Michael Schumacher
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Official Website: Michael Schumacher Official Website
Place of Birth: Hurth-Hermulheim
Resides: Vufflens(Switzerland)
Status: Married to Corrina (2 children: Gina-Maria & Mick)
Height: 1.74m
Weight: 74.5kg
Career previous to F1: 1987 European Karting Champion
1988 German Formula Ford 1600 Champion
1990 German F3 Champion
Races: 179
Wins: 64 (35.8%)
Podiums: 114 (63.7%)
Pole Positions: 51 (28.5%)
Retirements: 43 (24.0%)
Points Accumulated: 950.000
Debut: 25 Aug 1991
Last Race: 09 Mar 2003
First Win: 30 Aug 1992
Last Win: 13 Oct 2002
First Pole: 15 May 1994
Last Pole: 09 Mar 2003 |
View a complete listing of Michael Schumacher's Formula 1 results
Driver History
Often controversial, often brilliant but always immensely talented,
Michael Schumacher is undoubtedly one of the finest drivers to grace
motorsport's centre stage.
His shrewd racing mind and awesome driving ability, especially
in the wet, has brought him deserved praise and respect if not popularity.
Following his F1 debut for Jordan in 1991 he made rapid progress
up the F1 ladder and took his first World Title in 1994. However,
along with success has come controversy with race suspensions and
accusations of bad sportmanship that date back to 1994 when he was
involved in a series of incidents, culminating in a collision with
Damon Hill in the Australian GP, which won Schumacher his first
Championship title.
Another infamous incident this time with Jacques Villeneuve (Jerez
1997) was widely blamed on Schumacher resulting in a one-race ban
and the loss of runner-up status in the Drivers' Championship. The
following year he again came close, challenging Mika Hakkinen for
the title right to the wire at Suzuka. However, Schumacher's hopes
died when he had to start from the back of the field after his car
stalled on the grid. Many suspect Schumacher of making a rare mistake,
whilst Ferrari blamed the car. 1999 looked as though Schumacher
might finally take the Drivers' Championship back to Maranello.
However a first lap accident at the British GP left the German with
a broken leg. Despite missing 6 races, Schumacher returned in style
at Malaysia, where he utterly dominated the entire weekend.
In 2000, Schumacher finally completed the job that he joined Ferrari
to do. He clinched the Drivers' title in Japan, handing the Italian
team their first for 21 years, and in Malaysia went on to complete
the double.
The German dominated the start of the year, winning the first three
races, but experienced a run of bad luck midway through the year.
A triumphant win at Monza put his title campaign back on track,
and from then on Michael coasted to victory, winning the last four
races of the season.
Schumacher previously won world championships in cars that weren't
the best - armed with the dominant Ferrari F2001 in 2001 and the
F2002 in 2002 he proceeded to re-write the F1 record books (almost
certainly for all-time).
Schumi won his 4th title easily in 2001 and he'd cruised to his
5th World title, equalling Juan Fangio's record, as early as the
French Grand Prix in July 2002.
But the year wasn't without huge controversy. At the Austrian GP,
the sixth race of the year, Ferrari team boss Jean Todt asked team-mate
Rubens Barrichello to gift Schumacher the race. A furious Austrian
crowd booed Schumacher onto and off the podium and he was so embarrassed
he put Barrichello onto the top step to take the winner's trophy.
He was booed heavily in Monaco and Canada afterwards. Later in
the year at the USGP, it looked to be another Schumi victory when
he backed off close to the line, attempting a dead-heat. It backfired
and a surprised Barrichello found himself winner.
Michael starts the 2003 season with few records yet to beat. The
last time he retired from a race was the German GP in 2001. He spent
the entire 2002 season on the podium. Ayrton Senna's record for
the number of pole positions is one of the few he hasn't eclipsed.
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