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Schumacher in no rush to join GPDA

ESPNF1 Staff
March 17, 2010 « Fry has no concerns about Schumacher's form | »
Michael Schumacher has not decided whether he will join his fellow drivers on the GPDA © Getty Images
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Michael Schumacher has yet to rejoin the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) on his return to Formula One.

The GPDA is the equivalent to a drivers' union and has worked to improve safety in the sport in the past. Schumacher is one of the only drivers not to join the organisation this year but his manager said he backed its work.

"Michael still supports the work of the GPDA," said Schumacher's spokeswoman and manager Sabine Kehm, "but he is not sure if he will join again. After all, he took the lead in this area for years. Now he really wants the others, who have taken over in the meantime, to continue."

Some reports speculated that he does not get along with the current GPDA chairman Pedro de la Rosa, who upon returning to the F1 grid this year is considering whether to continue in the role. De la Rosa quit the GPDA in protest after Schumacher's Monaco qualifying incident in 2006. The GPDA met in Bahrain to discuss the issue of de la Rosa's ongoing chairmanship, but the meeting had to end early and was instead deferred until Melbourne next week.

Schumacher was central to the revival of the GPDA in the wake of Ayrton Senna's death in 1994.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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