Ferrari waiting on Schumi decision - 13th May 15:20pm GMT

Ferrari are happy to give Michael Schumacher as long as he needs to decide his Formula One future, technical director Ross Brawn said on Friday.

The 37-year-old seven times champion, the most successful racer in the history of the sport, has yet to say whether he wants to keep on racing after his contract ends at the end of the season. "I think someone of the magnitude of Michael gets as much time as he wants and we have to work around it," Brawn told reporters at the Spanish Grand Prix.

"We are not objecting and we are happy to wait this time. We'll see what happens."

Schumacher said on Thursday that his decision might not come until the end of the season.

Asked about the possible knock-on effect for other drivers linked to Ferrari, such as McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and Italy's MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi, Brawn replied: "We'll have to wait and see.

"Naturally we have discussed it at length and we are happy with what we are doing."

"I think Valentino's got some decisions to make and when he makes those decisions it will be something that will either be part of the consideration or not," said Brawn. "We are waiting for him to make a decision."

If both Schumacher and Rossi said they wanted to race for Ferrari next season then it would be a nice problem to have, added Brawn, who said his own future with the team would not be dependent on Schumacher's decision.