Ralf Schumacher could be poised to join his elder brother on the sidelines after admitting that talks about continuing racing in 2009 appear to be going nowhere.

After a much-hyped switch to the DTM, Schumacher managed only 14th place in the 2008 standings - albeit influenced by running a one-year old car after Mercedes showed him no favouritism over its existing pilots - and, with his initial contract expiring at the end of the year, is facing the realisation that his career may be over at the age of 33.

Despite Mercedes potentially having a couple of seats at the top of its tree opening up for the coming season - with Bernd Schneider retiring and Paul di Resta still being rumoured to have F1 options - Schumacher admits that talks with the Three Pointed Star have not yielded much positive news.

However, despite facing the final chequered flag of a career that produced six grand prix wins with Williams, Schumacher insists that he has other interests that will keep him occupied in any enforced retirement.

"Nobody should worry about me," he told Germany's Bild, "I have a lot of interests and projects, other than driving, which keep me busy.“

While brother Michael has his role with Ferrari and an increasingly active interest in Superbike racing to keep him occupied, Schumacher Jr revealed a new passion for life on the ocean wave, having joined friend Albert Drettmann in the yacht business.

"Boat technology fascinates me," he admitted, revealing a interest shared with Red Bull penman Adrian Newey, among others in F1, "This is a big interest for my future.“