Michael Schumacher, the Ferrari years

For the 1996 season Schumacher left Benetton and joined the Italian Ferrari team where he would remain for the rest of his career. The 1996 season was a struggle for the German as he wrestled with a difficult car. His first victory of the year came at the rain-drenched Spanish Grand Prix, where he displayed brilliance in appalling conditions, lapping the entire field up to third place. Schumacher also achieved two more victories that season at the Belgian and Italian Grand Prix.

1996 Ferrari F310

For the 1997 World Championship Schumacher again had a car that was not considered to be the fastest in the field. A season-long battle with Jacques Villeneuve in the Williams Renault resulted in a final race showdown for the title that, as in 1994, ended with an on-track collision between the two drivers. This time Schumacher came off worse and was deemed by the FIA to have attempted to deliberately run Jacques Villeneuve off the track. As a result he had all his points taken away from him as well as being disqualified from the entire 1997 Formula One World Championship.

A season-long battle with the Finnish driver Mika Hakkinen in 1998 ended with Schumacher missing out on the drivers championship. In total he scored six victories during the season.

The 1999 championship saw Schumacher win two races early in the season. However, his championship challenge ended during the British Grand Prix when the rear brakes on his car failed as he entered the high speed Stowe corner. His car hit the tyre barrier at high speed resulting in him suffering a broken leg, ruling him out of racing in the next six races.

After returning for the final two races of the 1999 season Schumacher was back to full fitness to challenge for the 2000 World Championship. In total he achieved victory in 9 of the races and secured the Championship for the first time since 1995. It was at the Italian Grand Prix that Schumacher achieved his 41st Grand Prix victory to equal that of the late Ayrton Senna. Upon being reminded of this in the press conference Schumacher dramatically broke down in tears live on television.

In 2001 Schumacher secured his fourth World Drivers Championship with a total of nine victories. No other driver mounted a serious challenge for the crown, and it was a dominant performance by the German.

As in 2000 and 2001 Schumacher retained his drivers championship once more, this time at the wheel of the Ferrari F2002. The Austrian race of that year saw Schumacher and the Ferrari team involved in controversy. The team ordered Schumacher’s teammate Rubens Barrichello to let the German driver through just before the finish line to boo’s from the crowd. Such was the negative reaction by the crowd during the podium celebrations that Schumacher offered Barrichello the top step of the podium to stand on.

The 2002 championship saw Ferrari emerge victorious in 15 of the 17 races with Schumacher clinching the drivers crown with six races remaining.

Michael Schumacher - Indianapolis 2005

The 2003 World Championship was a considerably more competitive season than 2001 and 2002 that has seen Schumacher and Ferrari dominate much of the sport. The main challenge to Schumacher’s bid for a fifth Drivers Championship came from the Williams duo of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya as well as the McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen. By the end of the season only Kimi Raikkonen remained in contention for the championship needing a victory and Schumacher to not score. Unfortunately for Raikkonen Schumacher came home in eighth position and as a result secured his fifth World Drivers Championship equalling Juan Manuel Fangio’s record.

The 2004 Formula One World Championship saw a dominant performance by Schumacher and Ferrari. The German won twelve of the first thirteen races of the season, which would have been thirteen had there not been an unusual incident in the tunnel at Monaco during a safetycar period that saw Schumacher strike the barriers. Schumacher secured the drivers title at the Belgian Grand prix that year having amassed a record 148 points. He also set a new record for victories in a season having scored 13 race victories from 18 races.

The 2005 season was a difficult period for Schumacher and Ferrari. The only victory that season came at the United States Grand Prix that was famous for fielding just a six car grid after a dispute over tyres led to all Michelin-shod runners having to withdraw from the race. He ended the season in third position with just 62 points.

Schumacher during qualifying - Monaco 2006

The 2006 championship was to be Schumacher’s final season before retiring from the sport. This final year was not without its drama as Schumacher was demoted to the back of the grid for stopping his Ferrari on the circuit during qualifying at Monaco thus preventing Fernando Alonso from completing a lap that could have beaten his. Many names in the paddock were openly critical of the move and it seemed unfortunate that even at the end of his career there were still accusations of cheating.A spirited challenge by Schumacher led to both himself and Alonso vying for the championship at the penultimate race in Japan. Schumacher’s challenge for the championship took a dramatic turn for the worst when his engine expired for the first time since 2000 forcing him to retire from the race. This left the German having to win the final round of the season with Alonso scoring no points. A difficult final race ended with Schumacher finishing in fourth place and ending what had been a glittering career spanning 15 years. However the final icing on the cake of winning the championship in his final year unfortunately did not come to fruition.

After the serious injuries that were sustained by Ferrari driver Felipe Massa during qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, it was announced that Schumacher was to make a sensational return to Grand Prix racing at the European Grand Prix in Valencia. Unfortunately the German driver had to withdraw his offer to drive for Ferrari due to injuries that were still causing him problems after a motorcycle accident earlier in the year. The build-up and then let-down has crushed some F1 fans who hope that Schumacher may decide to return to the sport in the future. However, at 40 years old this seems to be a slim chance.