Michael Schumacher has admitted that age may be a factor in his struggle to get back up to speed after returning to formula one this year.
To date, having returned with Mercedes in 2010 following a three year retirement, the seven time world champion has explained his lack of results as due mainly to technical factors, including today's Bridgestone tyres and the characteristics of the W01 car.
But the German is now quoted by News of the World: "At the end of the day there are physics. How can a 41-year-old be as good as a top-level 23 or 24-year-old?
"I have experience and a high level of speed, but if it is the same as at my high periods in Ferrari I don't think we will ever know," added Schumacher.
"At Ferrari I had been working for ten years to make that level. This time I have been with a whole new team just for one year."
Schumacher, having won a record 91 grand prix victories between 1992 and 2006, has not appeared on the podium so far in 2010, and is 58 points behind his 25-year-old teammate Nico Rosberg.
