F1-Blog

Michael says goodbye to racing

Michael Schumacher will be remembered in Formula 1 for many reasons.

He is not only an incredibly talented driver, but also a driver that has caused a lot of controversy.

Michael Schumacher was born January the 3rd 1969, to Rolf and Elizabeth Schumacher. His younger brother, Ralph, is also an F1 driver.

Michael holds almost all the records in the sport at the moment and, it would seem, many of them will not be broken at any time soon.

Michael famously started his racing career in carting when he was four.
The cart was built by his father, and he raced this at his home cart track at Kerpen.

At the age of 12, Michael obtained his licence and started to race competitively winning various European cart championships. He moved onto the Formula Ford championship in 1988, where he also competed in the Formula 3 series. It was here that he won the German championship in 1990.

In 1991, Mercedes Benz picked up the young Michael and he raced in the World Endurance Championship, winning in Mexico and Autopolis while driving a Sauber Mercedes C291.

Michael's F1 debut was at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, where he drove in a Jordan Ford, replacing the troubled Bertrand Gachot. Michael was signed by Eddie Jordan after showing incredible pace at the Silverstone test the week before the Belgian race. He stunned the paddock by qualifying 7th, ahead of his team mate Andreas de Cesaris - an 11 year veteran. Michael was unfortunate however: he failed to finish due to a clutch failure.

The next race started Michael's controversy. Benetton Ford signed Michael, which angered Eddie Jordan. He claimed that Benetton had stolen him from the Jordan team.

Michael, however, put the controversy behind him and showed great speed and skill in the Benetton team.

At the 1992 Belgian GP Michael won his first race. This marked the point at which Michael started to indicate what a talent he would become. The
1992 season saw him finish third in the championship, ahead of the great Ayrton Senna.

The 1993 season was expected to be a good one, not only for the Benetton team but for Michael as well. However, the Williams of the year was a massive step up from anything that had gone before it. This, and the fact that the Benetton was a troubled car in terms of reliability, did not bode well for the season.

However, during the season Benetton - with the help of Michael - introduced one of the most important parts ever developed: The Traction Control Unit, which is still in use today by all of the teams.

1994 saw the coming of age; it was Michael's first world championship. It was, however, a bad year for the sport in general.

Ayrton Senna died in the Williams, and Roland Ratzenberger also died on that ill fated weekend. Other parts of the year where controversial as well.

The Benetton team had a level of pace that the other teams could not match, claims of cheating where heard. The FIA had banned the electronic driver aids at the beginning of the season, and the other teams said that Benetton had found away to get round the ban.

The FIA investigated the claims and found that they had illegal software on their car, but could not prove it was being used.

Damon Hill took over the Williams challenge to the Benetton team, and after a few incidents in the year caught up to Michael in the championship. At the British GP, Michael overtook Damon on the formation lap, leading to a Black flag. He ignored it, and found himself with a two race ban.

Next, Schumacher won the Spa GP, only for the car to be banned for illegal skid blocks.

With a one point lead over Damon, he decided to take the two of them out at the last race of the season at Australia. This allowed him to take the title, but under a black cloud.

Michael successfully retained his crown in 1995 after the team changed to the Renault engine. He also managed to help take Benetton to its first Constructors Championship with the help of Johnny Herbert.

In 1996 Michael switched over to the Ferrari team. This was not an easy decision as the Ferrari team had been struggling in the previous years to compete at the front of the field.

The 1996 season was not a great one for him, he finished 3rd in the championship behind the Williams pairing, and won three races during the year. Throughout this, the car was dogged by reliability issues.

1997 saw the car get better and more reliable. Things went down to the last race of the season with Jacques Villeneuve. Michael again caused controversy by trying - again - to take the other driver out. This time, however, the move failed and he only succeeded in putting himself out of the race. Jacques limped his car into 3rd to take the championship.

In 1998, Michael again looked to be the one to beat that the season.
Goodyear's tyres did not seem to work this year, and the teams that where on the Bridgstone rubber where at a definite advantage.

During this year, the McLaren team where the only other cars to be able to win the title. Mika Hakkinen looked strong all year, and was backed up by a reliable and fast team mate in David Coulthard. After a good season it again came down to the last race in Japan. Michael stalled his car on the grid. Starting from the back, he managed to fight his way through the grid but his car let go and he had to retire, letting Mika win the championship.

In 1999 the car looked strong. Michael, however, had a crash in the British Grand Prix breaking his leg. Eddie Irvine took the lead of the Ferrari team, and struggled to show that he could lead the team as well as Michael had. Irvine even had Schumacher help him to get points:
Michael yielded in the races he had come back for at the end of the season.

The McLaren of Mika Hakkinen was too strong for the Ferrari's, and he again took the championship. The Ferrari's, however, did take the Constructors crown.

In 2000, Ferrari and Michael won the first Ferrari drivers championship since Jody Scheckter in 1979. Again, Michael had to battle Mikka in the McLaren for the title.

Michael's fourth Drivers championship was taken in 2001. This was a very lacklustre championship and the only real thing of note was that both Michael's brother Ralf, and new boy Juan Pablo Montoya won races in the season. This showed they had pace.

Michael won nine of the races, matching the record that Nigel Mansell set. The first time was during the Canadian GP where he finished second to his brother Ralf, scoring the first 1-2 for a brother set.

Another record was equalled in 2002; he matched Juan Manuel Fangio's record of five driver's championships. Michael also broke his and Nigel's record by winning 11 of the 17 races that season. In fact, Ferrari dominated the season - winning 15 of the 17 races.

In 2003, Fangio's record was finally broken when Michael took his sixth championship. And yet, the Ferrari was not quite as dominating as it was the previous year. Both the Williams cars of Ralf and JPM showed pace, but the title challenge came from Kimi Raikkonen. He had a worse performing car, but continued to finish high in the points, making it mathematically possible to win the title. It was not to be.

Michael's 7th world championship came in 2004. Michael and the Ferrari dominated, winning 12 of the first 13 races (Michael did not finish the Monaco GP, he was involved in a accident with Juan Pablo). Michael won the title with a record 148 points, and 13 race wins.

Michael, Ferrari and Bridgestone struggled in 2005. The tyres where nowhere near the pace of the Michelin tyres. Michael finished the Ferrari in third in the Constructor's championship. The only win for Michael this year was the infamous USA GP where only the Bridgestone tyred cars ran - due to potential issues with the Michelin tyres at the high speed banked section. Michael's brother Ralf had been one of the Michelin runners to have a tyre fail at approaching 200Mph.

This year has seen some great developments. Filipe Massa has shown great maturity over the season so far, the Ferrari and Bridgestone package has got better over the season, and the Renault's have had some technical issues go against them.

This has lead to a very tight season, with just two points separating Fernando Alonso from Michael in the championship (after Monza).

It has also brought the news that Michael will not be racing in F1 next year. The 2006 championship will be the last for the 7 times world champion.

Michael has been a long time sponsor of safety, both in motorsport and road car use. Michael is an active member of both the GPDA and the FIA's road safety campaign.

Michael and his wife have also donated to charity on many occasions; the most noteworthy was a $10 million donation to the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake charity. Michael also plays football for charity, with other
F1 drivers. He is also a UNESCO special ambassador.

His personal life, involves his wife Corinna, daughter Gina-Maria (born 1997), and son Mick (born 1999). The family live in Switzerland, not far from Lake Geneva. Michael is very protective of his private life, and it is very rare to see his family, or their activities in the press.

His off season hobbies include football - he plays for FC Aubonne - and other sports activities including tennis and skiing.

Michael has won many awards over the years, including the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2002 and 2004. He even holds a record here:
being the most nominated sportsman in the award's short history having been nominated in 2001, 2003 and 2005 as well.

Michael has, perhaps, not been the most "model" driver over the years, having times when the whole world despised him for some of his antics.
However, over the years in which he has competed in F1, he has brought a lot to the sport.

He will be remembered for perhaps being the best, and possibly most complete, driver ever to grace the sport, holding all the records.

That said, it is widely noted that Michael would not be the driver he is without the people around him that have helped through the years.

Ross Brawn has been with Michael throughout his career, and Rory Byrne has designed all (except the Benetton) of Michael's championship winning cars. Without these people Michael would probably not be the force he has turned out to be.

Michael will be missed from the races at F1, but it seems unlikely that he will not be seen at races next year. Ferrari will announce Michael's future role within the team from the end of the year.