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Michael Schumacher is poised for a sensational return to Formula 1 with the new Mercedes team, according to BBC Sport pundit Eddie Jordan.

Mercedes want the seven-time champion as their lead driver after taking over title-winning Brawn, Jordan says.

"The possibility is being actively pursued and I believe it is going to happen," said Jordan.

Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm told BBC Sport a return was "highly unlikely - but never say never".

The plan is for Schumacher to be a stop-gap before Mercedes can prise German rising star Sebastian Vettel out of Red Bull.

The move would reunite Schumacher with Mercedes GP team boss Ross Brawn, who masterminded all his seven titles at Benetton and Ferrari.

The German, who will be 41 in January, had to pull out of a temporary comeback to F1 last year as a replacement for the injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa because of a neck injury.

But Kehm said that while Schumacher had not had any new tests on his neck, it was expected to be healed by the end of the year.

Jordan said: "It started with a meeting between Michael, Ross Brawn and Daimler chief executive officer Dieter Zetsche at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"At the moment, it is not possible for Michael to drive for Mercedes because he has a consultancy contract with Ferrari.

"But I understand he was due to meet Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo with a view to him being released - and that it will be approved because it is in the interests of F1.

"I believe that is being planned at the moment.

"I understand Michael was due to meet Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo with a view to him being released - and that it will be approved because it is in the interests of F1." - Eddie Jordan

"I also believe Ross and Michael have spoken in recent times and that Michael likes the idea of driving a Mercedes run by Ross. It's a mouth-watering idea.

"Schumacher was bitterly disappointed he didn't get to come back to replace Massa - he's keen to race again. And this is a dream for both parties.

"Michael and Mercedes have go way back - he drove for their sportscar team before he raced in F1, and they were responsible for getting him in to F1. They paid the then Jordan team to give him his debut in 1991.

"He has won all these titles but never driven in F1 for Mercedes."

The Brawn team rose out of the ashes of Honda, which quit F1 in December 2008, and won the drivers' world championship with Jenson Button in 2009, as well as the constructors' title.

Mercedes's takeover was announced on Monday, but the team are looking for a lead driver following Button's decision to move to McLaren for 2010.
Ross Brawn chats to Michael Schumacher at the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix, with Mercedes sports boss Norbert Haug in the background
Brawn and Schumacher have achieved incredible success in F1

Signing Schumacher would be an ideal way for Mercedes to head off the negative publicity that has arisen from letting the world champion slip through their fingers.

A source close to Ferrari says the Italian team have yet to be asked to release Schumacher.

Schumacher's contract with the company was changed recently to remove him from any links with the F1 team, for which he was a consultant.

He is now an ambassador, consultant and test driver for the company's road car arm.

It is understood that during the summer Schumacher explored the idea of driving a third car for Ferrari on an occasional basis, but this is forbidden by F1's rules.

Kehm said Schumacher had given her no indication that he wanted to make a full-time return.

Vettel, 22, is contracted to drive for Red Bull until the end of 2011 and, while contracts are often broken in F1, Mercedes may not find it easy to buy him out.

Red Bull is owned by the soft drinks company's founder Dietrich Mateschitz who, as a billionaire, does not exactly need the money.

If the Schumacher deal does not come off, fellow German Nick Heidfeld is considered most likely to get the second Mercedes seat alongside Nico Rosberg, another German, whose contract has been signed but not officially announced.

But another possibility for Mercedes might be the highly rated Polish driver Robert Kubica.

He has signed for Renault, but the French company is deciding whether to continue in F1, with a decision due before the end of the year.

If Renault pulled out, Kubica would be on the market, and he might be an attractive option for Mercedes, who have moved to dismiss widespread claims that they are determined to sign two German drivers by describing their new F1 team as "global".

Andrew Benson

BBC Sport

Michael Schumacher's possible return to action with Mercedes in 2010 has been the hot topic in Formula 1 circles since BBC Sport pundit Eddie Jordan first put meat on the bones of the vague rumours last month - and it is now looking increasingly likely to happen.

Bosses at the Mercedes team have all scrupulously avoided dampening down the speculation in the last couple of weeks, with the latest remarks coming from chief executive Nick Fry, who said a comeback by the seven-time champion would be "very interesting".

And this morning, the German tabloid Bild reported that Mercedes had offered Schumacher a salary of seven million euros (£6.3m).

On top of that, my information is increasingly that Schumacher's return as Nico Rosberg's team-mate is looking like a done deal.

Jordan says he thinks it will now definitely happen - and he believes it is only subject to a medical examination by leading F1 physician Dr Johannes Piel on the neck injury that stopped him returning as a replacement for Felipe Massa last summer.

Other sources are pointing in the same direction.

One figure who until recently had a senior role at Ferrari, who would have to release Schumacher from his consultancy contract, is saying it is definitely going to happen.

And I received cast-iron information from a reliable source this morning about the plans of those potentially affected by Schumacher's decision that, shall we say, points very strongly to him driving for Mercedes in 2010. (If that sounds vague, I'm sorry, but I was told in confidence and cannot reveal any more).

Armed with this mounting evidence, I phoned Schumacher's media spokeswoman Sabine Kehm to ask her what was going on with her client.

She is normally very forthcoming - it was Kehm who gave me the information with which BBC Sport broke the story back in July that Schumacher would consider a return as a stand-in for Massa.

At the time of Jordan's remarks she said a return was "highly unlikely", but that she "would never say never". But this time, although as friendly as ever, she was unusually reticent.

"I haven't got any more to say," she said. "I don't want to tell you anything, for whatever reason. I don't want to go into it any more."

Is that because you have nothing to say, I asked, or because you can't say anything?

"Because I can't."

I realise that none of this is definitive evidence that Schumacher will be back in F1 in 2010. But I have to admit that, after being initially sceptical about it, I'm now increasingly convinced that it could well come true.

Michael Schumacher celebrates on the podium at Felipe Massa's karting challenge last monthSchumacher continues to go karting when he can - is it in preparation for an F1 return?

If Schumacher does come back, it raises a whole load of interesting questions. The first of those is probably why, when he will be 41 in January and has absolutely nothing to prove, would he want to?

Until Schumacher himself speaks, there is no definitive answer to that. But it is pretty obvious that the competition bug still bites him hard - he drives karts as often as he can, and won Massa's karting challenge in Brazil last month.

It would also be a neat book-end to his F1 career - Mercedes, for whom he was driving in sportscars at the time, paid for him to make his F1 debut with Jordan in 1991, but he has never driven in a grand prix for them. He would also be continuing his relationship with Mercedes GP boss Ross Brawn, who has masterminded all his seven titles, two at Benetton and five at Ferrari.

There is, though, also the issue of whether his neck has fully healed - but Kehm has already said that there is no reason to believe it won't have done by the end of the year.

Schumacher, Kehm and Brawn have all said that he is not interested in a new career. But that is not what this would be about, should it happen. At 41, any comeback by Schumacher is necessarily going to be short, but then this one only has to be.

Mercedes have already signed Rosberg for 2010 but, promising though the German is, he is not considered to be of the same calibre as Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who will be leading the challenges of McLaren and Ferrari, nor of Jenson Button, Hamilton's new team-mate, or Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull.

And although Nick Heidfeld, widely believed to be Mercedes's second choice as Rosberg's team-mate, is a consistent, reliable performer, he isn't either.

Vettel is Mercedes's main target - but they cannot have him for 2010 as he has a contract with Red Bull. That deal also lasts through 2011, but it is believed Mercedes will make strenuous efforts to prise the 22-year-old out of that deal during next year with a view to having him lead their team in 2011.

With that in mind, Mercedes need a stop-gap for 2010. And while Heidfeld would certainly be a decent one of those, he is not going to have the same impact, on and off the track, as Schumacher. After all, given the choice, who would you go for?

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Mercedes boss Nick Fry has dropped the strongest hint yet that Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher will come out of retirement to race next year.

The 40-year-old last raced in Formula 1 in 2006, but he has been strongly linked with a return to the sport with the renamed Brawn GP team.

Fry made it clear the seven-time world champion was top of his list, saying: "He would be very good for our team.

"The view from inside F1, not just my team, is they all hope it will happen."

Schumacher has been working as a consultant with Ferrari since his retirement, but the Italian team has confirmed they would not block him from joining Mercedes.

And although Schumacher has yet to comment on stories suggesting his move to Mercedes is a done deal, BBC Sport understands his return to F1 as team-mate to Nico Rosberg is looking increasingly likely to happen.

Fry added: "I can't tell you at this stage [if it will happen], unfortunately.

"A number of drivers are still available if Michael were to decide not to drive. Then there are alternatives that we would be happy to go with."

Schumacher almost returned this year as a temporary stand-in for Ferrari's Felipe Massa after the Brazilian's accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but the plans were dropped as he had still to fully recover from a motorcycle injury earlier in the year.

However, his neck is now thought to be fully healed, paving the way for his potential return, BBC Formula 1 commentator Jonathan Legard saying: "He's kept himself very fit and this has been in the background for some time.

"I bet if he's keen to do this he'll have at least a month-and-a-half of hard work done already. As I understand it it could happen before the end of the year."

I don't want to say any more, or talk about any plans he might have

Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabin Kehm

Schumacher's spokeswoman, Sabin Kehm, refused to comment, saying: "I don't want to say any more, or talk about any plans he might have."

But compatriot and Virgin driver Timo Glock believes Schumacher's return is a certainty.

"The flame is still there, it's still burning. For me, it is quite obvious he is coming back," said Glock. "There's still a lot of speculation, but in the end he is a crazy race driver and he wants to come back to racing.

"It's not enough for him to just do go-kart races, or go to the Race of Champions at the end of the year.

"For F1 and the fans it would be a big boost, a seven-time world champion coming back after three years out.

"It would be a mega highlight, and to drive for Mercedes, you would have a German driver in a German car."

Eddie Irvine, Schumacher's former team-mate at Ferrari, said the German had struggled to find an outlet for his ruthless competitive streak since retiring.

"He's been bored I think. Very, very bored and he's definitely up for it," Irvine told BBC Radio 5 live.

"I hope he comes back, it will be fantastic for F1.

"In F1, you're on show and got to perform, whereas in the real world it's months or years before you can get the same rush. Michael has been karting since he was four or five so he knows nothing else.

"He tried the motorcycle riding which was sheer madness because he wasn't very good and wasn't getting paid so I never understood that one, but F1 makes sense."

He's not at the peak of his game, but he's still good enough to win races

Eddie Irvine on Schumacher

However, Irvine added that while Schumacher would still have the speed to be competitive, younger drivers such as Lewis Hamilton could have a psychological edge.

"Lewis isn't going to back off, but Michael will have to because he'll be 41. The speed will be there, though he won't be as fast as he was seven years ago.

"He's not at the peak of his game, but he's still good enough to win races as he has such an immense talent. It's still four wheels, a steering wheel and an engine and there's never been anyone better than Michael."

While Schumacher would hope to be towards the front of the grid should he return, meanwhile, Glock has more modest ambitions for next season in a car making its championship debut.

"To beat Michael would be a good year for us, but we have to concentrate on ourselves, and not look at what others are doing," said the former Toyota driver.

"We have to focus on our job, that's what is important."

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Bernie Ecclestone says he would “be surprised” if Michael Schumacher isn’t now on the grid with Mercedes in 2010, as speculation surrounding a comeback for the German legend continues to gather pace.

The prospect of the seven-time champion coming out of retirement to make a full-time F1 return with the renamed Brawn team has intensified in recent days, with the German media reporting last weekend that the 40-year-old had agreed to a deal in principle.

Schumacher’s long-time employer Ferrari this week also confirmed it would not hold its former star driver to his consultancy agreement with the team should he want to drive for its rival carmaker.

Now F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has dropped a big hint that a Schumacher comeback is on the cards when asked by The Times if he thought Robert Kubica, in wake of Renault selling a large stake in its Enstone-based team, would become a Mercedes target if the Pole opted to turn his back on his Renault deal.

“Well, they’ve got Michael haven’t they?” Ecclestone said.

“They won’t want Michael and Kubica.”

Ecclestone, who added that he is “absolutely over the moon” about the prospect of F1’s most successful ever driver returning, admits he now expects Schumacher to be back on the grid for the first race of 2010 in Bahrain.

“I’d be surprised if he’s not driving for them but I don’t know if that’s fact,” he said.

“It looks like it’s going to happen.”

Although neither Schumacher nor Mercedes itself have either confirmed, or denied, the growing speculation about a reunion of their past relationship, Mercedes GP CEO Nick Fry this week admitted that the signing of the legend “would be very good for our team”.

Germany’s Bild newspaper reported on Thursday that Mercedes could test Schumacher in a GP2 car in Abu Dhabi before Christmas – as full F1 testing is banned until February and the manufacturer doesn’t have access to a two-year-old F1 car to test him in, as would be permitted under the regulations – before a full medical examination of his neck to see if the injury that curtailed his temporary comeback bid in the summer has now healed sufficiently.

And although there had been suggestions that a Schumacher/Mercedes deal could be announced as early as this week, Bild quoted Mercedes-Benz Cars chief Dieter Zetsche as saying that confirmation of Nico Rosberg’s team-mate wouldn't be made until the New Year.

“We have, in Nico Rosberg, an excellent driver and we will know at the beginning of the new year who the second [driver] is," he said.

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Michael Schumacher is planning a top secret test in the Middle East as the final step towards his Grand Prix comeback.

Having lured the legendary German away from Ferrari, his new bosses at Mercedes are desperately trying to keep the event secret.

Speculation on where it will be held has included Abu Dhabi, the stunning desert venue that staged the final round of the world championship in November, and Bahrain, which will stage the opening race of 2010.