Schumi is the Wermeister!
Name: Michael Schumacher
Nickname: Schumi or Schuey
Date of Birth: 3rd January 1969
Nationality: German
Place of Birth: Hürth-Hermülheim, Germany
Height: 1.74m Weight: 68kg
Residency: Vufflens-le-Château, Switzerland
Status: Married to Corinna Betsch since Tuesday 1st August 1995
Children: Gina-Maria, daughter (DOB 19/01/97) and son Mick (DOB 22/03/99).
Family: Rolf, Father, Elizabeth, Mother and Ralf, Brother (DOB 30/6/75).
His Hobbies...Soccer, tennis, swimming, skiing.
His Manager...Michael's manager since 1989 has been Willi Weber.
Schumacher was to receive a free drive in his WTS team for three years, Weber in return receives 20% of all income
Michael earns from motor races. The initial agreement was to last 10 years, however it was later extended for a further
several years.His Helmet...Michael explains how his helmet's paint scheme came about:"From the area of the visor you see
the traditional German black-red-gold. I chose the colours years ago with a friend of mine and I changed it only slightly,
mostly to include sponsor decals. The blue circle with the white stars on the top was his idea. After joining Ferrari I added
the prancing horse on the back. "Since the European GP 2000, Michael has raced with a modified helmet design. The blue
circle on the top in now painted light red. The white Marlboro stripe around the top is also now red. The change was made
to prevent confusion between himself and Barrichello, whose design was confusingly similar.F1 Teams Driven for:Jordan
(1991)Benetton (1992-1995)Ferrari (1996-) Michael SchumacherF1 DriverPhoto courtesy of Passing Shots Michael in
the Ferrari F399Michael's helmet design can be seen quite clearly here. The section obscured is simply the lower portion,
which is just a white stripe.
This title was printed in July 2000 and is the most up to date bio of Michael. It is written by Christopher Hilton, who has
penned the biographies of other top drivers. Highly reccommended reading.Click here and be one of the first to get this
superb book!In association with Amazon.com - for your convenience and piece of mind.
Michael Schumacher started out his racing career in the same way as all the great drivers, in karting. At four years old his
father built him a kart and soon after enrolled him in the local kart club Kerpen Horrom. Michael's problem was that in
Germany the regulations stated the minimum permissible age to obtain a kart license was 14. To get around this he
obtained a Luxembourg license (obtainable from the age of 12). However in 1983 he obtained his German license and the
year after he won the German Junior Kart Championship. From 1985 Schumacher drove for Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert
and once again took the title.
In 1989 Michael signed with Willi Weber, whose team WTS he would drive for during 1989 and 1990 in the Formula 3
Championship. Weber paid the costs for both seasons (approximately 1 million DM). In the 1989 season Karl Wendlinger
was champion, with Michael finishing 3rd behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
During 1990 and 1991 Schumacher moved into sports car racing, instead of the more usual step up to Formula 3000. Many
managers believed this would block his progression to Formula 1, but Weber believed that exposure to professional press
conferences and dealing with the cars of 700bhp would be beneficial.
Formula 1
The Belgian Grand Prix of 1991 at Spa was Michael's debut in the world's top racing series. His lucky break came as a
result of Bertrand Gachot being imprisoned for spraying CS gas into a London taxi driver's face. Qualifying 7th, he
unfortunately retired on the first lap from this race with clutch failure of his Jordan-Ford. Although Eddie Jordan wished to
sign Michael to the team, Schumacher was advised by Weber to act cautiously, as Jordan was to use factory Yamaha
power the following year. They suspected this engine might prove to be second class and they were proved correct.
Subsequent to this Michael moved to the Benetton team, replacing Roberto Moreno. He competed in five more grand prix
that season with Nelson Piquet as team mate. In 1992 Schumacher was partnered with Martin Brundle and his first victory
was 1 year after his debut at Spa. During 1993 Ricardo Patrese partnered Michael, that being Patrese's last year in F1.
Michael's second win came at the 1993 Portuguese GP.
In the 1994 season with an under powered Ford Zetec V8 he took his first Driver's Championship, after the death of Ayrton
Senna at Imola. It came after a season of several run-ins with the FIA and he was disqualified from the British and Belgian
Grands Prix. Michael was also put under a two race ban during the Italian and Portuguese GP that year. The race bans
were a result of not adhering to a black flag (driver disqualified) at Silverstone that year. Instead of coming in, he
continued on to win the race - the team had hoped that a later appeal would overturn the disqualification and hence keep
the victory he obtained. The disqualification was a result of Michael overtaking Damon Hill on the parade lap, a seemingly
psychological manoeuvre. In a controversial last round at the Australian GP Michael entered leading Damon Hill by one
point. On the 36th lap Schumacher made an unbecoming mistake and banged the wall, damaging his rear suspension. He
made it back on the track and as Damon Hill came to pass him on the next corner, Michael turned in on the Williams car.
Hill's front suspension was badly damaged and both cars were out of the race. Hence Michael gained the crown.
The 1995 season was just as successful. Schumacher now had Renault power, to match the Williams and he dominated the
season. It was marred however by several collisions between himself and Hill. In a particularly stupid overtaking
manoeuvre Hill took them both out of the British GP near the start of the race. Having taken 9 GP wins, Michael finished
the season to take his second Championship.
The 1996 season saw Michael move to Ferrari with a reported salary of $30 million He stated the need for a new challenge
as his reasoning, it being to return Ferrari to the pinnacle of motorsport. Eddie Irvine moved from Jordan to become his
team mate in the same year. The Ferrari F310 car had poor handling and it was a testament to Michael's ability that he
managed to gain three wins. One of his wins, at the Spanish GP of that year was a wet race and is regarded as one of the
best drives ever. His method of attaining time from the car resulted in somewhat flamboyant and uncharacteristic driving,
with oversteering et al. With a lack of competitors Hill finally managed to take the world championship.
With Damon Hill being dumped from Williams in 1997, Michael's main rival became former CART champion Jacques
Villeneuve. The Ferrari was more reliable and a somewhat less than spectacular early season for Villeneuve allowed
Michael to provide a challenge. He took 5 GP wins and at the last race of the season Michael was ahead in the
championship by just one point. Mid way through leading the race in Jerez, Schumacher's lap times began to drop off and
concern was raised about the condition of his car. As Villeneuve came to pass on a corner, Michael turned in on him. His
wheel banged the Canadian's sidepod but the Williams seemed undamaged. Michael wound up in a gravel trap and was out
of the race, with Villeneuve finishing third to take the title. In a decision by the FIA Schumacher was disqualified from the
whole of the season as punishment for his manoeuvre in that race.
In 1998 the McLaren's dominating the season convincingly and Michael was the only driver to come near them to provide a
challenge. With the Ferrari improving significantly throughput the season and being particularly faster in the second half,
Michael gained 6 wins and 5 other podiums. With the later outlawed mini sidepod wings the Ferrari's took an historic 1-2
at the Italian GP at Imola that year.
Michael's accident at the British GP in 1999 killed his chances of taking the title. Prior to that it looked very probable that he
would take it. Looking back on the season and the relative performances of McLaren and Ferrari it seems likely he would
have done so. The fact that Irvine was so close to Hakkinen in the championship at the end, surely indicates that
Schumacher would have had it wrapped up long before, had he been able to compete. However he returned to drive the
second two races of the season and astounded the paddock with his speed, leaving the pack behind. Excuses from drivers
such as Coulthard and Irvine included that he'd had a nice rest at home and they were tired out after a full season of
races.
Karting History
Year Position Championship
1984 1st German Junior Kart Championship
1985 1st2nd German Junior Kart ChampionshipJunior World Kart Championship
1986 3rd2nd3rd German Senior Kart ChampionshipEuropean Kart Championship (North Zone)European Kart
Championship Final
1987 1st2nd1st German Senior Kart ChampionshipEuropean Kart Championship (North Zone)European Kart
Championship Final
Single Seater History
Year Position Championship
1988 1st2nd6th German Formula König ChampionshipEuropean Formula Ford 1600 ChampionshipGerman Formula Ford 1600 Championship
1989 2nd (=) German Formula 3 Championship
1990 1st DQ German Formula 3 ChampionshipEuropean Formula 3 Cup
1991 2nd All-Japan Formula 3000 Championship
Sports Car History
Year Position Championship
1990 DNF 5th (=) German Touring Car ChampionshipSports-Prototype World Championship
1991 DNF9th (=) German Touring Car ChampionshipSports-Prototype World Championship
Formula One History
Year Position Points Championship
1991 12th (=) 0 F1 World Championship
1992 3rd 53 F1 World Championship
1993 4th 52 F1 World Championship
1994 1st 92 F1 World Championship
1995 1st 102 F1 World Championship
1996 3rd 59 F1 World Championship
1997 2nd (DQ) - F1 World Championship
1998 2nd 86 F1 World Championship
1999 5th 44 F1 World Championship
Schumacher was to receive a free drive in his WTS team for three years, Weber in return receives 20% of all income
Michael earns from motor races. The initial agreement was to last 10 years, however it was later extended for a further
several years.His Helmet...Michael explains how his helmet's paint scheme came about:"From the area of the visor you see
the traditional German black-red-gold. I chose the colours years ago with a friend of mine and I changed it only slightly,
mostly to include sponsor decals. The blue circle with the white stars on the top was his idea. After joining Ferrari I added
the prancing horse on the back. "Since the European GP 2000, Michael has raced with a modified helmet design. The blue
circle on the top in now painted light red. The white Marlboro stripe around the top is also now red. The change was made
to prevent confusion between himself and Barrichello, whose design was confusingly similar.F1 Teams Driven for:Jordan
(1991)Benetton (1992-1995)Ferrari (1996-) Michael SchumacherF1 DriverPhoto courtesy of Passing Shots Michael in
the Ferrari F399Michael's helmet design can be seen quite clearly here. The section obscured is simply the lower portion,
which is just a white stripe.
Michael's superb autobiography is a 144 page in-depth insight into the great man. There is far more information than it is
possible to offer here. It inculdes interviews with Michael, details of his childhood and racing career in Germany, through
his rise up the ranks in lower Formulas. His break into Formula 1 with the Jordan team and subsequent move to Benetton
and Ferrari is catalogued. The 1994 and 1995 world champion recounts these years in detail and provides us with insight
and information which only he himself could. The book offers a true insight into Michael's personality and is highly recommended.Click here to buy the book or for more information.
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