Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher
Series: Formula One

 

Michael Schumacher highlights

Schumacher

• Won five straight Formula One driver championships, 2000-2004 (seven titles overall)
• Notched 48 wins between 2000 and 2004, while no other driver had more than seven
• Won 56 percent of races the first half of the decade
• Finished third in 2005 and second in ’06 in F1 driver standings

 

Winning a race in the premier motorsports series in the world is tough enough; dominating is another story. But that’s just what Schumacher did between 2000 and 2004, winning five straight Formula One titles. That stretch alone tied him for the most titles in Formula One history, which spans all the way back to its inaugural season in 1950.

Schumacher notched 48 wins between 2000 and 2004, while no other driver had more than seven. To put that further into perspective, the most career Formula One wins by a driver other than Schumacher is 51. That means that during the first five years of the new decade, Schumacher won 56 percent of the races. His 2003 title season also broke Juan Manuel Fangio’s record of five Formula One titles.

To cap his career, Schumacher finished third in 2005 and second in the 2006 standings.

Last summer, Schumacher was set to return to an F1 cockpit, replacing the injured Felipe Massa. But a neck injury he suffered in a February 2009 motorcycle accident prevented the comeback.

Not to be denied, Schumacher is coming out of retirement in 2010 to race with Mercedes.

Miichael Schumacher Joins Mercedes GP

Seven-time Formula One World champion Michael Schumacher has joined Mercedes GP and will return to competition in 2010.

According to reports by the BBC and German newspaper Bild, Schumacher has signed a deal and an announcement is ‘imminent’.

Schumacher will be reunited with Ross Brawn who worked with Schumacher for all of his seven titles won over a span of ten years and who is currently the team principal at Mercedes GP, the team he led to both drivers and constructors championship this past season under the Brawn GP banner.

The rumors and speculation concerning the return of Schumacher were fueled after a false start this past summer when the German agreed to return in a substitute role for injured Ferraridriver Felipe Massa. The comeback attempt was thwarted after doctors said Schumacher had not fully recovered from injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident earlier in the year.

This past week however, his manager Willi Weber said that a recent medical check with his sports doctor Johannes Peil showed Schumacher to be in a high state of health and in fact he called Schumacher ‘super-fit’.

Schumacher will partner with fellow German Nico Rosberg. The speculation has been that Schumacher will drive for the team for at least one year, perhaps longer

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

German ace Michael Schumacher is widely recognised as being the world’s best ever racing driver.  In 1995 Michael became the (at that time) youngest double Formula 1 World Champion (1994 and 1995 seasons) ever. He is also the 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 World Champion. This phenomenal record speaks for itself. His sixth title in 2003 beat Juan Manuel Fangio’s long standing record of five championships from the 1950s! Schuey has now retired from F1 as a driver, since the end of the 2006 season. Michael was then retained in a consultancy role by Ferrari.

Michael’s last championship title in 2004 was secured before the season end, taking his total number of titles to 7. Memorably, he did this by finishing 2nd at Spa in Belgium, in Ferrari’s 700th race, to accumulate enough points to seal the deal.

Michael also holds the F1 records for: most career wins (91), most wins in a season, most career pole positions, most points during a season (148 in 2004), most consecutive world championships (5), most consecutive race wins (2004), most podium finsihes (154), most laps leading, most fastest laps (76), plus several others!

Michael was at one point the highest paid racing driver in the world and second highest earning sportsman in the world, earning a reported $80 million US in 2004 ($40m of which was his salary from Ferrari).