People | May 22, 2016 10:01 PM EDT
50 Facts About ‘The Red Baron’ Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a racing driver and former formula 1 world champion from Germany. Here are 50 interesting facts about him:
- He is one of the all time great Formula One drivers and has won the championship seven times in his career.
- He was born on January 03, 1969 at Hurth, West Germany to Rolf Schumacher a bricklayer and Elisabeth.
- He became the youngest member of Karting track at Kerpen-Horrem. At the age of six he won his first club championship in his kart built out of discarded parts by his father.
- To support Schumacher, his father took a second job of renting and repairing karts while his mother worked in the canteen.
- As a twelve years old he obtained his kart license from Luxembourg due to Germany’s regulation requires a driver to be fourteen years old to apply.
- In 1982 he won the German Junior Kart Championship and went on to win many Germany and European kart championship. In 1983 he obtained his German license.
- He joined Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert in 1985 and by 1987 he became the German and European kart champion.
- In 1988 he won his Formula Konig an open wheel single seater feeder series and joined the Willi Weber’s WTS Formula three Team the following year.
- In 1990 he joined the Mercedes junior racing program in the World Sports-Prototype Championship and finished fifth in the driver’s championship. He continued in 1991 season to gain experience driving powerful cars over long distances and to get exposed to profession circuit.
- According to motor sports author Christopher Hilton, a driver’s capability is measured by his performance in wet races. Schumacher has made very few mistakes in wet conditions and he has won 17 of the 30 races in these conditions.
- As some of his best performances have been recorded in the wet conditions, he is known as ‘Regenkonig’( rain king) or ‘Regenmeister’( rain master).
- In 2006 he was voted as the most popular Formula One driver and he was the role model for many in Germany.
- In 1991 he made his Formula One debut in the Belgian Grand Prix after he was signed by Eddie Jordan for $ 150,000. He qualified seventh only to retire after first lap due to clutch problem.
- He ended the 1991 season with four points for his fifth position finish in the Italian Grand Prix. He was engaged by Benetton –Ford.
- He made his presence felt in the 1992 season in the wet race of Belgian Grand prix for his first victory. He was also placed third in the Mexican Grand Prix to finish third in the driver’s championship with 53 points.
- In 1993 he had nine podium finishes apart from victory in the Portuguese Grand Prix. He was fourth in the driver’s championship with 52 points.
- In the 1994 British Grand Prix, he was disqualified from his second place finish for overtaking in the formation lap and for ignoring the black flag. He was also handed two races ban.
- Schumacher was again disqualified in the Belgian Grand Prix after his car was found to have illegal wear on its skidblock.
- Schumacher was leading Damon Hill by a point going in to the final race in Australia in the 1994 season. On lap 36 he hit the guardrail on the outside of the track and spun off. As Hill attempted to overtake, Schumacher’s car returned to track and collided with Hill’s and both retired and he maintained the lead.
- Schumacher won his first championship title in 1994 and dedicated it late Ayrton Senna. He is the first German to win the title.
- In 1995 he retained the title and with his team mate Johnny Herbert took Benetton to its first Construction Championship. He is the youngest two times Formula One World Champion.
- His experience with the Benetton team in the 1994 technical regulation violation forced him to Join Ferrari for the 1996 season. He was paid $ 60 million for a two year contract.
- He is definitely the most competitive driver. Driven by desire for perfection, he sometimes overstepped the rules according to his teammate Felipe Massa. For some he is very calculative and cold, who will not hesitate to drive a rival of the track to secure a victory.
- Schumacher is credited along with his teammate in turning Ferrari from a struggling team to most successful team in Formula One history. According to Jackie Stewart transformation of Ferrari team was the Schumacher’s greatest feat.
- In August 1995, he married Corinna Betschand they have two children named Gina-Marie and Mick.
- He scored his first win for Ferrari team in the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix, where he lapped the entire field to third position in wet condition. He won two more races to help Ferrari to second place in the Constructor’s Championship in 1996.
- In 1997 he was leading by a point over Jacques Villeneuve going in to the final race. In lap 48 when he developed coolant leak and loss of performance, he tried to provoke an accident with Villeneuve to retire together. He was disqualified from driver’s championship.
- In the 1998 British Grand Prix Schumacher was handed a stop-and- go penalty for overtaking during safety car on lap 43. He served by entering pit road on the final lap, in doing so he crossed the finish line, which extends across the pit lane to win the race.
- In the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix He was leading the race before retiring due to collision with David Coulthard, who had slowed down to let Schumacher past in poor visibility. He leapt out of his car in the pit in an infuriated manner and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him. A week after the race both met and cleared their differences.
- In 1998 he finished second in the driver’s championship standing with 86 points. He finished on the podium five times apart from winning six races. He led his Ferrari to second position in the Construction Championship.
- In 1999 British Grand Prix he crashed at Stowe corner due to brake failure. He broke his leg and was out of race for 98 days. He with his teammate Eddie Irvine helped Ferrari win the Constructors Championship.
- In 2000 he won the Italian Grand Prix to record his 41st win and equals the record of Ayrton Senna. He went on to win his last four races of the season to win the Drivers Championship ahead of Mika Hakkinen.
- In 2001 he won his fourth driver’s title with 123 points. He won the title with four races to spare and also equaled the record for more number of win in a season, nine. By winning the Belgian Grand Prix he recorded his 52 win to better the record of Alain prost.
- In 2002 he equaled the record of Manuel Fangio of five driver’s championship title. He created a record of sort by clinching the title with six races of the season remaining. He finished with 144 points, a clear 67 points ahead of his teammate Ruben Barrichello.
- In 2002 he won eleven races a record for a season and finished every other race on the podium. His team Ferrari won 15 of the 17 races.
- In the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, His teammate Barrichello was leading the race until final meters before slowing down to allow Schumacher to win the race under team orders. Schumacher in response to crowd jeers handed over his first place trophy to Barichello. He and his team Ferrari were fined US $ One million for failing to observe podium decorum.
- In 2004 he won record thirteen out of 18 races and in the process he won his seventh driver’s title. He won his fifth consecutive title a record by itself.
- In 2005 rules regarding tyres change, was a major cause for setback for team like Ferrari. Teams using Bridgestone tyres were at disadvantage forcing the drivers to drop out or to retire. Schumacher retired in six of the nineteen races, to finish the season in third with 62 points.
- Driving for Ferrari for the last time in 2006, he secured his 66th pole position, breaking Ayrton Senna’s 12 year record.
- In 2006 going in to the penultimate race at the Japanese Grand Prix, Schumacher was leading the race before an engine failure forced him to concede the race and the driver championship to Alonso, who had a ten point lead with one race to go.
- Before the final race of the 2006 season at Brazilian Grand Prix, he was presented with a trophy by Pele, for his years of dedication to Formula One.
- He started the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix race in tenth position due to technical problem and subsequent tyre puncture forced him to pit and fell to 19th place. He was 70 seconds behind the leader Felipe Massa and recovered with an utterly breath taking drive to finish fourth.
- After winning his 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Schumacher announced his retirement at the end of the season. It was his 90th victory of his career.
- Following his retirement, Schumacher was appointed as super-assistant to Ferrari’s CEO Jean Todt. He was to select the team of drivers for the future.
- He also competed in the motorcycle racing in the IDM Superbike series apart from involving in sky diving sport.
- On January 2010, at the age of 41 he returned to Formula One with Mercedes GP team worth £ 20 million for three years contract.
- He recorded his best performance of fourth in Turkey GP on his return and finished 15th in the Valencia, Spain for his worst performances of his career. He ended the season 9th with 72 points without a win, pole position, podium or fastest lap.
- Schumacher developed the first lightweight carbon helmet in 2004 with Schuberth, which survived a tank test. The helmet keeps the driver cool with airflow through fifty holes.
- On December 2013 he met with an accident while skiing in the French Alps. He was medically induced in to coma due to traumatic brain injury. In May 2015 he was reported to be slowing improving considering his injury.
- On the eve of 2002 British Grand Prix he presented on behalf of Fiat a Ferrari 360 Modena to Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
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