Schumacher's future still undecided

Ferrari's strong start to the season in Bahrain prompted speculation that Schumacher was already convinced that he wanted to extend his current deal with Ferrari, which runs out at the end of this year.

But speaking after the Malaysian Grand Prix, Schumacher made it clear that he was still biding his time about his future plans.

"From my side, nothing at all has changed, so I am afraid I have nothing to report on that side," he said.

When asked whether his feelings expressed in the winter that he would remain at Ferrari if the F248 was competitive, Schumacher responded: "I am sorry to make you wait, but people should understand if I want to chose the time to make my decision myself."

Schumacher's stance has been backed up by his manager Willi Weber, who claims there is no point even beginning talks with Ferrari until his driver is sure that he wants to stay in F1.

"I'm not holding talks with Ferrari because in order to do that I'd need to know exactly what Michael has on his mind, that is whether he wants to carry on or if he'd rather quit," he was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport. "At the moment he hasn't decided yet and he won't do so before the summer."

Schumacher's decision will be central to the F1 driver's market, with Ferrari unlikely to pursue other options until they have a definitive answer from the seven-times world champion.

Kimi Raikkonen remains strongly linked with the team, and his decision will almost certainly depend on the relative competitiveness of McLaren and Ferrari this year.

Raikkonen's manager Steve Robertson told autosport.com that they were also in no rush to decide their future plans - having also been linked to Toyota.

When asked which teams they were speaking to, Robertson said: "I'm not going to be specific, but you don't have to be a genius to work it out.

"We've got time. We're in a strong position. He (Kimi) is the driver everyone wants. Once Kimi and Schumacher are sorted that's when everything else falls into place."