Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher (German pronunciation: [ˈmɪçaʔeːl ˈʃuːmaxɐ]  ( listen); born 3 January 1969 in Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a Formula One racing driver currently driving forMercedes GP. Most famous for his legendary ten year-spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and according to the official Formula One website is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen";^[1] he holds many of the formula'sdriver records including most championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions,points scored and most races won in a single season – 2004. In 2002 he became the only driver in Formula 1 history to finish in the top three in every race.

After beginning with go-karts Schumacher won German drivers' championships in Formula König and Formula Three before joining Mercedes in the World Sportscar Championship. After one Mercedes-funded race for the Jordan Formula One team Schumacher signed as a driver for the Benetton Formula One team in 1991. After winning consecutive championships with Benetton in 1994/5, Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996 and won another five consecutive drivers' titles with them from 2000–2004. Schumacher retired from Formula One driving in 2006 staying with Ferrari as an advisor.^[2] After an earlier attempted comeback for Ferrari, as cover for the injured Felipe Massa, Schumacher signed a 3 year contract to drive for the new Mercedes GP team from 2010.^[3][4][5]

Schumacher is the only German to have won the Formula One championship (Jochen Rindtraced under the Austrian flag) and is credited with popularising the sport in Germany.^[6] His career has not been without controversy, including being twice involved in collisions in the final race of a season that determined the outcome of the world championship, with Damon Hill in the 1994 in Adelaide, and with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 in Jerez.^[7]

Off the track Schumacher is an ambassador for UNESCO and a spokesman for driver safety. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts throughout his life and donated tens of millions of dollars to charity.^[8] Michael and his younger brother Ralf Schumacher are the only brothers to win races in Formula One, and they were the first brothers to finish 1st and 2nd in the same race, in Montreal in 2001, and again in 2003.

Schumacher was born in Hürth-Hermülheim, West Germany,^[9] to Rolf Schumacher, a bricklayer, and his wife Elisabeth. When Schumacher was four, his father modified his pedal kart by adding a small motorcycle engine. When Schumacher crashed it into a lamp post in Kerpen, his parents took him to the karting track at Kerpen-Horrem, where he became the youngest member of the karting club. His father soon built him a kart from discarded parts and at the age of six Schumacher won his first club championship. To support his son's racing, Rolf Schumacher took on a second job renting and repairing karts, while his wife worked at the track's canteen. Nevertheless, when Schumacher needed a new engine costing 800 DM, his parents were unable to afford it; Michael was able to continue racing with support from local businessmen.^[10]

Regulations in Germany require a driver to be at least 14 years old to obtain a kart license. To get around this, Schumacher obtained a license in Luxembourg at the age of 12.^[11]

In 1983, he obtained his German license, a year after he won the German Junior Kart Championship. From 1984 on, Schumacher won many German and European kart championships. He joined Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert in 1985 and by 1987 he was the German and European kart champion, then he quit school and began working as a mechanic. 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 latter.^[12]

In 1989, Schumacher signed with Willi Weber's WTS Formula Three team. Funded by Weber, he competed in the German Formula 3 series, winning the title in 1990. At the end of 1990, along with his Formula 3 rivals Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger, he joined theMercedes junior racing programme in the World Sports-Prototype Championship. This was unusual for a young driver: most of Schumacher's contemporaries would compete in Formula 3000 on the way to Formula One. However, Weber advised Schumacher that being exposed to professional press conferences and driving powerful cars in long distance races would help his career.^[11] Schumacher gained victory at the season finale at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in a Sauber–Mercedes C11 and finished fifth in the drivers' championship. He continued with the team in the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season, winning again at the final race of the season at Autopolis in Japan with aSauber–Mercedes-Benz C291, leading to a ninth place finish in the drivers championship. He also competed at Le Mans during that season, finishing 5th in a car shared with Karl Wendlinger and Fritz Kreutzpointner. In 1991, he competed in one race in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship, finishing second.^[12]

Overview

Schumacher was noted throughout his career for his ability to produce fast laps at crucial moments in a race, to push his car to the very limit for sustained periods.^[13] Motor sport author Christopher Hilton observed in 2003 that "A measure of a driver's capabilities is his performance in wet races, because the most delicate car control and sensitivity are needed", and noted that like other great drivers, Schumacher's record in wet conditions shows very few mistakes: up to the end of the 2003 season, Schumacher won 17 of the 30 races in wet conditions he contested.^[14] Some of Schumacher's best performances occurred in such conditions, earning him the nicknames "Regenkönig" (rain king)^[15] or "Regenmeister" (rain master).^[13][16], even in the non-German language media. He is known as "the Red Baron", because of his red Ferrari and in reference to the German Manfred von Richthofen, the famous flying ace of World War I. Schumacher's nicknames include "Schumi",^[17] "Schuey"^[18] and "Schu".^[19] Schumacher is often credited with popularising Formula One in Germany, where it was formerly considered a fringe sport.^[6] When Schumacher retired in 2006, three of the top ten drivers were German, more than any other nationality and more than have ever been present in Formula One history. Younger German drivers, such as Sebastian Vettel, felt Schumacher was key in their becoming Formula One drivers.^[20] In the latter part of his Formula One career, and as one of the senior drivers, Schumacher was the president of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.^[21] In a 2006 FIA survey, Michael Schumacher was voted the most popular driver of the season among Formula One fans.^[22]

^DEBUT

^{Schumacher made his Formula One debut with the Jordan–Ford team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, driving car number 32 as a replacement for the imprisoned Bertrand Gachot. Schumacher, still a contracted Mercedes driver, was signed by Eddie Jordan after Mercedes paid Jordan $150,000 for his debut.[23] The week before the race, Schumacher impressed Jordan designerGary Anderson and team manager Trevor Foster during a test drive at Silverstone. His managerWilli Weber assured Jordan that Schumacher knew the challenging Spa track well, although in fact he had only seen it as a spectator. During the race weekend, team-mate Andrea de Cesaris was meant to show Schumacher the circuit but was held up with contract negotiations. Schumacher then learned the track on his own, by cycling around the track on a fold-up bike he had brought with him.[24] He impressed the paddock by qualifying seventh in this race. This matched the team's season-best grid position, and out-qualified 11-year veteran de Cesaris. Motorsport journalist Joe Saward reported that after qualifying "clumps of German journalists were talking about 'the best talent since Stefan Bellof'".[25]Schumacher retired on the first lap of the race with clutch problems.[26]}

^{Schumacher made his Formula One debut with the Jordan–Ford team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, driving car number 32 as a replacement for the imprisoned Bertrand Gachot. Schumacher, still a contracted Mercedes driver, was signed by Eddie Jordan after Mercedes paid Jordan $150,000 for his debut.[23] The week before the race, Schumacher impressed Jordan designerGary Anderson and team manager Trevor Foster during a test drive at Silverstone. His managerWilli Weber assured Jordan that Schumacher knew the challenging Spa track well, although in fact he had only seen it as a spectator. During the race weekend, team-mate Andrea de Cesaris was meant to show Schumacher the circuit but was held up with contract negotiations. Schumacher then learned the track on his own, by cycling around the track on a fold-up bike he had brought with him.[24] He impressed the paddock by qualifying seventh in this race. This matched the team's season-best grid position, and out-qualified 11-year veteran de Cesaris. Motorsport journalist Joe Saward reported that after qualifying "clumps of German journalists were talking about 'the best talent since Stefan Bellof'".[25]Schumacher retired on the first lap of the race with clutch problems.[26]}

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