Todt wants Schu, Brawn, for Ferrari top job

[The Stig]

Ferrari is hoping that Michael Schumacher or Ross Brawn will return to the sport full-time to succeed Jean Todt as team principal next year.

Frenchman Todt, 61, wanted to hang up his coat at the end of last season but opted to stay around to protect continuity as a raft of other long-term players departed the Italian marque.

But seven time world champion Schumacher's continued presence in the Ferrari garage has re-fired rumours in Monaco that he is being groomed for the top job.

"If you ask me if Michael has everything he needs to take on more responsibility, I would say yes. He has the right attitude, the right values, the right charisma.

"Simply, he does not want to do it," the newspaper Bild am Sonntag quoted Todt as saying.

He explained that, barely six months into his retirement as a driver, 38-year-old Schumacher is reluctant to take on a stressful role that requires up to 14 office hours a day.

Former technical director Brawn, meanwhile, left Ferrari for a 'sabbatical' at the end of 2006 but is due to meet with Todt in the coming weeks to discuss his possible return in a management role.

Todt admitted: "He is one of the people that we consider has the skills to do that.

"But that does not mean he will want to do it."