Michael Schumacher, the early years

Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher had a sensational career in the sport of Formula One. Let’s take a look back at the achievements of the German and examine a career that spanned 15 years, achieving records that will stand for a long time.

Schumacher, 40 has not competed in a Formula One race since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2006, ending a career that saw him win seven World Drivers Championships, amass 1,369 World Championship points, gain 68 pole positions, achieve 154 podiums as well as winning a staggering 91 races. It is a set of statistics that illustrates just what the German driver managed to achieve in his career, most of which were with the Italian Ferrari team for whom he drove between 1996 and 2006.

Michael Schumacher began his career in karting at the tender age of 4 in a modified pedal kart built by his father. Upon crashing into a lampost his parents decided that he should be taken to the local kart track, and he became the youngest member of the club. A successful spell in karting that saw him win several German and European championships and inevitably led to his debut in single seaters with him competing in Formula Ford and Formula Konig in 1988. In his first season of Formula Konig he clinched the championship.

The 1989 season saw Schumacher ascend the motorsport ladder by signing with the WTS Formula 3 team. For the 1989 and 1990 seasons Schumacher competed for this team with great success and clinched the 1990 F3 championship.

The 1990 Sauber Mercedes C11

It was during the latter half of 1990 that Schumacher made a surprising move by joining the Mercedes Junior Racing Programme in the World Sports-Prototype Championship. For a driver that had exclusively raced single seaters this was a strange move as many of his rivals he had competed with in F3 would usually migrate to a series such as Formula 3000. This was generally seen as the best route to achieve a seat in Formula One.

One of the main reasons for this unusual move was due to his manager Willi Weber who believed that the way the World Sports-Prototype Championship was run would be excellent training for the young German driver, as it involved professional press conferences and driving powerful cars in long distance races. This was in direct contrast to series such as Formula 3000 that involved much shorter races than both Formula One and World Sports-Prototype Championship events.

Schumacher achieved reasonable success in 1990 by finishing fifth overall in the drivers championship and winning the final race of the season at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez at the wheel of the Sauber-Mercedes C11. He remained with Mercedes for the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season and managed yet again to win the final race of the season at Autopolis in Japan. This was whilst piloting the Sauber-Mercedes-Benz C291. Unfortunately that year Schumacher only achieved ninth place in the drivers championship.The 1991 season also saw Schumacher compete in a single Japanese Formula 3000 race – finishing second.

The 1991 Jordan-Ford

Despite a full schedule in 1991 Schumacher also made his Formula One debut with the Jordan team at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. His debut was impressive, managing to qualify in seventh place on the grid. Unfortunately his enthusiasm at the race start lead to him burning out the clutch leading to a retirement. However, he had made an impression on the Formula One paddock that would lead to an offer he could not refuse for the following race at the historic Monza circuit in Italy.

The boss of the Jordan Formula One team Eddie Jordan had agreed a deal in principle with the Mercedes management for Schumacher to drive for him for the remainder of the 1991 Formula One World Championship. However a contract had not actually been signed, and the Benetton Team signed the young German. Jordan filed an injuction attempting to prevent Schumacher driving for the Benetton team, but failed in his bid. Schumacher made his debut for the Benetton team at Monza just a fortnight after the Belgian Grand Prix replacing the Italian driver Roberto Moreno who was sacked. Moreno essentially swapped seats with Schumacher and drove for the Jordan Ford team for the remainder of the 1991 season. The entire incident left a bad taste between the Jordan team and Benetton as well as casting Schumacher’s management in a bad light.

Michael Schumacher drove for the Benetton Ford team for the remainder of the 1991 season and continued with them for the 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 Formula One World Championship campaigns. In his first full season with the team in 1992 he scored his first victory in the Belgian Grand Prix with an impressive drive in a car widely believed to be underpowered compared to the leading cars in that years championship such as the McLaren Honda and Williams Renault. Schumacher finished the season in a superb third position having scored 53 points and beating the McLaren Honda of Gehard Berger – a significant achievement.

The 1993 season saw an unfortunate increase in retirements from the young German for a variety of reasons, however he still managed to match his 1992 win tally with a single victory in the 1993 Portugese Grand Prix, leading home the Williams Renault of Alain Prost. Schumacher finished the season in fourth position in the World Drivers Championship with a total of 52 points.

Benetton celebrate at the end of the 1994 season

The 1994 season was marred by the tragic fatal accidents of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, as well as accusations that Schumacher and his Benetton team were cheating. The start of the season saw Schumacher achieve victory in six of the first seven races. The German was disqualified from the British Grand Prix after he ignored a penalty that had been served for overtaking on the parade lap, as a result he was black flagged. The transgression then led to a two-race ban being served on him. The penalties did not end there however, as Schumacher was also disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix after stewards discovered that the wooden plank below his car was under the permitted tolerance. The Benetton team had also found themselves being investigated after a terrible pitlane fire engulfed the second Benetton of Jos Verstappen during refuelling at the German Grand Prix.

These bans and penalties allowed the Williams Renault driver Damon Hill to close up on Schumacher despite his difficult start to the season. As the final round in Australia approached both drivers were separated by only a single World Championship point. Schumacher won the World Championship that had ended after the two drivers collided on the circuit when the German made a mistake and rejoined the track into the path of Hill. The season ended in much the same way as it had been all year with Schumacher accused of cheating after rejoining the circuit after hitting the wall and colliding with the Williams. Many F1 pundits believed that Schumacher knew his car was damaged and made a desperate move to prevent Hill from winning the Championship. No bans or penalties were given to Schumacher however, and he secured his first World Championship.

The 1995 World Championship saw Schumacher retain his title after an unsuccessful challenge from the Williams Renault driver Damon Hill. The heated battle between the two drivers had led to several incidents between them during the season, including two dramatic collisions at the British and Italian Grand Prix.