Ecclestone: Schumacher key to market

With speculation suggesting that Schumacher is eyeing a two-year extension to his current deal with Ferrari, Ecclestone believes that the German's final decision will have a big say on movements elsewhere on the grid.

"Everything revolves around Schumacher," said Ecclestone in Gazzetta dello Sport. "If he quits, and I don't think he will, Raikkonen will go to Ferrari.

"Otherwise Kimi, who in my opinion is the fastest driver in F1 today, will have to stay at McLaren, thus forming a super-pairing with Alonso. Or maybe he could go to Renault where, with Briatore, he'll be able to become World Champion as well."

Ecclestone believes that Schumacher's Ferrari team will be back on the pace this year, following their disappointing 2005 campaign, and he even thinks that the title could be heading Maranello's way.

"The way testing is going, it seems like Ferrari is about to have a great year," he added. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if the title would again go to Michael Schumacher, who might be getting old but still goes extremely quick. I also see McLaren and Renault doing well."

Ecclestone also believes that the sport as a whole will provide more of a spectacle in 2006 - especially because of the new knock-out qualifying system.

"I think with the new qualifying, Saturdays will be back to being exciting and lively. In the last few years, with just one car on track at the time, I got bored. And sometimes, I'm not joking, I risked falling asleep.

"Now there won't be time to catch your breath, the drivers will always be totally busy and the public will have fun, I'm sure."