MICHAEL SCHUMACHER says he will drive for Mercedes in next year’s Formula 1 season because he is still hungry for another world championship title, the BBC reports.

The seven-time drivers’ championship winner returned to F1 this year after three years in retirement.

He contemplated a return for Ferrari last year after their driver Felipe Massa was seriously injured during the Hungarian Grand Prix. A neck and back injury prevented him from being fit in time to stand in, though.

Paddy Power gave Schumacher odds of 8/1 to win the championship when he announced his return for 2010, but this season hasn’t gone smoothly for the German. He had yet to score a podium finish.

Lewis Hamilton, who leads the drivers’ championship, is 109 points ahead of Schumacher.

Schumacher, 41, has a good record at the German Grand Prix, which takes place this weekend at Hockenheim, having won the race four times. Practice for Sunday’s race begins tomorrow.