Reports in the German media suggest that Michael Schumacher has already signed a new contract with Scuderia Ferrari and that he is happy to accept Kimi Raikkonen as his team-mate next year. The unconfirmed reports believe that Schumacher has signed a two year extension to his contract, for 2007-08, as his existing one expires at the end of this year.

In public the German seven-times F1 World Championship has only said that he will decide whether to retire or continue around mid-season, making it clear that his decision will depend on Ferrari providing him with a competitive car this year. In Bahrain at the weekend the Scuderia demonstrated it was back in the title hunt after a lacklustre 2005, with Schumacher sweeping to pole position in the new 248 F1 chassis, and finishing the Grand Prix second to Fernando Alonso by just 1.2 seconds. "There will be no announcements before summer," Schumacher's manager Willi Weber told Bild newspaper in Bahrain. "But it is clear that positive results, like the one in Bahrain, will have a positive effect on any discussions," he added.

The Bild newspaper also suggests that a deal has been done to sign Finnish F1 star Kimi Raikkonen, who has been persistently linked with a switch to Ferrari, and has been much reported to have already signed a pre-contract agreement. The daily newspaper quotes an unnamed McLaren source as saying that Raikkonen has already made his decision. His contract with McLaren ends this season and his decision is expected to be influenced by the reliability of his McLaren-Mercedes this year. At the season opening race at Bahrain over the weekend he suffered suspension failure in practice forcing him to start from the back, although a very strong drive on race day saw him scythe through the field to claim a podium finishing position. Current F1 World Champion, Spaniard Fernando Alonso, will switch from Renault to McLaren for 2007.

Meanwhile, at times a second place is worth more than a win, reckon Ferrari. This is the general opinion at Ferrari following the season's opening race in Bahrain. Though Fernando Alonso pushed Scumacher into runners-up position, no-one felt like it had been a disappointment. "I never thought that things would have gone so well from the very first race", declared the good-humoured, record breaking driver the evening after the race.
 

"If you consider how far behind we were at the end of last season, and how unlikely a win was, the Bahrain result seems phenomenal. We all know how difficult it is to make even the smallest progress in F1 and it is precisely for this reason that it is incredible to see what we were able to put together in order to bridge the gap. It is marvellous to see how the tiring and intense winter work has paid dividends and this, for me and for the entire team, is very pleasing. We couldn't have hoped for a better payback and greater encouragement ahead of the coming race. The motivation derived mainly from the fact that victory was well within our grasp. This was perhaps the only initial, though fleeting, reason to be downbeat."

After qualifying, Michael was only able to refuel for a lap less that he could have as he was too slow in qualifying (owing to the traffic on the track). He was not the only driver to suffer this fate and, had he been able to refuel a lap later, could have gone on to claim the win. "Naturally, it is a pity but, nonetheless, the positive aspects of the race prevail".

One plus point was that Ferrari proved to have regained it competitive edge. The result obtained increases the desire to challenge for top spot in Malaysia this coming weekend. "I see no reason why things shouldn't go well. We are all keen to kick on. I really cannot wait for this season's races. It will be a tight one but this is how it should be". Schumacher will leave for Malaysia today.