Michael Schumacher: 50 Years of Brilliance - Part 2
- Shahmir Khan
- Jan 3, 2019
- 10 min read
Michael Schumacher is known as one of the greatest of all time. On his 50th birthday, we recall some of his most astonishing moments from 50 years of his life and almost 2 decades of his F1 career in 2-part series.
It was a bright, sunny day in Stavelot. A young German driver sat inside the car 20 minutes before the race with a brittle smile. He qualified 7th on his F1 debut. Today was his chance to catch everyone's attention with a good result in the race after the team he was driving for, Jordan, placed him in the seat after Bertrand Gachot got imprisoned. The race started soon afterwards, but the young driver's smile went off when he suffered clutch problems and retired on the first lap despite a good qualifying, but caught attention of another team. Little did he know he would get his first taste of F1 victory at the same place next year and 3 years later, will win championship with them, being the only driver for Team Benetton who got his name in record books for winning a championship, named "Michael Schumacher".
Success and Controversy with Benetton
After Eddie Jordan, the team boss of Jordan F1 Team, lost the case against Benetton who signed Schumacher for rest of the season, the German driver made his debut for Benetton at 1991 Italian Grand Prix, where he finished fifth ahead of the Formula 1 great Nelson Piquet.
1992 was a fine season for Benetton, dominated by Williams and Mansell most of the time but Schumacher managed to get first podium in Mexico and then a maiden win at Spa, the same place he had to retire last year. Few quality performances got him to third place in final championship classification, behind Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese.
A new active suspension and Traction Control System (TCS) made the car a bit strenuous to handle by Michael's teammates, but it was the Red Baron's skill that he won a race, 1993 Estoril, beating Alain Prost. He finished 4th with seven retirements in 1993 final classifications.
After the death of his idol Ayrton Senna, who died at Imola in 1994, Schumacher was heartbroken but decided to carry on his legacy. His dream came to a halt when McLaren reported Benetton of using driver aids, as FIA investigated but didn't find any evidence of it being used in the race. Both were fined but nothing chaotic happened for the team and Schumacher breathed a sigh of relief.
After winning six of the first seven races, Schumacher started to become a bit of aggressive driver, as he first overtook on formation lap. He got penalised, but simply ignored and got black flagged. Benetton quickly backed him saying it was communication error. Schumacher got negative response from fans and haters alike.
As the season progressed, Benetton suffered lots of problems that paved the way for his chief rival, Damon Hill to get closer to him. At the final race in Australia, Schumacher was leading by a single point.
The final race proved to be really controversial as on Lap 36, Schumacher hit the guardrail and went off the track. As Hill attempted to pass him, he came back to track, hitting Hill's car and making his car's right tyres fly in the air. As a result, both cars retired. Michael Schumacher won the championship by single point, getting hatred and love equally by all the spectators. Schumacher dedicated his champion to his hero Ayrton Senna.
1995 was equally contentious, as Schumacher had various incidents with Hill from time to time. After winning 9 races and getting 11 podiums, Schumacher sealed his Second World Title and first Team Championship for Benetton, with Johnny Herbert.
At the end of the season, Schumacher quit Benetton to pursue his dream team, making even his Technical Director (Ross Brawn) and Chief Designer (Rory Byrne) leave the team and join their star driver on the board with Ferrari. Ferrari, that had a championship drought since 1979 after Jody Scheckter won, was in utmost need of a monstrous spirit that would make them prestigious in the paddock again, and they had it in form of Michael Schumacher. A disputable yet sublime chapter began in the history of Formula 1. One that would stand for ages.
A decade at Ferrari
After domination with Benetton in '94 and '95, Schumacher signed a 2 year in 1996 with Ferrari. His technical director and designer followed him to Ferrari in 1997.
Ferrari was going through a drought of championship wins, the last driver championship coming in 1979 and team championship in 1983.
1996 was tough year for Ferrari, as the car struggled with reliability issues and Schumacher retired from six races. But again his passion for racing came at the Jerez, where he lapped every car up to third place, and that too in the wet conditions, redeeming himself as the "Regen Koenig" or Rain King.
He retired in France but won in Spa and Monza, in front of Tifosi. His main rival was Damon Hill, who won the championship as Williams was strongest on the grid. Schumacher had another chance to be successful.
Williams was title favourite for 1997. The young driver Jacques Villeneuve, son of Late Gilles Villeneuve, proved to be successful in early races. But by the mid-season, Schumacher won 5 races and extended his championship lead into the final race of the season by a single point. Schumacher suffered a coolant leak at the Spanish Grand Prix and it seemed impossible for him to finish but to win the championship in the same old "Benetton Style", he tried to collide with Jacques Villeneuve but Villeneuve prevented it and went on to win the championship. Schumacher, meanwhile, was disqualified for being immature.
With two race wins in the opening of the season, Mika Hakkinen lead the championship in early stages of 1997, becoming a new rival to Schumacher. Schumacher won 7 races that season as Ferrari improved race by race, with five other podium finishes. But even with equal points after Schumacher won at Monza, Hakkinen won the last 2 races and sealed the championship. But it wasn't his only defeat in the season. At Spa, Schumacher was leading in the heavy rain but collided in the rain with the lapped car of Coulthard, due to poor visibility. The German got enraged as he retired and returned to pits, and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him. Such was his spirit that he never accepted his mistakes in a deliberate manner, proving he had utmost belief in himself. Coulthard later on admitted it was his mistake.
In 1999, Schumacher's efforts made Ferrari win the constructor's title. But Schumacher lost it as he had a shunt at British Grand Prix and broke his leg. Mika Salo replaced him. After six races, he returned at Malaysian Grand Prix and got pole. But was unable to win the championship. Hakkinen went on to win his second championship with McLaren. Schumacher after the season said "Hakkinen was the one opponent I respect the most". No doubt, as Schumacher and Hakkinen were good friends off the track and used to talk about race. But finally Schumacher felt he is closer than ever to achieve his dream, winning a championship with Scuderia...
Championship years: 2000-2004
At the start of the millennium, Schumacher won first five races out of eight. But his winning chances again came to a halt when he suffered three DNFs, allowing Mika Hakkinen to close the gap. Mika too another two victories, but Schumacher won in front of Tifosi after equalling the pole positions with his hero Ayrton Senna and breaking into tears during press conference. Schumacher won a tough Japanese Grand Prix and won the championship for himself and Ferrari. That day, everyone in Germany celebrated it like the win for country. And Schumacher slowly started to become a legend of the sport.
Schumacher took his 4th title in 2001, with no one a proper challenger in the season. He won the championship with 123 points ahead of David Coulthard.
2002 was controversial year, as team orders played a role in championship fight. Schumacher's teammate, Rubens Barrichello was leading the Austrian Grand Prix until he was ordered by Ferrari to slow down and let Schumacher pass. Schumacher went on to the race as the crowd booed him and Ferrari but he contributed the win to Barrichello and made him stand on the podium. After a easy fight, Ferrari won 15 out of 17 races, Schumacher clinching his fifth title and equalling Juan Manuel Fangio, being the second best driver of all time. He also won the championship with 6 races remaining, a record that stands to this day.
2003 was close for Ferrari but nevertheless Schumacher made another record, beating Fangio to get his 6th title with the team and statistically being the best driver of all time. Both Williams and McLaren were strongly following but splendid performances from Schumacher in Imola, where he received the news of his mother's demise but winning the race, made him a top driver.
In 2004, Schumacher won 12 out of first 13 races of the season, only failing at Monaco due to crash with one of his prominent rivals Juan Pablo Montoya during a Safety Car period. He beat his own record with a 7th and final championship at Spa, the same race where he made his debut and won his first race.
Challenge by new-comers and end of an era
2005 was yet another controversial year for Ferrari, with just 1 win all season long at United States Grand Prix. 2005 rules required Tyres to last an entire race as Michelin's tyre failed at Indianapolis. Only Ferrari was using Bridgestone tyres so they didn't negotiate to end the race and insisted to let that happen. The race had only 6 cars of Ferrari, Jordon and Minardi as the other teams got assistance from Bridgestone. Schumacher won his only race, with everyone's hatred for him. Fernando Alonso went on to win the championship, breaking Schumacher's dominance.
2006 was tough season for Schumacher. He lost pace lots of times and won a few races as Alonso suffered problems with his cars. Schumacher got his last victory in China and gave up on title fight as he said in an interview that year. Initially, Ferrari wanted to keep him for few more years in respect and hopes, but Schumacher retired as he saw a newer generation of champions and decided to hang his helmet for good.
Life after retiring
After retiring as a driver, Schumacher took an advisory role for Ferrari, selecting young drivers and giving advises to Jean Todt. He also helped Ferrari with road cars in 2008, driving 430 Scuderia at testing and becoming "The Stig" in Top Gear, as part of testing a car on Top Gear test track. In 2009, he was expected to replace Massa after the Brazilian had life threatening incident in Hungary. But a neck injury for Schumacher prevented him to do so.
Surprise comeback to the sport
In December 2009, Schumacher was announced as a driver for Ross Brawn's new team, Mercedes GP alongside Nico Rosberg. In an interview, Schumacher said he joined only cause of Brawn and Brawn also mentioned that he only wanted Schumacher as part of the team.
In 2010, Schumacher was off the pace in earlier stages as many legendary drivers claimed Schumacher is past the age but Damon Hill refused to deny his brilliance. Later on, Jenson Button told that the car was set up for him and it was difficult for Schumacher to control it.
Good performances in the other half of the season saw Schumacher finishing in Top 10 various times, with Top 4 in Turkey and 7th in Spa after starting from 21st. He had his worst career finish in Valencia, finishing 15th. Hungary and Abu Dhabi were crucial as Schumacher pushed his former teammate Rubens Barrichello off the track and getting penalised for Spa. At Abu Dhabi, Schumacher spun at first lap as Vitantonio Liuzzi ran into Schumacher's car, barely avoiding hitting his head. Schumacher later explained it as a frightening crash. He finished 9th in the season.
Schumacher had a mediocre year in 2011, with highest finish in Canada with a 4th place. At the end of season, Schumacher finished 8th in final classification with lots of Top 5 finished.
Second retirement and end of a 2 decade long career
2012 was equally good and bad year. Schumacher suffered lots of retirements early on in the season but was fastest in Qualifying of Monaco GP, only to get penalised by a collision with Bruno Senna. He started sixth but retired during the race.
At Valencia, he got his first podium since return to F1. He also got fastest lap at his home race and started 300th race at Spa.
After letting Sebastian Vettel - a young champion on the footsteps of his Idol Michael Schumacher - pass and making him win the championship, Schumacher retired from the sport once again. He raised the flag out of his car at his final race in Brazil and bid everyone a farewell.
Life after departing from F1 and life changing ski incident
On 29th December 2013, Schumacher suffered a serious head injury while skiing with his son Mick Schumacher. He was was in coma but doctors announced his condition is stable in March 2014. Even years after the crash, little to no report about the health of Schumacher are made public.
Honours and Legacy
Several racing drivers like Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton paid tribute to Michael Schumacher. Many youngsters in Formula 1 like Esteban Ocon want to be the next Schumacher. His son Mick Schumacher carries his name and won F3 championship.
He closely worked with FIA on improving the sport's safety and was awarded gold medal in 2006.
In November 2014, Schumacher was honored by awarding his family the Millennium Trophy at Bambi Awards.
Conclusion
Regardless of all the controversies and criticism that his sumptuous career entails, there's no denying Michael Schumacher was sport's most influential driver, as he influenced his bosses and team around him to work harder. He used to greet every single member in the Ferrari garage and asked about his health. He was always ready for testing and always ready for working on the car. His controversies are a lot, but his humbleness is even greater and his respect for everyone in the team was beyond explainable. We hope that someday we can see Michael Schumacher again smiling and recalling his old days. Till then, keep fighting Michael
Shahmir Khan
Editor-in-Chief WEC & WRC, Member news desk.
In his own words, “17-year-old guy who is avid motorsports gamer. Petrolhead, die-hard F1 and motorsports fan and loves to write about cars and motorsports.”
Shahmir can be easily reached by the following address:
Gmail: shahmirkhan9181@gmail.com
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