Formula One: Michael Schumacher’s Legacy, holds 33 F1 records
Michael Schumacher is a big brand name in Formula One and is a result of 16 years of unmatched pace, unparalleled skill and insurmountable achievements. During his career, the German driver has won anything and everything there was to win and his inability to further decorate his trophy cabinet in 2010 can probably be compared with Lord Byron’s fictional character Don Juan, whose life became meaningless for him after having experienced all possible joys of life at a very early age.
Schumacher is the only German driver to have won the F1 Championship and he is credited with popularizing the sport in Germany where it was a fringe sport. Today 6 out of 24 drivers in Formula One are Germans.
Career
Before joining Formula One in 1991, Schumacher did time with Formula Konig, Formula Three and World Sportscar Championship. His first race was the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix and he had to wait exactly a year before he won his first grand prix.
During his first five years Schumacher drove for Benetton. He won his first World Championship in 1994 and successfully defended his title in 1995. In 1996 Schumacher joined Ferrari which was having a bad run with their last Drivers’ and Constructors’ cups coming in 1979 and 1983 respectively. In 1996 he helped Ferrari finish in 2nd place while in 1997 Schumacher lost the championship by 3 points only.
In 1998, the veteran lost the championship battle to Hakkinen and in 1999 despite handing Ferrari the Constructors’ Championship he did not become champion due to his 3 month absence from the track on account of a broken leg.
From then on Schumacher set out to win 5 consecutive Drivers’ Championships till 2004 and inscribed his name in the sport’s hall of fame. The 2005 tyre rule changes favoured Michelin runners more than Ferrari and the championship was won by Renault. In 2006 Schumacher put up good fight against Alonso but barely missed out on his 8th Championship.
Schumacher announced his retirement after 2006 and made a comeback this season. He has yet to show his supremacy in 2010 season. Apart from his first and last seasons, Schumacher won races in all of the 15 seasons he raced in.
Controversies
Over the years Schumacher has been involved in several incidents that caused a lot of controversy. In 1994 Schumacher was leading the Championship from Damon Hill by one point and his collision with Hill at the end of the race made both drivers retire and handed the Championship to Schumacher. No action was taken against Schumacher after the accident.
A similar situation in 1997 saw Schumacher trying to retire Villeneuve but this time the German failed to contain his opponent. Schumacher was leading the Championship by one point from Villeneuve before the last race of the season and when it became evident that he will not be able to win the race, he tried to provoke an accident with Villeneuve but did not succeed. As a result of this incident, Schumacher was disqualified from the Championship.
In 2002, Schumacher’s teammate Barrichello let Schumacher pass deliberately to win the race on the last lap. This did not go well with spectators and Schumacher handed his teammate the trophy he won as a result of the incident. After winning the Championship before the end of the 2002 season Schumacher let Barrichello pass to ‘return the favour’ in the last race which subsequently prompted FIA to ban team orders.
In the past Schumacher has been involved in fuel irregularities, dangerous driving that forced opponents into retirement, blocking other drivers during qualifying, manipulation of penalties and overtaking under safety car restrictions.
Records
Schumacher has amassed 33 Formula One records. Schumacher has won 7 world championships including 5 consecutive titles. He has 91 race victories to his name which include 40 doubles and 22 hat-tricks. His 72 wins with Ferrari is also a record. He has achieved 154 podiums and his first and last victories are separated by over 14 years. He has won the French GP 8 times, and US and Italian GP 5 times each. Schumacher has so far won on 22 different tracks. His 19 consecutive podiums including podiums in each race of 2004 is another record. He has led over 22,000 km in Formula One and accumulated 1,405 Championship points. Schumacher holds the record for winning 82% of the championship points in 2004.
Schumacher who made his comeback to Formula One this season has not fared well with Mercedes GP and is expected to make his final exit from the sport at the end of the season.
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