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German Culture: Michael Schumacher

Robert Easton

With a record seven World Driver's Championship victories, the most Grand Prix victories, and the most championship points ever, Michael Schumacher (alias 'The Red Baron', 'Red Devil' 'Schuey' or 'Schumi') is undoubtedly the most successful driver in Formula 1 history.

His father, Rolf Schumacher, owned the local go-karting track and Michael was racing karts by the age of four. He won the world Formula 3 series in 1990 and had success in the World Endurance Championship before getting his Formula 1 debut.

It came at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix when the Jordan driver Bertrand Gachot was imprisoned for spraying CS gas in a London taxi driver's face. Michael convinced Jordan that he had vast experience on the Spa circuit, even though he had only been round it once, on a borrowed bicycle. It didn't matter though, because he qualified in seventh, and was promptly snapped up by Benneton-Ford for the next race.

After a few years struggling to compete against superior cars, Schumacher's first World Championship victory came in 1994. Damon Hill had managed to keep pace with Schumacher throughout the season, thanks partly to several disqualifications and bans for the German, so Schumacher lead by just one point going into the final race.

In the final race Schumacher crashed into Hill, meaning both drivers were unable to finish the race, and Schumacher won thanks to that one point lead. He won by a comfortable margin in 1995 before moving to Ferrari, who at that time had not won a World Championship for almost twenty years.

Schumacher's early years at Ferrari were always a struggle against superior machinery, but they also demonstrated his enormous talent, because he was always competitive despite the technical disadvantage. Eventually the years of work were rewarded with another World Championship victory in 2000. He went on to win the World Championships five times in a row until 2004.

2005 was not a successful year for Schumacher, partly because of rule changes which hindered Ferrari's performance, but he still managed third in the World Championship. He is set to stay with Ferrari for the 2006 season, although there have been rumours that he was thinking of moving to a different team or retiring.

Schumacher is thought to earn about $80 million per year in total, and even has his own brand of designer goods and fragrances. He plays football and is active in charity fundraising, having donated $10 million of his own money after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.

Schumacher is a family man, and Schumi-related gossip in the notorious German tabloids is rare considering the extent of his fame. Michael's younger brother Ralf is also a Formula 1 driver, with a host of successes at lower levels of racing. Ralf has recently revealed his plan to start driving with glasses on in an effort to catch up with his brother.

Although everyone acknowledges Schumacher's position in the history of Formula 1, not everyone likes it. He has twice won in questionable circumstances, 'crashing' into rival drivers when victory seemed to be escaping his grasp, and there have often been complaints about 'team orders' where one driver is ordered to cede victory to his teammate for the sake of the team.

Whatever the truth of the 'crash' incidents, team orders are a common phenomenon in F1, and Schumacher is definitely not the only driver to have benefited.

Despite allegations of unsportsmanlike conduct, and the complaints about team orders, Schumacher remains immensely popular at home, and the German Grand Prix, to be held at Hockenheim this year, is always an orgy of Schuey-mania.

The Hockenheim circuit, near Heidelberg and 60 miles from Frankfurt, was built as a test track in 1939, and was extensively remodelled in 2002. The old track was well-know for its long, high-speed straights through the forest, but the new track involves more grandstands, and provides a more fan-friendly race.

In recent years Hockenheim has always hosted the German Grand Prix, whilst the European Grand Prix took place at the Nurburgring, Germany's other Formula 1 track. However, a financial crisis which some have said could see Hockenheim bankrupt by April have led to suggestions that the two races be merged, and the two circuits alternate in hosting the German Grand Prix.

Other articles by Robert Easton
The Amber Room
The Berlin Wall
Austrian Beer
Austrian Food
German Beer
German Cars
German Food
German Music
German Philosophers
German Politics
German Stereotypes
Hiking in Austria
Johannes Gutenberg
Michael Schumacher
Sex in Germany
Sex in Austria
Sex in Switzerland
Skiing in Switzerland
Swiss Stereotypes
William Tell

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