Michael Schumacher

Schumacher before the 2005 United States Grand Prix

Template:F1 driver

Michael Schumacher (born January 3, 1969, in Hürth-Hermühlheim, near Cologne, Germany) is a German Formula One racer and statistically the greatest driver of all time.

He is also the most notable and well-paid figure in the history of Formula 1, as well as one of the most respected figures in world sport, holding a great portion of all Formula 1 records, including most victories, most championship points and a record seven World Drivers' Championship Titles.

Career

Early years

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.

1991

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 to his Jordan team at the Belgian Grand Prix, after Schumacher 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. He was quickly signed by Benetton-Ford for the next race, and immediately showed great potential.

1992-1993

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).

1994

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 events. 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.

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 an inferior Williams, but due to several disqualifications 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 crashing into Hill, putting both drivers out. He won the title thanks to that single-point lead.

1995

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 podia, and notched ten pole positions. During this span of 31 Grands Prix, only once did he qualify worse than fourth position, at the 1995 Belgian Grand Prix, where he started 16th on the grid but still managed to win the race.

1996-1999

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.

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 bizarre and 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 caused the German to retire and lose vital Championship points.

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.

2000

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 poor and 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. This time, despite the early lead of Häkkinen, who always had a better start at Suzuka, Schumacher finally beat the Finnish driver from McLaren Mercedes, which caused celebrations from Tifosi around the globe.

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Schumacher at Indianapolis in 2004

2001

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.

2002

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.

2003

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, after brilliant and constant performances in an inferior car, and after having benefited by an indulgent system of points, had a mathematical chance until the final race, although he had just a single victory to his credit compared to Schumacher's six.

2004

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.

2005

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 monotonous domination of Ferrari and Schumacher.

Less than half-way through the season, the German ace admitted he no longer had opportunities of fighting for the 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 almost certainly would not have won without the withdrawal of 14 cars due to Michelin's tyre problems, certainly gave an unexpected boost to his final position.

On September 25th, 2005, after ruling as the champion Formula One driver for 1,813 consecutive days, Schumacher finally relinquished his crown to Fernando Alonso of Spain.

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 made every error a driver could 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 the rear and left sides of the Ferrari, and thus having to start from the pit lane. During a neutralization Schumacher lost control and spun off, concluding what had probably been his worst season to date.

Controversy

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 commentators questioning his poor sportsmanship and driving tactics and the apparent standing team orders which would require his teammates to play a subservient role.

There's also some speculation FIA has taken more decisions favoring Ferrari/Michael Schumacher than those favoring other drivers. The 1994 incident with Damon Hill is a good example. Of course this argument holds little or no water, since there have been several changes of FIA rules over the past few years, mainly targeting Schumacher's and Ferrari's domination. In 2003, the FIA introduced the one-engine-per-weekend rule, which severely affected Ferrari because they had already completed the design of their car using a larger wheelbase; they also had to do away with their engine/gearbox compact project. In 2005, the FIA introduced the one-set-of-tyres-per-race rule, which played right into the hands of the numerous Michelin teams and was the main cause of Ferrari's fall from grace.

Driving tactics

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. It has been suggested that Schumacher deliberately crashed into Villeneuve during the 1997 European Grand Prix. However, it should be noted that Schumacher drove in the same manner as the man he succeeded; Ayrton Senna was involved in similar incidents in final races with his nemesis Alain Prost.

In the 1994 Australian Grand Prix Schumacher was leading Damon Hill, but just barely; if Hill had won the race, he would have won that year's World Championship. During the race Schumacher made an error and ran wide, which led to an overtaking maneuver by Hill into the subsequent corner. Schumacher turned into the corner and collided with Hill, in the process crashing into the barriers and breaking Hill's front left suspension. Both cars were removed from the race, which was eventually won by Nigel Mansell, who replaced David Coulthard for the final three races of the season. In this case it was judged a racing incident and Schumacher took his first title. Although this accident was the deciding event of the 1994 championship, Schumacher at that point had the right to close the door and stick to his racing line; as many F1 pundits noted, Hill should have been aware of Schumacher's injured car and should have waited for a better opportunity to pass. It is important to note that without Schumacher receiving 2 race bans and 2 race disqualifications, the race title never would have been closely matched.

Although it could always be argued that Schumacher ran wide, Hill did as well, interfering with Schumacher's recovering line. The collision was deemed a 'racing incident'. It is also worth mentioning that the FIA conducted a full investigation into the 'Hill' incident before announcing an outcome.

During the 1997 European Grand Prix Schumacher was leading the race, followed by Villeneuve. In a similar situation to 1994 a win for either driver would guarantee him the World Championship. Villeneuve attempted to overtake Schumacher, who then collided with the Canadian in what the FIA finally judged to be dangerous driving. Although Schumacher's car was knocked out of the race, Villeneuve went on to finish third, behind Mika Häkkinen 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 World Championship final standings (with Heinz-Harald Frentzen moving from third to second), while retaining his results and points for the season, in a bizarre and unprecedented decision that was widely criticized as representing no real punishment at all.

Team orders

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Schumacher in the Paddock at the USGP 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 finishes with Rubens Barrichello, the other Ferrari driver at the time.

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. 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. They have been extensively used, even during 2005 Formula One Season by Renault and McLaren. But Schumacher has also played the game to benefit his teammates when necessary. In the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix Schumacher gifted victory to then-teammate Eddie Irvine to give him a chance of winning the world championship, although this was something Irvine had done many times to help the German.

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. This dominance was much more evident in qualifying laps, where team orders do not apply. In the early years of his career, when cars were more difficult to handle because of the lack of sophisticated electronics and TC systems, Schumacher was often 1.5 seconds on average faster than his teammates over an entire season, sometimes more.

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.

Personal life

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 nicknames along with his career, including the "Red Baron", "Schuey" and "Schumi".

Charity

In 2005, Schumacher donated more than US$10 million to charity for the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake in a charity show on the German television network ZDF. It was later announced that Schumacher's bodyguard, Burkhard Cramer, had died while on holiday in Phuket, Thailand and that his two sons were still missing.

Salary

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.

Formula One records

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Schumacher celebrates his win at the 2004 USGP

As of Chinese Grand Prix (October 16, 2005)

• Most championship titles: 7
• Most consecutive titles: 5
• Most fastest laps: 69
• Most races led: 127
• Most laps led: 4664
• Most wins: 84
• Most Triples (pole position, win, and fastest lap): 20
• Most wins in a season: 13
• Most wins with the same team: 65 (Ferrari)
• Most wins from pole position: 37
• Most podiums: 142
• Most podiums in a season: 17 (from 17 starts)
• Most podiums with the same team: 76 (Ferrari)
• Most poles with the same team: 54 (Ferrari)
• Most second places: 39
• Most championship points: 1,248
• Most points in a season: 148
• Most time between first and last wins (12 years, 10 month, 21 days)

Schumacher is still close to equal, or even beat, the pole position record of Ayrton Senna—which is 65 of 161 races. After the 2005 season, Schumacher has 64 pole positions in his 232 races.

Formula One career results

Season	Team	Wins	Points	Result
1991	Jordan-Ford; Benetton-Ford	0	4	13th
1992	Benetton-Ford	1	53	3rd
1993	Benetton-Ford	1	42	4th
1994	Benetton-Ford	8	92	World Champion
1995	Benetton-Renault	9	102	World Champion
1996	Ferrari	3	59	3rd
1997	Ferrari	5	78	disqualified (having finished 2nd)
1998	Ferrari	6	86	2nd
1999	Ferrari	2	44	5th*
2000	Ferrari	9	108	World Champion
2001	Ferrari	9	123	World Champion
2002	Ferrari	11	144	World Champion
2003	Ferrari	6	93	World Champion
2004	Ferrari	13	148	World Champion
2005	Ferrari	1	62	3rd

* Missed six races after a brake failure caused him to crash, breaking his leg during the British Grand Prix.

External links

• Michael Schumacher's Official Website
• F1-Live biography
• Hall of Fame: Michael Schumacher
• Michael Schumacher Collectables
• Michael Schumacher Profile and Statistics
• F1Talk — F1 Talking