Mercedes has played down speculation in the international media that Michael Schumacher will be driving for the newly-branded outfit next year. The 7-time World Champion, who drove for the German marque in sports cars before making his Formula 1 debut in 1991, had been linked with a full-time seat ahead of the 2010 season.

With Brawn GP becoming Mercedes GP and World Champion Jenson Button moving to McLaren, Schumacher has been tipped by several F1 insiders as the ideal team-mate to compatriot Nico Rosberg, who is also yet to be signed up for next year. Despite admitting that the possibility would be ‘a dream’, however, the silver arrows have revealed that a link-up with Schumacher will not happen.

“It’s clear that there will always be speculation as long as one cockpit is still free,” a spokesman for Mercedes, as quoted by Reuters, said on Saturday, “and some speculations are nothing but dreams which will not come true.”

A notable believer of a Schumacher deal was former team owner and BBC television pundit Eddie Jordan who, like F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone, believed that a deal may already be in place. With the smart money firmly on Rosberg, though, fellow countryman Nick Heidfeld is seemingly a likely candidate for the second seat.