Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher born January 3, 1969, in Hürth-Hermülheim, Germany) is a former Formula One driver, seven-time world champion, and current test driver for Ferrari. According to the official Formula One website, he is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen". He is the first German to win the Formula One World championship, and is credited with popularising Formula One in Germany. In a 2006 FIA survey, Michael Schumacher was voted the most popular driver among Formula One fans.

After winning two championships with Benetton, Michael Schumacher moved to Scuderia Ferrari in 1996 and won five consecutive drivers' titles with them from 2000–2004. Schumacher holds many records in Formula One, including most drivers' championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and most races won in a single season. Schumacher is the only Formula One driver to have an entire season of podium finishes. His driving sometimes created controversy: he was twice involved in collisions that determined the outcome of the world championship, most notably his disqualification from the 1997 championship for causing a collision with Jacques Villeneuve. After the 2006 Formula One season Schumacher retired from race driving.

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. He is the elder brother of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, currently racing in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM).



He is currently acting as advisor and special test driver for the 2008 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team.

Early years
Schumacher was born in Hürth Hermülheim, to Rolf, a bricklayer, and Elisabeth. When Schumacher was four, his father modified his pedal kart by adding a small motorcycle engine. After Schumacher crashed it into a lamp post in Kerpen, his parents took him to the local karting track at Kerpen-Horrem where he became the youngest member of the karting club. His father soon built him a proper 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 at the circuit, while his wife worked at the track's canteen stand. Despite the extra income, when Schumacher needed a new engine costing 800 DM (400 €) his parents were unable to afford it, but their son was able to continue racing through support offered by several local businessmen.

In Germany the regulations require the driver to be at least 14 years old in order to obtain a kart license. To get around this, Schumacher obtained a license in Luxembourg in 1981, at the age of 12.

In 1983 he obtained his German license and the year after he won the German Junior Kart Championship. From 1984, Schumacher won numerous German and European kart championships. He joined Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert in 1985. By 1987 he was the German and European kart champion, at which point he withdrew from school and began working as a mechanic. In 1988 Schumacher made his first step into single-seat car racing by racing in the German Formula Ford and Formula König series, winning the latter.

In 1989 Michael signed with Willi Weber's WTS Formula 3 team. For the next two years, funded by Weber, he competed in the German Formula 3 series, winning the title in 1990. Towards the end of 1990, along with his Formula 3 rivals Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger, he joined the Mercedes junior racing programme in the World Sports-Prototype Championship. This was an unusual move for a young driver: most of Schumacher's contemporaries would instead compete in Formula 3000 on their way to Formula One. However, Weber advised Schumacher that exposure to professional press conferences and driving powerful cars in long distance races would help his career. He 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 Formula One season, winning again at the final race of the season at Autopolis in Japan with a Sauber-Mercedes-Benz C291, leading to a ninth place finish in the drivers championship. In 1991 he competed in one race in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship, finishing second.

Racing record

Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Final Placing
1988 European Formula Ford 1600 Eufra Racing 4 1 2 50 2nd
German Formula Ford 1600 Eufra Racing ? ? ? ? 6th
Formula König ? 10 1 9 192 1st
1989 German Formula Three WTS Racing 12 2 2 163 3rd
European Formula Three Cup WTS Racing 1 0 0 N/A NC
Macau Grand Prix WTS Racing 1 0 0 N/A NC
1990 World Sportscar Championship Team Sauber Mercedes 3 0 1 21 =5th
German Formula Three WTS Racing 11 6 5 148 1st
European Formula Three Cup WTS Racing 1 1 0 N/A NC
Macau Grand Prix WTS Racing 1 0 1 N/A 1st
1991 Formula One Jordan 1 0 0 0 14th
Benetton 5 0 0 4
World Sportscar Championship Team Sauber Mercedes 8 0 1 43 =9th
Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Zakspeed Mercedes 4 0 0 0 NC
Japanese Formula 3000 Team Le Mans 1 0 0 6 12th
1992 Formula One Benetton 16 0 1 53 3rd
1993 Formula One Benetton 16 0 1 52 4th
1994 Formula One Benetton 14 6 8 92 1st
1995 Formula One Benetton 17 4 9 102 1st
1996 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A. 16 4 3 59 3rd
1997 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 17 3 5 78 DSQ*
1998 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 16 3 6 86 2nd
1999 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 10 3 2 44 5th
2000 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 17 9 9 108 1st
2001 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 17 11 9 123 1st
2002 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 17 7 11 144 1st
2003 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 16 5 6 93 1st
2004 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 18 8 13 148 1st
2005 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 19 1 1 62 3rd
2006 Formula One Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 18 4 7 121 2nd