im a big schumacher fan, but im realistic.... i think he'll do ok. i put down he might win 1 or 2 races, but thats my optimistic view, coming back a bit i think if he does grab a couple of wins it might not always be because schumi/brawn/mercedes was the fastest package.... more chance happenings of attrition (like breakdowns/crashes/penalties...very likely things in RB's case)
under normal circumstances though, i expect that a couple of podium finishes will be realistic results for him. i know he won 7 championships... alot of them when ferrari simply had the best car.... but i dont think anyone can just take 3 years out and then return to a car thats seen some pretty significant alterations, in a new team, and be immediately a dab hand at it. no thats just unrealistic and i think its unfair that people kinda expected that to happen....he's a very good, very smart, clued up driver with many tricks up his sleeve...but he aint god like.
whats more the mercedes isnt the fastest package on the grid....we are seeing now that really the brawn car wasnt all that special, it just took advantage of a loop hole everyone else failed to spot, once everyone caught it up it was just another car. i mean this is the ex-Honda team here.... they didnt make a fast car ever.
overall i dont think he'll add an 8th world championship, but id at least have a small bet on that in his final contracted year with the team...he would be up there fighting for the championship....he might come 2nd or 3rd perhaps. he has that awesome ability to make a team orbit around him and get them to give him exactly what he knows he wants, so i wouldnt write him off just yet and i wouldnt bet against him.
and yeah, the guys pretty much been there done that and got his name on all the trophies and all the records in the record book (pretty much). theres really not anything left for him to achieve and he certainly doesnt have to prove his worth.... he's just enjoying it and thats great.
i suppose some people might be a bit uppity about him driving for the sake of it, or drving just for his own enjoyment, but come on.... if your gonna have someone driving to scratch their own itch....you could do a lot worse that having schumacher be that someone.