Whitmarsh: F1 facing interesting new era

Whitmarsh sees Michael Schumacher's retirement after dominating the sport for over a decade as a positive move forward for Formula One, with the German's place being taken by young guns who are just now graduating into the pinnacle of motor racing.

"Inevitably, [Schumacher] has a following, particularly in Germany - but on the other hand, as one door closes another opens," Whitmarsh commented, when asked if Formula One would be hurt by the world champion's retirement.

"I think that with Nico [Rosberg], Lewis [Hamilton], Gary [Paffett], Heikki [Kovalainen] and [Nelson] Piquet [Jr], we've got an interesting rush of new blood, and I am sure those guys will be exciting to see as they develop.

"So if you want to take a critical outlook, then you now have a very strong and dominant driver like Michael, and that detracts from the show.

"But next year we are in for an interesting season. We all have the same tyres next year as well, so I am sure it is going to be a very interesting championship."

Whitmarsh drew short of making predictions on who will become the main contenders next season, and while he expects McLaren to be among the pace-setters, the Briton added there could be changes in the pecking order.

"It's difficult to predict who will be the real strong players there, but I think McLaren, Ferrari and Renault will be strong," he said.

"There may also be a surprise from one of the others - they are working hard. F1 has a lot of well funded, well resourced organisations so it isn't easy winning F1 races."