Michael Schumacher – Unique Genius
In every sport there is an individual who cannot be matched, their achievements unparalleled, their status unrivalled. They are simply the greatest to have ever kicked a ball, swung a racket or pressed an accelerator.
In the world of Formula 1 that person is Michael Schumacher.
Today marks Michael’s 50th birthday, 27 years on from the first time he competed in a race it’s time to look back on the career of one of the greatest sportsmen of the modern era.
Michael Schumacher was born on January 3, 1969, to Rolf Schumacher, a bricklayer at the time and his wife and Elisabeth in the town of Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
When Michael was just four years old his parents took him to the karting track at Kerpen-Horrem. He became the youngest member of the karting club as he drove a kart constructed by his father from discarded parts. Although not being very wealthy, Schumacher’s parents encouraged and supported Michael’s developing passion for the rather expensive hobby of karting. To support his son’s racing, Rolf Schumacher even took on a second job renting and repairing karts at the Kerpen-Horrem track, while his wife worked at the track’s canteen.
His first taste of victory came when Michael won his first kart club championship at the age of six. Following this success, Michaels parents arranged sponsorship from local businessmen that enabled Michael to continue to race and make progress.
In Germany the regulations stated that the minimum age one could obtain a karting license at was 14. To get around this Michael obtained a Luxembourg license, for which the minimum age was 12. In 1983 Michael obtained his German license and one year later he won the German Junior Kart Championship. In 1985 Michael won the German championship and by 1987 he won the European championship, both while driving for the Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert team. Michael then quit school and began working as a mechanic but he soon gave up this job to become a full-time racing driver. In 1988 he made his first step into single-seat car racing by participating in the German Formula Ford and Formula König series, winning the Formula König series in that same year.
In 1989, Schumacher signed with Willi Weber’s WTS Formula 3 team and went on to win the German Formula 3 series title the year after. At the end of the 1990 season, Schumacher moved into sports car racing, joining the Mercedes junior racing programme in the World Sports-Prototype Championship, driving for Sauber. This was regarded as an unusual career move as the norm was stepping up to Formula 3000. Weber believed however, that exposure to professional press conferences and dealing with powerful cars in long races would help his career and further hone his racing craft.
Michael’s F1 career had a lucky start when Eddie Jordan’s Jordan Formula One team found themselves minus a driver when Bertrand Gachot was involved in a road rage incident with a taxi driver and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. His Formula One debut came at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in August 1991, qualifying an astonishing seventh, matching the team’s season-best grid position and impressing the paddock. Unfortunately Michael had to retire on the first lap from this race because of a clutch failure in his Jordan-Ford. While the race ended in disappointment Schumacher had arrived. Jordan wished to sign Michael to the team, but Michael was advised by Weber to act cautiously, because Jordan was to use factory a Yamaha engine the following year and he suspected the engine not to be competitive.
After some legal wrangling, Michael got out of his temporary contract with Jordan and he was immediately snapped up by Benetton. In 1992 Michael drove his Benetton to his first F1 victory, again at Spa. Over the next four seasons with Benetton Michael would have great successes. He won a further 18 races and two world championships.
The 1994 season will forever be a dark period in the history of Formula One, most importantly because of the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix after inheriting the lead following Senna’s fatal crash at the Tamburello corner. As Formula 1 lost one of its greatest ever talents a new star began to rise.
Schumacher’s first F1 title was somewhat tainted because Benetton was suspected of breaking the technical regulations. On lap 36 of the championship deciding Grand Prix of Adelaide, Schumacher hit a guardrail while leading the race. When Damon Hill (Michael’s closest challenger that season) attempted to pass, Schumacher’s car returned to the track and collided with the Williams of Hill. The retirement of both drivers decided the championship in Schumacher’s favour. Rumours go that the collision was caused on purpose by Schumacher. Whatever the case may be, as a result, Schumacher was the first German Formula 1 World Champion. Michael dedicated his title to Ayrton Senna stating “For me it was clear that I was not going to win the Championship and it’s Ayrton who’s gonna win the Championship but he hasn’t been here for the last races and I’d like to take this Championship and give it to him.”
In 1995 Michael defended his title successfully. He accumulated 33 more points than second-placed Damon Hill. With teammate Johnny Herbert, he took Benetton to its first Constructors’ Championship and became the youngest two-time World Champion in Formula One history aged just 26.
The season was marred by several collisions with Hill, in particular an overtaking manoeuvre by Hill took them both out of the British Grand Prix on lap 45, and again on lap 23 of the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher won nine of the 17 races, and finished on the podium 11 times. Only once did he qualify worse than fourth; at the Belgian Grand Prix, he qualified 16th, but nevertheless went on to win the race.
1996 brought a move that would forever change the history of Formula 1. Schumacher moved to Ferrari a year before his contract with Benetton expired. He later stated that the opted out of his deal with them because of the team’s damaging actions in 1994. Ferrari had last won the Drivers’ Championship in 1979 and the Constructors’ Championship in 1983, but Schumacher began his time with Ferrari promisingly, claiming three wins in 1996 and five more in 1997. Unfortunately that season ended again with controversy when in the final race at Circuito de Jerez in Spain, Schumacher tried to ram the Williams of his title rival Jacques Villeneuve off the road. He was unsuccessful and ended up stuck in a gravel trap, retiring from the race. As punishment for his misdemeanour Schumacher was disqualified from the Drivers’ Championship and his points and his second place in the championship were stricken from the record books.
Michael finished the 1998 season in second place after a hard-fought battle with Mika Häkkinen. Häkkinen won the first two races of the season, gaining a 16-point advantage over Schumacher. Schumacher then won in Argentina and, with the Ferrari improving significantly in the second half of the season, Schumacher took six victories and had five other podium finishes. Ferrari took a 1–2 finish at the French Grand Prix, the first Ferrari 1–2 finish since 1990, and the Italian Grand Prix, which tied Schumacher with Häkkinen for the lead of the Drivers’ Championship with 80 points, but Häkkinen won the Championship by winning the final two races.
The 1998 season brought two high profile controversies; at the British Grand Prix Schumacher was leading on the last lap when he turned into the pit lane, crossed the start finish line and stopped for a ten-second stop go penalty. There was some doubt whether this counted as serving the penalty, but, because he had crossed the finish line when he came into the pit lane, the win was valid. At Spa, Schumacher was leading the race by 40 seconds in heavy spray, but collided with David Coulthard’s McLaren when the Scot, a lap down, slowed in very poor visibility to let Schumacher past. After both cars returned to the pits, Schumacher leaped out of his car and headed to McLaren’s garage in an infuriated manner and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him.
Schumacher’s efforts helped Ferrari win the Constructors title in 1999. However he lost his chance to win the Drivers’ Championship at the British Grand Prix at the high-speed Stowe Corner, his car’s rear brake failed, sending him off the track and resulting in a broken leg. During his 98-day absence, he was replaced by Finnish driver Mika Salo. After missing six races he made his return at the inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix, qualifying in pole position by almost a second. He then assumed the role of second driver, assisting teammate Eddie Irvine’s bid to win the Drivers’ Championship for Ferrari. In the last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix, Häkkinen won his second consecutive title. Schumacher would later say that Häkkinen was the opponent he respected the most.
From then on Schumacher and Ferrari seemed unbeatable as the German brought unprecedented glory to The Prancing Horse.
During this period Schumacher won more races and championships than any other driver in the history of the sport. Schumacher won his third World Championship in 2000 after a year-long battle with Häkkinen. Schumacher won the first three races of the season and five of the first eight. Midway through the year, Schumacher’s chances suffered with three consecutive non-finishes, allowing Häkkinen to close the gap in the standings. Häkkinen then took another two victories, before Schumacher won at the Italian Grand Prix. At the post race press conference, after equalling the number of wins (41) won by his idol, Ayrton Senna, Schumacher broke into tears.
The championship fight would come down to the penultimate race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix. Starting from pole position, Schumacher lost the lead to Häkkinen at the start. After his second pit-stop, however, Schumacher came out ahead of Häkkinen and went on to win the race and the championship.
In 2001, Schumacher took his fourth drivers’ title. Four other drivers won races, but none sustained a season-long challenge for the championship. Schumacher scored a record-tying nine wins and clinched the World Championship with four races yet to run. He finished the championship with 123 points, 58 ahead of runner-up Coulthard. Season highlights included the Canadian Grand Prix, where Schumacher finished 2nd to his brother Ralf, thus scoring the first ever 1–2 finish by brothers in Formula One; and the Belgian Grand Prix in which Schumacher scored his 52nd career win, breaking Alain Prost’s record for most career wins.
In 2002, Schumacher used the iconic Ferrari F2002 to retain his Drivers’ Championship. There was again some controversy, however, at the Austrian Grand Prix, where his teammate, Rubens Barrichello was leading, but in the final metres of the race, under team orders, slowed down to allow Schumacher to win the race. The crowd broke into outraged boos at the result and Schumacher tried to make amends by allowing Barrichello to stand on the top step of the podium. At the United States Grand Prix later that year, Schumacher dominated the race and was set for a close finish with Barrichello. At the end he slowed down to create a formation finish with Barrichello, but slowed too much allowing Barrichello to take the victory.
In winning the Drivers’ Championship he equalled the record set by Juan Manuel Fangio of five World Championships. Ferrari won 15 out of 17 races, and Schumacher won the title with six races remaining in the season, which is still the earliest point in the season for a driver to be crowned World Champion. Schumacher broke his own record, shared with Nigel Mansell, of nine race wins in a season, by winning eleven times and finishing every race on the podium. He finished with 144 points, a record-breaking 67 points ahead of the runner-up, his teammate Rubens Barrichello. This pair finished nine of the 17 races in the first two places.
Schumacher broke Juan Manuel Fangio’s record of five World Drivers’ Championships by winning the drivers’ title for the sixth time in 2003, a closely contested season. The biggest competition came once again from the McLaren Mercedes and Williams BMW teams. In the first race, Schumacher ran off track, and in the following two, was involved in collisions. He fell 16 points behind Kimi Räikkönen. Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix under extreme circumstances. Hours after paying his last respects to his dying mother in a Cologne hospital, Schumacher stood on the podium with tears in his eyes and winner’s trophy in his hand.
Aside from Schumacher’s victory in Canada, and Barrichello’s victory in Britain, the mid-season was dominated by Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, who each claimed two victories. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Michael led Montoya and Räikkönen by only one and two points, respectively. Ahead of the next race, the FIA announced changes to the way tyre widths were to be measured: this forced Michelin, supplier to Williams and McLaren among others, to rapidly redesign their tyres before the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher, running on Bridgestone tyres, won the next two races. After Montoya was penalised in the United States Grand Prix, only Schumacher and Räikkönen remained in contention for the title. At the final round, the Japanese Grand Prix, Schumacher needed only one point whilst Räikkönen needed to win. By finishing the race in eighth place, Schumacher took one point and assured his sixth World Drivers’ title, ending the season two points ahead of Räikkönen.
In 2004, Schumacher won a record twelve of the first thirteen races of the season, only failing to finish in Monaco after an accident with Montoya during a safety car period when he briefly locked his car’s brakes. He clinched a record seventh drivers’ title at the Belgian Grand Prix. He finished that season with a record 148 points, 34 points ahead of the runner-up, teammate Barrichello, and set a new record of 13 race wins out of a possible 18, surpassing his previous best of 11 wins from the 2002 season.
Rule changes for the 2005 season required tyres to last an entire race, tipping the overall advantage to teams using Michelins over teams such as Ferrari that relied on Bridgestone tyres. The rule changes were partly in an effort to dent Ferrari’s dominance and make the series more interesting.The most notable moment of the early season for Schumacher was his battle with Fernando Alonso in San Marino, where he started 13th and finished only 0.2 seconds behind the Spanish driver. Less than halfway through the season, Schumacher said “I don’t think I can count myself in this battle any more. It was like trying to fight with a blunted weapon…. If your weapons are weak you don’t have a chance.”
Schumacher’s sole win in 2005 came at the United States Grand Prix. Before that race, the Michelin tyres were found to have significant safety issues. When no compromise between the teams and the FIA could be reached, all but the six drivers using Bridgestone tyres dropped out of the race after the formation lap. Schumacher retired in six of the 19 races. He finished the season in third with 62 points, fewer than half the points of World Champion Alonso.
2006 became the last season of Schumacher’s Ferrari career. After three races, Schumacher had just 11 points and was already 17 points behind Alonso. He won the following two races. His pole position at San Marino was his 66th, breaking Ayrton Senna’s 12-year-old record.
Schumacher was stripped of pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix and started the race at the back of the grid. This was due to his stopping his car and blocking part of the circuit while Alonso was on his qualifying lap; he still managed to work his way up to 5th place on the notoriously cramped Monaco circuit. By the Canadian Grand Prix, the ninth race of the season, Schumacher was 25 points behind Alonso, but he then won the following three races to reduce his disadvantage to 11. After his victories in Italy and China Schumacher led in the championship standings for the first time during the season.
While Schumacher was on the podium after winning the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari issued a press release stating that he would retire from racing at the end of the season.
The Japanese Grand Prix was led by Schumacher with only 16 laps to go, when, for the first time since the 2000 French Grand Prix, Schumacher’s car suffered an engine failure. Alonso won the race, giving himself a ten-point championship lead. With only one race left in the season, Schumacher could only win the championship if he won the season finale and Alonso scored no points. Before the Brazilian Grand Prix, Schumacher conceded the title to Alonso.
During the race’s qualifying session, Schumacher had one of the quickest times during the first session and was fastest in the second session; but a fuel pressure problem prevented him from completing a single lap during the third session, forcing him to start the race in tenth position. Early in the race Schumacher moved up to sixth place. However, in overtaking Alonso’s teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, Schumacher experienced a tyre puncture caused by the front wing of Fisichella’s car. Schumacher pitted and consequently fell to 19th place, 70 seconds behind teammate and race leader Felipe Massa. Schumacher recovered and overtook both Fisichella and Räikkönen to secure fourth place. His performance was classified in the press as “heroic”, an “utterly breath-taking drive”, and a “performance that sums up his career”.
And so his Formula 1 career came to an end, or so we thought. In December 2009 it was announced that Schumacher would be returning to Formula One in the 2010 season alongside fellow German driver Nico Rosberg in the new Mercedes GP team. The new Mercedes team was their first majority involvement in an F1 team since 1955.
Schumacher’s surprise return to F1 was compared to Niki Lauda’s in 1982 aged 33 and Nigel Mansell’s return in 1994 at age 41. Schumacher turned 41 in January 2010 and his prospects with Mercedes were compared with the record set by the oldest F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio who was 46 when he won his fifth championship.
Unfortunately Michael’s return to Formula 1 wasn’t as successful as his first stint in the sport. He had joined a new team that would need time to grow into the sport. His best moments came in the 2012 season. He was qualified fastest in Monaco but started sixth due to a grid penalty At the European Grand Prix, Schumacher finished third in the race, his only podium finish since his return to F1. At the age of 43 years and 173 days, he became the oldest driver to achieve a podium since Jack Brabham’s second-place finish at the 1970 British Grand Prix. Further records were set by Schumacher in Germany, where he set the fastest lap in a Grand Prix for the 77th time in his career, and in Belgium where he became the second driver in history to race in 300 Grands Prix.
The season and his 21-year F1 career concluded with the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. Schumacher was retired for good this time.
While his return was disappointing for his high standards Schumacher’s three seasons at Mercedes helped the team as they grew in the sport and no doubt played a role in helping to turn the team into the dominant force it is today.
Schumacher was always one to keep a low profile and did so in the year after he left Formula 1. Sadly his name returned to the headlines on December 29th 2013.
Michael sustained a very serious head injury while on a family skiing holiday in the French Alps. While skiing with his then 14-year-old son Mick, he crossed an unsecured off-piste area in Méribel, France, where he fell and hit his head on a rock. This accident left him in a medically induced coma for several months due to the severity of his brain injury. Schumacher was later relocated to his home where he continues to receive medical treatment and rehabilitation privately.
His medical condition has been subject to wild speculation in recent years and I will not hypothesize on his current condition. His family when forced to by false reports in tabloids have released statements through Sabine Kehm, Michael’s trusted assistant and spokeswoman. She continues to guard his privacy with polite, but firm determination. In 2016 she put the whole situation into context “Michael’s health is not a public issue, and so we will continue to make no comment in that regard”.
Kehm has told of how Michael enjoyed privacy “Once in a long discussion Michael said to me, ‘You don’t need to call me for the next year. I’m disappearing’.”
While Schumacher has disappeared from the public eye for obvious reasons on the occasion of his 50th birthday it is important to remember Michael for what he was before the tragic events of December 2013.
Schumacher was a fierce competitor but also a mentor. His last teammate at Ferrari Felipe Massa has spoken highly of how Michael helped him settle into life at Ferrari. His final teammate Nico Rosberg surely learned from Michael as he would go on to win the World Championship in 2016.
Michael Schumacher was a winner. Racing flowed through his veins from a young age, how many youngsters would obtain a Luxembourg license to be able to kart at the age of 12? How many men could turn the heads of an entire paddock after just one qualifying session? How many men could win a Grand Prix hours after losing their mother? How many men can win seven World Championships?
To date there is just one man. Michael Schumacher.
He was no angel like all great racing drivers when the visor went down he grew horns and became a different animal all together, much more aggressive like Prost and Senna before him. A true champion will do whatever it takes to win and Schumacher certainly wasn’t afraid to drive on the edge if it meant winning. From Championship-deciding collisions to team-orders Schumacher did it all.
Were they the most sporting acts? Probably not. Were they the actions of a born winner and a true champion? You bet they were.
It is only right that we think of Schumacher for what he was a smiling champion atop a podium who changed Formula 1 forever.
Keep fighting Michael.
