Schumacher upbeat for next year

Despite a lack of podium finishes, Michael Schumacher insists he is happy with how things have turned out in his return to Formula One and is hoping a strong finish in the last two races will help him carry positive momentum into next year.

“The season is coming to an end and I have to say that I am very impressed with how our guys have coped with it, especially in the last few flyaway races,” the 41-year-old Mercedes driver said. “Even though we have not had any big developments recently, we have still delivered promising performances.”

Schumacher, who came out of a three-year retirement this season, arrives at the Brazilian Grand Prix boosted by two solid finishes in Japan and South Korea. He was sixth in the Japanese GP and fourth in the Korean GP, where he matched his best finish of the year. He also had been fourth in Turkey and in Spain.

“The characteristics of the Interlagos circuit are not too far away from those of the last races so we can go to Brazil in quite a confident mood,” the seven-time world champion said. “Our fighting spirit is good and we would like to finish the season in a positive way. So I am looking forward to going to Sao Paulo and hopefully achieving another result that I can be happy with.”

Schumacher is currently ninth in the drivers’ standings with 66 points, 56 behind Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg and 165 behind leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.

The seven-time champion never had to spend much time driving in the middle of the pack before he retired in 2006, but his strong results recently have given the team a boost for next season.

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn, who last year won the drivers’ and constructors’ championships with Brawn GP, is especially optimistic with the final two races and going into 2011.

“We have had a run of strong results recently, considering our relative performance position, and I am optimistic that we can continue the recent trend at the last two races,” Brawn said. “Of course this is not a position that we are happy with and we are working very hard to ensure that we are back where we want to be next year, challenging for race wins.”

Schumacher is a four-time winner at the Brazilian GP, but he hasn’t won at Interlagos since 2002, when he was driving for Ferrari. Red Bull’s Mark Webber won last year’s race in Sao Paulo.

Schumacher holds nearly all F1 records, including 91 victories in 267 starts going into Sunday’s race in Brazil.