When Michael Schumacher revealed why his first F1 title with Ferrari was his most emotional

Former seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher previously picked his triumph with Ferrari in 2000 as the most emotional championship above his maiden title in 1994. The German driver made his debut on the grid in the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix with the Jordan F1 team and impressed everyone instantly with his raw speed around the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

The 56-year-old did not stick with Eddie Jordan for long and switched to Benetton from the next race onwards, and went on to win two championships for the latter in 1994 and 1995 respectively. After his triumph in 1995, Michael Schumacher decided to leave Benetton for Ferrari to bring home the title for the Italian team.

However, it took longer than expected for both parties, as despite coming close in three consecutive seasons, Schumacher was unable to secure the driver's title. However, he was finally able to bring home the glory to Maranello after a stunning drive in the season finale in Suzuka and got the better of his rival, Mika Hakkinen.

On his official website, Michael Schumacher did a Q/A in 2013, where he was asked to pick between his maiden world championship in 1994 and his third overall title in 2000 as his most emotional title, to which he said:

"The most emotional one definitely is Suzuka 2000 with Ferrari, 21 years no championship for Ferrari, four years for myself failing to achieve it, and finally 2000 Suzuka winning the race in an exceptional race and winning the great championship."

The German went on to have one of the most dominant periods in the sport as he won five consecutive drivers' championships with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004, a record which still stands to this day.

F1 pundit reveals how Michael Schumacher almost lost his job with Ferrari

F1 pundit Giorgio Terruzzi revealed that Ferrari came close to firing Michael Schumacher as he was unable to achieve their goal of winning the championship after his teammate Eddie Irvine came closer than him in 1999.

Speaking with Moto.it, the Italian said in his exclusive interview:

"He surprised everyone because he took a long time. Schumacher was at risk of being fired in the early years; it took him five years, even with Irvine, who could have won a world championship. So he was in trouble, right? Instead, he changed with such intensity... they were admired by Schumacher at Ferrari.

"He was the kind of guy you'd say, 'We have to try this stuff, you have to do 100 laps, ' and he'd do 100 laps with a gap between the fastest lap and the slowest lap of 2 tenths, so he was a beast in terms of racing consistency."

Michael Schumacher left Ferrari at the end of the 2006 season and due to with the Italian team in the middle of the 2009 season, but failed after he had a motorbike accident.