Mercedes GP chief backs Schumacher despite flop comeback

London: Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher has been given a vote of confidence by his Mercedes Grand Prix team chief Norbert Haug despite a nightmare start to his comeback.

Schumacher finished sixth and 10th in his first two races in Bahrain and Australia after three years out of the sport, and has also been outraced by team-mate Nico Rosberg. However, Haug insisted: “Michael is as good as ever. He has got it still.”“He could sit on his sofa saying, ``Nobody won more than I did`` - but this is his passion. But he is a more relaxed guy than ever, he has fun, he is a very good team member, team player,” a newspaper quoted Haug, as saying. Haug further said that Schumacher is back in the F1 to be competitive, and reiterated his claims that Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was blocking the German in qualifying last Saturday. “If you look at the times, if you look at qualifying, Michael was handicapped behind Alonso. It is fair to say it was a very comparable lap to Nico, who I think is one of the highest-rated guys of the current generation, with four years` experience,” Haug said. “We have one of the strongest driver pairings in the field. It is up to us to improve the package further. It is fair to say we improved it on this track compared to Bahrain,” he added. ANI