before handing the keys to the famous red racing car to someone else -- maybe the massively marketable Rossi.

Perhaps Ferrari's version would involve a season of transition in 2007 with the German racing alongside the charismatic Italian and passing on all his experience to a relatively young man making the switch from two wheels to four.

But what if it goes wrong again with another poor start to the season by Ferrari? Would that really be the way he would like to exit the sport he loves?

The possibility of ending his career on a low might explain why he has refused to rule out a move to another team -- if Ferrari can't provide him with the grand finale to his career, perhaps someone else might.

And that slim chance of Schumacher delivering one final twist to his outstanding career will keep the paddock rumour-mongers busy for many months ahead.