(born
January 3 ,
1969 , in
Hürth , near
Cologne ) is a
German Formula One driver and the most successful driver of all time. He is also the first and only German to win the
Drivers' Championship .
Schumacher is the most notable figure in the recent history of Formula One, as well as one of the most respected and well-paid figures in the world sport scene. He holds a great portion of all
Formula One Records , including most victories, most pole positions, most championship points and most notoriously, seven World Drivers' Championship Titles.
Schumacher began racing
Karts at the age of four and a half. He used a homemade kart built by his father,
Rolf Schumacher , who managed the local karting track in
Kerpen , Schumacher's home town. He obtained his first
License and began racing competitively by the age of twelve. Between
1984 and
1987 , Schumacher won numerous German and
European kart championships, including the Formula Konig Series. In
1988 Schumacher raced in the
Formula Ford series and competed in the German
Formula 3 series for the next two years, winning the title in
1990 . In
1991 , he continued his ascent up the racing ladder, joining the
Mercedes junior racing programme in the
World Endurance Championship , winning races in
Mexico City and at Autopolis, at the wheel of a
Sauber -
Mercedes C291. He also briefly competed in the
Japanese Formula 3000 Championship and the
German Touring Car Championship in the early
1990s .
Schumacher made his Formula One debut with
Jordan at the
1991 Belgian Grand Prix as a replacement driver for the imprisoned
Bertrand Gachot (incarcerated for spraying
CS Gas in a
London Taxi -driver's face).
Eddie Jordan signed Schumacher after he assured Jordan that he had vast experience in the challenging
Spa circuit, with its brutal
Eau Rouge Corner , despite the fact that he had only been around the track once—and on a borrowed bicycle! Michael astonished everyone by qualifying seventh in his first competition in an F1 vehicle, out-qualifying his seasoned team mate,
Andrea De Cesaris , an 11-year F1 veteran.
After his astonishing debut, he was quickly signed by
Benetton -
Ford for the next race, and immediately showed great potential.
Schumacher became known as an up-and-coming driver in F1 as he claimed his maiden victory in the
Belgian Grand Prix with Benetton Ford. In
1992 he finished third in the final standings.
1993 was a year of great expectations for Benetton and Schumacher.
The German won one race but was not able to challenge for the World Title as the superiority of the Benetton machine was not fully exploited. The year was once again dominated by
Williams and only
Senna , in an inferior
McLaren , was able to challenge
Alain Prost , who had at his disposal the strongest package in terms of engine, chassis and especially electronics. Nevertheless, this was a crucial year for developing the Benetton machine as electronic launch and traction controls were incorporated into their
Engine Control Unit (ECU).
Schumacher won his first World Championship in
1994 while driving for Benetton, in an extremely controversial season marred by allegations of cheating and the deaths of
Ayrton Senna and
Roland Ratzenberger at the
San Marino Grand Prix at
Imola .
Schumacher won six of the first seven races. The raw speed of the Benetton was a surprise to the other teams, who started allegations of cheating. They claimed Benetton had found a way to violate the FIA-imposed ban on electronic aids, including
Traction Control , Launch Control and adaptive suspension. In particular, the Benettons' unusually fast starts led to accusations of the use of Launch Control. However, technicalities in the law ensured Benetton escaped without sanction. Whilst Benetton had been found to have illegal software on their cars, the law rules only banned the actual ''use'' of the software. As it could not be proven that the illegal software had been used, Benetton couldn't be punished. Another incident which caused controversy was the huge pitlane fire which engulfed Schumacher's Benetton teammate Jos Verstappen. It was rumoured that the fire was caused by Benetton illegally removing the safety filter on the refuelling hose. Removing this filter enabled Benetton to refuel the car much quicker, but also made accidents much more likely with the fuel flowing at a quicker speed. Indeed Benetton were fortunate that no serious injuries occured to either Verstappen or the pit crew.
After Senna's death while leading the race at Imola,
Damon Hill inherited the responsibility of fighting for the World Championship. Hill struggled to keep pace with the Benetton in his Williams, but due to several controversial disqualifications (such as in the Belgian GP) and bans for Schumacher, he began to close the gap in the standings. Leading by a single point going into the final race in
Australia , Schumacher clinched the title after colliding with Hill in a highly controversial incident, putting both drivers out (see below). He won the title thanks to that single-point lead, making him the first (and only) German driver to win the drivers' title.
In 1995, Schumacher stayed with Benetton, which had switched to
Renault engines. He successfully defended his crown that season, accumulating 30 more points than the second-place driver, Damon Hill. With teammate
Johnny Herbert , he also helped Benetton win its first Constructors' Championship. In 1994 and 1995, his first two championship seasons, Schumacher won 17 races, achieved 21 podium finishes, and notched ten
Pole Positions . During this span of 31 Grands Prix, only once he qualified worse than fourth position. It was at the 1995
Belgian Grand Prix, where he started 16th on the grid but still managed to win the race.
In
1996 , Michael signed a
Contract with
Ferrari , which at the time was a highly risky move, given Ferrari's championship drought (the
Italian giants had not won a title since
1979 ).
In his first year at the Scuderia, he wrung the best out of a very poor car and managed to finish third in the Drivers' Championship, behind only two
Williams drivers. He won races in Spain, Belgium and Italy, the first two in the wet. The worst moment of his season was arguably France, in which he qualified on pole position but suffered an engine failure on the formation lap.
In
1997 , he again took the title fight down to the last race, narrowly leading the points for the Drivers' Championship title. Schumacher uncompromisingly crashed into
Jacques Villeneuve 's
Williams Renault after Villeneuve attempted to overtake Schumacher, when the German left the door open under braking into one of the curves of the Jerez circuit. Despite the fact that the
Ferrari was literally thrown into the side of the Williams, it was the red car that ended up on the gravel and out of the race. Villeneuve's badly damaged Williams eventually finished third in the race, thereby winning the Drivers Championship title that year. In a
Controversial Decision by the
FIA , Schumacher was disqualified from the World Championship final classification that year, but his results and points were nevertheless kept in the official records.
In
1998 , there were
Tyre rule changes in Formula 1 which seemed to favour tyre manufacturer
Bridgestone over rival manufacturer
Goodyear . Early into the season, it was evident that
McLaren , who chose to compete with Bridgestone tyres that year, had the better car. It was then left to Schumacher to challenge the McLaren domination and the fight for the title continued well into the last race. Schumacher had won six races that year, the most memorable of which was in
Hungary , where he pitted three times and had to do a whole stint lapping the circuit at qualifying speed, more than a second faster than anyone else to catch up with the McLaren. Despite the inferiority of the Ferrari, Schumacher pushed hard all the way until the final race in
Japan where, after having secured the pole position, he subsequently stalled his Ferrari on the starting grid and had to restart from the back of the grid. He eventually regained lost ground in an amazing way, only to retire some laps later due to a punctured tyre, thereby yielding the title to
Mika Häkkinen . Some fans argue that it was not only bad luck that prevented Schumacher from winning the 1998 Drivers' Championship, but also because of Häkkinen's teammate,
David Coulthard , whose collision with Schumacher in
Belgium , while a lap behind Michael, caused the German to retire and lose vital Championship points. This incident caused a great deal of controversy with Schumacher storming into the McLaren garage after retiring and allegedly accusing Coulthard of trying to kill him. This drew criticism, not least because Schumacher had been involved in several other controversial collisions in previous years. This particular incident was generally seen as an unfortunate accident caused by the difficult driving conditions rather than anything malicious.
After several rebuilding years, Schumacher's efforts helped Ferrari win the Constructors Title in
1999 . However, his hopes for another Drivers' Championship were dashed at that year's
British Grand Prix , where he broke his leg. What was later deemed a brake failure caused him to exit the track while facing a high-speed corner, and he crashed heavily into a tyre barrier. This accident prevented Schumacher from competing in the next six races. After his return, he assumed the role of a second driver, yielding to his teammate,
Eddie Irvine , in order to help his team win a Drivers' Championship title. However, they were once again beaten by
Mika Häkkinen in the
Japanese Grand Prix at
Suzuka .
After years of frustration and after having reunited the best
Engineers ,
Aerodynamicists and
Strategists , Ferrari finally gave Michael Schumacher the opportunity to take yet another
World Championship title, and Ferrari's first since
Jody Scheckter in
1979 , after a thrilling year-long battle with
Mika Häkkinen .
Schumacher started the season in style, winning the first 3 races, and 5 of the first 8. Midway through the year, he experienced a run of bad luck, which some say was a result of his uncompromising driving style, refusing to give up positions on the opening lap of races. This allowed Hakkinen to overtake Schumacher in the championship standings, but a resounding win at the
Italian Grand Prix brought him back on track.
The immense pressure of fighting for the world title showed, when at the post-race press conference at the end of the Italian Grand Prix, Schumacher broke into tears when asked about his feelings on equalling Ayrton Senna's record of 41 race wins.
The championship fight went down to the penultimate race in
Japan . Starting from pole position, Schumacher lost his lead to Hakkinen early in the race, but a combination of strong mid-race pace and excellent Ferrari pit-work ensured that he came out ahead of Hakkinen after his second pit-stop and went on to win the race and the Championship.
in 2004]]
While en route to his fourth drivers' title, Schumacher broke
Alain Prost 's record for most Grand Prix wins. In a season which saw rival Mika Häkkinen performing at a lower level, Schumacher had no major threats, just some victories from
David Coulthard , Häkkinen, and the Williams duo of his brother
Ralf and
Juan Pablo Montoya , with whom he had some in-track moments.
In a dominant year, Schumacher easily took his fifth Drivers' title (equaling the record set by
Juan Manuel Fangio ) due to his driving talent and the sheer dominance of his Ferrari machinery, which won 15 out of 17 races that season. Schumacher also broke
Nigel Mansell 's and his own record of 9 race wins for most victories in a season, scoring 11 and finishing every race on the podium.
Again, just Williams' Ralf and
McLaren Mercedes 's Coulthard could take something from the all-conquering Ferrari.
Montoya remained someone to battle with, finishing third behind the two Ferraris and clinching 7 pole positions with a special qualifying car, which was sometimes as fast as the Ferrari. This slowed Schumacher's race for another record he was close to reaching, the 65-pole record from
Ayrton Senna .
Schumacher broke
Fangio 's record by winning the Drivers' title for the sixth time in a closely contested season.
The biggest threats once again came from the
McLaren Mercedes and
BMW Williams F1 team. His brother
Ralf became a regular race contender and scored some victories; more so
Juan Pablo Montoya , who was a fierce competitor on track and often getting the best of him. In 2003 Montoya became a title contender even stronger than
Kimi Räikkönen , as he had at his disposal the class of the field for some part of the world championship and scored a couple of victories, but Ferrari reacted from the
Italian Grand Prix onwards and gained a slight car advantage allowing the German to win two more decisive races. After Montoya was penalized in the
US GP he was out of the title contention; only the Finnish driver
Kimi Räikkönen was left. Räikkönen, who had scored consistently in an inferior car, benefited from an indulgent system of points and had a mathematical chance until the final race, although he had just a single victory to his credit compared to Schumacher's six.
Schumacher started off the championship with typical dominance, winning a record twelve of the first thirteen races of the season, only failing to finish in Monaco after a controversial accident with Juan Pablo Montoya under the safety car period. He clinched the
Seventh Drivers Title of his unequalled F1 career where it had begun—at the
Belgian Grand Prix .
Scuderia Ferrari , and in particular
Bridgestone , had been the key as the tyre was far and away superior to Michelin over the season. He would finish this season with a record 148 points, and a new record of 13 race wins in a season, surpassing the previous best of 11, which he had scored in the
2002 Formula One Season .
The
2005 Season was a struggle for Schumacher, as the Ferrari package was far from ideal, especially in the use of its Bridgestone tyres, which had been dominant in past years but were now of inferior quality. Ferrari and Bridgestone attributed this to the 2005 rule changes, which required tyres to last the distance of the whole race, a change some observers believe was targeted to end the domination of Ferrari and Schumacher.
Less than half-way through the season, the German admitted he didn't have the potential to defend his title. Despite this, Schumacher had some moments, most notably his fight with
Fernando Alonso in the
San Marino GP and a pole in
Hungary . Ultimately and most importantly he finished third in the World Championship standings. But his victory in the
United States Grand Prix , which he would not have done well in without the withdrawal of 14 cars due to
Michelin 's tyre problems, gave him the 3rd place over McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya
There were many on-track problems for the German, including collisions with
Takuma Sato and
Mark Webber and especially during the weekend of the
Chinese Grand Prix , which proved a total disaster for him as he ashamfully made every error a driver could possibly make. First he changed lines while attemping to warm-up the tyres during the formation lap, causing the Minardi of
Christijan Albers to smash heavily into the rear and left sides of the Ferrari, and thus having to start from the pit lane. Finally, during a safety car period, issues regarding the electronics of the Ferrari caused Schumacher to spin into retirement.
Schumacher started the season in style, narrowly edging out new Ferrari team-mate
Felipe Massa to take pole position at the first grand prix in
Bahrain . Doing so, he equaled
Ayrton Senna's record of 65 pole positions that had stood for 12 years after Senna's death. He went on to finish second, behind the
Renault of reigning drivers' champion
Fernando Alonso , making it his first podium finish in seven races, the last being a second place at the
2005 Hungarian Grand Prix .
Ferrari's engine troubles resulted in an engine change for Schumacher before qualifying for the
Malaysian Grand Prix , demoting him to 14th on the starting grid. He finished the race in 6th, just behind team-mate Felipe Massa.
He qualified 11th in changing weather conditions at the
Australian Grand Prix and retired from 6th place mid-way through the race after crashing into the wall at the final corner while chasing
Jenson Button .
At the
San Marino Grand Prix , Schumacher took his 66th pole position, breaking Senna's record of 65. He followed this up with a race win, holding off a challenge from
Fernando Alonso despite struggling for pace in the middle stages of the race. Barring the ''farcical''
2005 United States Grand Prix , this was his first win since the
2004 Japanese Grand Prix , 18 months earlier.
With this win, Schumacher tied his own record with his 7th win at the same track, the other ones being
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in
Montreal and
Circuit De Nevers Magny-Cours in
Magny-Cours .
- Missed six races after a brake failure caused him to crash, breaking his leg during the British Grand Prix.
]]
As of the
2006 San Marino Grand Prix , Michael Schumacher holds the following F1 records:
—''
2006 :
- Most race wins: 85
- Most race wins with one team: 66
- Most podium finishes: 144
- Most second place finishes: 40
- Most points finishes: 177
- Most pole positions: 66
- Most race wins from pole position: 38
- Most championship points: 1,269 (1,191 if the 1997 disqualification would have been effective)
2005 :
2004 :
- Most championship titles: 7
- Most consecutive championship titles: 5
- Most race wins in a season: 13 (in 18 races)
- Most consecutive race wins: 7 ( European GP , Canadian GP , United States GP , French GP , British GP , German GP , Hungarian GP )
- Most fastest laps in a season: 10 (in 18 races)
- Most championship points in a season: 148 (out of a maximum of 180)
- Most triples (pole position, race win, and fastest lap): 20
2002 :
- Most podium finishes in a season: 17 (in 17 races)
Since the
1994 Death of
Ayrton Senna , Schumacher has been widely regarded as the fastest driver in F1 and the most dominant driver of his era. However, his career has at times been controversial, with some critics and fans questioning his sportsmanship and driving tactics and the apparent standing ''team orders'' which would require his teammates to play a subservient role. These situations have led, at some extent, to start discussions about the worthiness of the achieved results; Succeses that have put the driver in the list of the best drivers of all time.
For those who question Schumacher's driving style, the two most noted incidents are the
1994 Australian Grand Prix crash with
Damon Hill and the
1997 European Grand Prix crash with
Jacques Villeneuve .
In the
1994 Australian Grand Prix Schumacher was leading Hill, but just barely; if Hill had won the race, he would have won that year's World Championship. With Hill applying heavy pressure late in the race, Schumacher made an error and ran wide off the track into a wall and damaged his car. Schumacher drove back onto the track and turned his ailing car into the side of Hill's as it passed, breaking Hill's front suspension rods forcing him out of the race and handing the title to Schumacher in controversial circumstances.
During the
1997 European Grand Prix Schumacher was leading the race, followed by Villeneuve. Similar to the 1994 incident, a win for either driver would guarantee him the World Championship. Villeneuve attempted to overtake Schumacher approaching a right-handed corner; as the French Canadian passed, Schumacher's car turned sharply into the side of his car. It is an accident from which many viewpoints are still argued, but the
FIA ,
Formula 1 's ruling body, judged it to be dangerous driving. Schumacher's car was knocked out of the race, and Villeneuve went on to finish third, behind
Mika Häkkinen (his first F1 win) and
David Coulthard , who were too far behind in the points to challenge Villeneuve for the Championship. Schumacher was stripped of his second place in the final World Championship standings (with
Heinz-Harald Frentzen moving from third to second), while retaining his results and points for the season.
in
2002 ]]
During Schumacher's dominance in the first half of the 2000s, he accreted much controversy not only around him but his team Ferrari and race director
Jean Todt , because of the way they were manipulating the race results by ''swapping finishing positions'' with
Rubens Barrichello , the other Ferrari driver at the time. This had also affected
Eddie Irvine during his time partnering Schumacher in Ferrari from
1996 until
1999 , and was a major factor in Irvine's move to
Jaguar in
2000 .
The most infamous episode of usage of 'team orders' by Ferrari was at the
2002 Austrian Grand Prix where the team ordered Barrichello, who was leading the race, to move over for Schumacher to take the win. The move, embarrassing for F1 fans and media, was done in the very last corner of the last lap of the Austrian Grand Prix. This led to a disgusted reception on the podium where an embarrassed Schumacher ushered Barrichello onto the top step. It also led to trouble for bookmakers and betting agencies. The result was a ban on team orders and a $1 million fine for Ferrari ($500,000 to be paid immediately, with the remainder remitted subject to "good behaviour" during the next 12 months). Nevertheless, team orders are at times practiced by many teams and, despite bans by the
FIA , can be executed discreetly.
It has also been argued that, unlike some of the great drivers of the past, Schumacher has not had much of a challenge from within the team. During much of his time at Benetton he was consistently dominant over his teammates; since moving to Ferrari, his team has guaranteed he is given a clear Number 1 status. Furthermore, his dominance over his teammates spans his entire 14-year career, including
Brundle ,
Irvine ,
Barrichello ,
Verstappen ,
JJ Lehto and
Herbert .
In more recent years, however, Schumacher's success with Ferrari, moderation of his on-track tactics, and a more relaxed public persona have rehabilitated his image for most fans, although the collisions with Hill and Villeneuve have not been forgotten by many Formula one fans, who are quick to point out poor sportsmanship.
Many records have been broken in the hands of Michael Schumacher even those from drivers considered to be the best ever. As time has gone by and Schumacher has kept clinching record after record, many questions even controversies have arousen around the worthiness or supremacy of his achievements. Fact is, Schumacher holds nearly every record in Formula One, exception made of those related to percentages. But due to the aggresive nature of the driver, specially in his first decade in the sport, he is no short on detractors who are usually quick in pointing out the argued superiority of other historic, iconic even legendary F1 World Champions.
The most emblematic symbol of
Juan Manuel Fangio , at being considered the best driver of all time, was holding nothing less than five World Driver's Championship titles; Titles that were won by the argentinean in extremely contested conditions. Such an outstanding record was considered almost untouchable by many decades and in fact it was so until the first decade of the 21th century. Michael Schumacher equaled and surpassed the legendary argentinean by setting a new landmark, unimaginable seven WDC. However, every world championship won by Fangio seems to have more validity at the eyes of the critics, including a considerable portion of the media and the fans, whom state that Fangio's racing times were far wilder and more temerary than modern times in the sense that in the 1950s the drivers didn't race with fire protective wear, nor wear a helmet, there were not protective barriers or other type of safety oriented design in the circuits and the cars were not built to protect the driver's life. Most notably, critics point out that Fangio had not the benefit of team orders, even with Farina letting him drive his car during the final race in the dispute of a Chamionship.
Also critics point out that while
Alain Prost had
Ayrton Senna as his bitter rival, and
Juan Manuel Fangio had both
Stirling Moss and
Alberto Ascari as his fircest rivals, Michael Schumacher has not had a rival of his own calibre which has made the German's path to sucess a lot easier. Fans of former Schumacher rivals would declare them as of equal status as the German. Truth is, Schumacher has been superior to his contemporary rivals and the achieved successes speak in his favor but He himself has declared that he never would try to compare his success with what Fangio did.
Though Schumacher has surpassed the late
Ayrton Senna's record of 65 pole positions, a portion of the Formula One community believe that in extracting the maximum over a single flying lap, Senna's raw skill is not challenged by the new record set by the German. Senna's 65 poles came in 162 races, while Schumacher's 66 poles took 236. Apart from a significantly higher pole position strike rate (Senna's 40% to Schumacher's 28%), Senna had to fight with team mates of the calibre of
Alain Prost and rivals like
Nigel Mansell ,
Nelson Piquet and even Schumacher himself, while the German was benefited by a superior machine, specially during the 2000s, and virtually no team mate opposition.
In Schumacher's favour, it could be argued that changes made to F1's qualifying format since 2003, requiring cars to qualify with race fuel loads, have reduced the onus on qualifying as tuning the car for a strong qualifying performance invariably undermined the race strategy. Many believe that these rule changes were introduced to end the dominance of Schumacher and his Ferrari team, and make Formula One a more interesting spectacle.
"BBC: F1 bids to slow Ferrari" . Retrieved Mar. 23, 2006.
Michael Schumacher has won the coveted and
2003 seasons respectively. He joins a select group of sports personalities to win the award - golfer
Tiger Woods , cyclist
Lance Armstrong and tennis player
Roger Federer . In its 6-year history, no other sportsman has been nominated more times than Schumacher, who also received nominations for the
2001 ,
2003 and
2005 awards.
"Laureus: Award nominees" . Retrieved Mar. 12, 2006.
Schumacher married Corinna Betsch in
August 1995 . They have two children together, daughter Gina-Maria (b.
1997 ) and son Mick (b.
1999 ), and reside in
Vufflens-le-Château ,
Switzerland , near
Lake Geneva . Schumacher is very protective of his private life and takes every effort to keep his family out of the spotlight. Michael's younger brother
Ralf , six years his junior, is also an F1 driver.
Michael's off-track interests include playing
Football (soccer) (actively in FC Aubonne), playing
Tennis ,
Swimming , and
Skiing . He has received some
Nickname s along with his career, including the "Red Baron", "Schuey" and "Schumi".
In ,
Thailand . In fact, his donation surpassed that of any other sportsperson, most sports leagues, many worldwide corporations and even some countries.
"Sports Illustrated Magazine: 2005 Sportsman of the Year" . Retrieved Mar. 11, 2006.
Combining his hobby of football with charity, Schumacher has participated in several friendly games together with other Formula One drivers to raise money for charity.
"FIFA: Press release on charity football game" . Retrieved Mar. 11, 2006.
In 1997, the FIA tasked Schumacher to promote road safety as part of his punishment conditions for the incident in Jerez. Although initially short term, he is still an active advocate of
Road Safety , and an iconic supporter of the
FIA's initiatives to promote road safety around the world. Along with
Max Mosley , he was a keynote speaker at the launch and official signing of the European Road Safety Charter at
Dublin on
6 April 2004 .
"FIA: Feature on Michael Schumacher's involvement in the launch of the European Road Safety Charter . Retrieved Mar. 11, 2006.
He also participated in the global launch of the FIA's ''Think Before You Drive'' campaign at the
2005 Spanish Grand Prix along with then Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello.
"FIA: Think Before You Drive global launch news item . Retrieved Mar. 11, 2006.
Schumacher is a special ambassador to
UNESCO and has donated US$3 million to the organization. He has funded projects for the construction of a school in
Senegal , a clinic in
Sarajevo and a centre for street children in
Peru . He has even taken the rare step of visiting Sarajevo to see how his funding has benefited child victims of war. For his contribution, he was named a ''UNESCO Champion For Sport'' by its Director-General
Koïchiro Matsuura in
2002 .
"UNESCO: Announcement naming Michael Schumacher as the UNESCO Champion for Sport . Retrieved Mar. 11, 2006.
As of
2004 , Schumacher earns an estimated US$80 million annually, including all his endorsement deals. One notable deal is with the German investment counseling company
Deutsche Vermögensberatung , which will pay him US$8 million over three years for wearing a four-inch advertisement on his post-race hat.
In early
March 2006 , the
Spanish press reported that Michael Schumacher will play a small role in the upcoming movie ''
Asterix at the
Olympic Games '', together with
Real Madrid stars
David Beckham and
Zinedine Zidane .
"The Sydney Morning Herald: Report on a possible movie role for Michael Schumacher" . Retrieved Mar. 11, 2006.
;Cited References
