From GMM

Michael Schumacher's confirmed three years Mercedes deal is not universally popular. Even among those representing Mercedes-Benz, Schumacher's return to formula one is not unanimous.

Uwe Werner, a member of parent company Daimler's supervisory board, said the decision to pay the seven time world champion 7 million euros a year is "hard to justify".

"For many colleagues, it is unimaginable," he told the Frankfurter Rundschau daily, referring to the car sales crisis and Mercedes' decision to move some of its operations abroad.

"The staff would have better understood if Mercedes had left the F1 altogether," Werner added.

Reports quoted Mercedes' competition boss Norbert Haug as responding by saying Schumacher's signing will improve Mercedes' image and contribute to the sale of many road cars. "We believe we know how to invest our money," he told ZDF television.

Meanwhile, after the collapse of plans for a common 2010 car launch event, Mercedes GP team looks set to reveal its new single seater in Stuttgart late in January, probably at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Unterturkheim.

Both Michael Schumacher and his countryman and teammate Nico Rosberg will be present.

Bild am Sonntag also said Schumacher is not scheduled to test the car until 10 February at Jerez. The first group test of the winter pre-season period will take place more than one week earlier than that at Valencia.

Damon Hill, Schumacher's fierce championship opponent of the mid 90s, told the BBC: "The suspicion was always that Michael got a little bit of favouritism from the FIA. I think the FIA are going to have to be on their toes to make sure that there is no suspicion of that (favouritism) in the coming season."

Schumacher, to turn 41 on Sunday, retired from the grid at the end of 2006, and his then Ferrari boss Jean Todt is now the president of the FIA.