Michael Schumacher was born in January 3 1969, in Hurth Hermulheim, Germany. Schumacher is a seven times world champion and based on statistics he is considered to be he greatest driver the sport has ever seen. He is th first German to win a world championship title and he is responsible for making formula one popular in Germany. Schumacher holds many records in formula one including most drivers championships, pole positions, race victories, fastest laps, most races won in a season and most points scored in his career. He is also the only driver ever to finish an entire season with only podium finishes in each race (in 2002). Michael Schumacher is also the elder brother of the current Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher.
When Schumacher was at the age of four his father made him a pedal kart by adding a small motorcycle engine. After Schumacher crashed it into a lamp post in Kerpen, his father took him to the local track at Kerpen-Horrem and he became the youngest member of the karting club. Later his father built him a proper car and at the age of six, Schumacher won his first club championship.
In Germany the driver is required to be at list 14 to obtain a kart license. To get around this Schumacher got a license in Luxenbourg in 1981, at the age of 12. He obtained a German license in 1983 and he year after he won he junior kart championship. From 1984 Schumacher won numerous European kart championships.
In 1989 Schumacher signed with Willi Weber's WTS formula three team. He won the championship in 1990 and the same year he joined Mercedes junior racing programme in the World Sports-Prototype Championship. He finished fifth in the championship that year. He continued with the team he next season as well and finished the championship in ninth position.
Schumacher made his debut in formula one with the Jordan-Ford team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, as a replacement for the imprisoned Bertrand Gachot. Schumacher who still had a contract with Mercedes as a driver, was signed by Eddie Jordan, after Mercedes paid Jordan $150,000 for his debut. He impressed everyone by qualifying seventh in the race. That was the best team grid position that season, and out-qualified teammate Andrea de Cesaris. However Schumacher retired from the race in the first lap due to clutch problems.
After his debut race Benetton-Ford signed him. He finished the 1991 season with four points in six races. The best result for him was a fifth place in his second race, in the Italian Grand Prix, in which he outpaced his teammate and three-time world champion Nelson Piquet. In 1992 he took his place n the podium for the first time after finishing third in the Mexican Grand Prix. He finished the championship third with 53 points, just 3 points behind runner up Ricardo Patrese. In 1993 the championship was dominated again by Williams-Renault of Damon Hill and Alain Prost. Schumacher took his first victory in the 1993 Portuguese Grand Prix and had nine podium finishes but he retired in 7 races out of 15. He finished his season fourth in the championship with 52 points.
The 1994 season was marred by the the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger during the third race of the season, at the San Marino Grand Prix, at Imola, and by allegations of cheating. Schumacher won the six of the first seven races. After the San Marino Grand Prix, the Benetton, Ferrari and McLaren teams were investigated on suspicion of breaking the FIA-imposed ban of electronic aids. Benetton and McLaren initially refused to hand over their source code for investigation. When they did the FIA discovered hidden functionality in both teams software but no evidence that it had been used in a race. However both teams were fined $100,000 for their initial refusal to cooperate. Schumacher was penalised at the British Grand Prix for overtaking in the formation lap. He ignored the penalty and a black-flag followed this action, which means he had to return to the pits and retire from the race. He was given a two-race ban afterwards. However Schumacher managed to win the world championship title that year, being the first German driver to achieve that.
In 1995 Schumacher successfully defended his title and helped Benetton win the constructors championship as well. Schumacher won 9 of the 17 races that season and got on the podium 11 times. In 1996 Schumacher left Benetton, a year earlier before his contract expired, to join Ferrari. Although the car had reliability problems, and Schumacher did not finish at 6 of the 16 Grand Prix, he finished the championship in third place.
In 1997 Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher fought for the title. Jacques Villeneuve led the championship in the early part of the season but after Schumacher winning five races he took the lead and entered the final race in Jerez with a one-point advantage. During that race Villeneuve and Schumacher collided, as the Canadian tried to pass the German. Villeneuve passed him and won the title as Schumacher retired. He was considered responsible for the collision with Villeneuve and was disqualified from the Drivers Championship.
In 1998 McLaren's Mika Hakkinen became Schumacher's most serious opponent. Schumacher lost the championship to Hakkinen that year. In 1999 Hakkinen took the title again but Schumacher 's efforts gave the Constructors Championship to Ferrari. Schumacher would later say that Hakkinen was the opponent he respected the most.
In 2000 Schumacher won his third world championship. Schumacher won the Italian Grand Prix, equalling the number of wins won by his idol Ayrton Senna, and in the press conference he broke into tears. The championship title came down to the last but one race, in Japan were Schumacher won the race and the championship. In 2001 he won his fourth title. He finished the season with 123 points, 58 points ahead of runner-up David Coulthard. Season highlights included the Canadian Grand Prix were Schumacher finished second behind his brother Ralf. This was the first 1-2 finish scored by brothers in formula one.
In 2002 the Ferrari F2002 dominated as it was as reliable as possible. In the Austrian Grand Prix, Rubens Barichello was leading the race, but after Ferraris orders he slowed down and let Michael Schumacher win the race. Schumacher won the title again and he equalled the record of 5 world championship titles held by Juan Manuel Fangio at the time. Ferrari won 15 out of the 17 races and Schumacher won the championship six races before the end of the season. He finished the year with 144 points, 67 points ahead of runner-up Rubens Barichello. Schumacher won 11 races at that season and broke another record (the most wins in a season record), and he got on the podium in every race of the season. The pair Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barichello was in the first two places in 9 of the 17 races.
In 2003 Schumacher title was threatened both by Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya. Schumacher took the championship to the last race in Japan were he finished in eighth position, and won the title again, by two points from Kimi Raikkonen. Schumacher broke Juan Manuel Fungio's record, by winning his sixth world championship title. In 2004 he won the title again. He won 12 out of the first 13 races, failing to finish his race in Monaco after a collision with Juan Pablo Montoya behind the safety car. He broke his own record by winning 13 out of 18 races in that season. He finished the season scoring 148 points and finishing 34 points ahead of runner-up Rubens Barichello.
2005 was not as good for Schumacher as the previous years. He finished the season being in third place in the drivers championship, scoring only 62 points, less than half the points of champion Alonso. In 2006 Schumacher took the championship to the last race in Brazil were he needed to win the race, with Alonso scoring no points, in order for him to win the title again. During the race Schumacher moved to the sixth place. In overtaking Giancarlo Fisichella, Schumacher had a tyre puncture which caused him to stop in the pits and fall to the 19th place 70 seconds behind race leader and teammate Felipe Massa. However Schumacher impressively recovered and overtook both Raikkonen and Fisichella to secure a fourth place finish. His performance was classified in the press as “heroic” and as a “performance that...sums up his career”.
Schumacher retired from formula one after the 2006 season. He won 7 world championships and entered 250 races with 3 different teams (Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari). He has 91 wins, 154 podium finishes, 68 pole positions and 76 fastest laps. During his career he scored 1369 championship points. He holds the most records than any other driver in the history of formula one, and he is considered by many to be one of the best drivers ever, in formula one.
