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Michael Schumacher is a name that has been immortalized in F1. The German driver, at the time of his retirement, was the most successful in the history of the sport. He made the scarlet Ferrari a household name, winning an unprecedented seven world titles in his career.
So what was it that made 'Schumi' an all-time great? Was it his driving? Was it his nature? Was it the talent that he had? Was it the hunger? Or was he just plain lucky that success landed on his lap? In this piece, we answer these questions as we discuss the top 5 things that made Michael Schumacher an all-time great.
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#5 Pioneer in fitness, and strength and conditioning
Michael Schumacher was the first driver in the history of the sport to have a strength and conditioning regimen in place. During the '90s, F1 drivers were not specifically the physical specimens that they are today. There was little to no emphasis on physical fitness and most that any driver did was run around the track or cycle their way around it.
The awareness around the importance of physical fitness was first brought forward by none other than Michael Schumacher. The young German driver had professional help in place and was the fittest driver on the grid. This was something that in turn helped him push that bit extra in the race as compared to his peers. In F1, Schumacher was the first driver to introduce physical fitness to the sport and it was something that has been adopted since by the rest of the grid.
#4 Michael Schumacher's ruthless and tenacious approach
What set Michael Schumacher apart from the rest of the grid was his rather tenacious approach to racing. He had to finish the highest he could in a session, he had to take all the pole positions and he had to win every race. Every battle was as dear to him as the next one and he had to win all of them.
This was probably one of the reasons why he pushed the boundaries when in wheel-to-wheel combat. Schumacher went into every race of the season with a chip on his shoulder – a chip that made him compete for every inch of the track and not let any other driver get the better of him.
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#3 The sustained level of performance late into his career
It's hard to believe that Michael Schumacher won the bulk of his titles in his 30s. Although a testament to the level of physical conditioning he had done for himself, Schumacher was as competitive in an F1 car in the 30s as he was in his 20s. The German became the gold standard of racing in F1 in 1994 after Ayrton Senna's tragic death.
After winning his first title, however, Schumacher never let go of that crown until his first retirement in 2006. At the time, he was still battling for the title at the age of 37 against a very young Fernando Alonso who was in his mid-20s.
Schumacher showed an extraordinary level of longevity in terms of performance and success in his car, something that was taken as a benchmark by drivers like Alonso and Lewis Hamilton who are now in their late 30s and early 40s.
#2 The entire team revolved around him
What made Michael Schumacher brilliant was his ability to not only be a leader but a manager as well. In the documentary, "Schumacher," his wife Corrina talks about how he remembered key details of each and every member of the team. He knew the names of all the mechanics, their birthdays, their children's names, and whatnot. He made it a point to thank them after every race irrespective of the result.
What this did was it brought the entire team together in support of him. They worked extra hard because they knew he was going to extract whatever was possible in that car.
#1 His ability to build a championship-winning team
Michael Schumacher is one of the few drivers in the history of the sport that was responsible for the rise to prominence of three teams. First, it was the turnaround achieved at Benetton, where the team transformed itself from being a midfield contender to a two-time championship-winning outfit.
After Benetton, Schumacher went with Ferrari on an unprecedented run of 5 consecutive driver titles. That marked an era that is still considered legendary in the history of the sport. The lesser spoken of contribution by Schumacher was at Mercedes. The German driver came out of retirement and drove for the team for three years. During that time, in conjunction with Ross Brawn, Schumacher set up the foundations of Mercedes, a team that went on a charge in 2014 and has not lost the title since.
Schumacher had the uncanny ability to know how to develop a championship-winning team, something that he was admirably able to put to good use.
