Michael Schumacher (born 3 January 1969) is a retired German racing driver. He is a seven-time Formula One World Champion and is widely regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time.[1][2][3][4] He was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year twice. He won two titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995. After his second title he moved to Ferrari for which he drove eleven years. His time with Ferrari yielded five consecutive titles between 2000 and 2004.
He holds many of Formula One's driver records, including most championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions and most races won in a single season – 13 in 2004 (the last of these records was equalled by fellow German Sebastian Vettel nine years later). In 2002, he became the only driver in Formula One history to finish in the top three in every race of a season and then also broke the record for most consecutive podium finishes. According to the official Formula One website, he is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen".
After beginning with karting, Schumacher won the German drivers' championships in Formula König and Formula Three before joining Mercedes in the World Sportscar Championship. In 1991, his Mercedes-funded race debut for the Jordan Formula One team resulted in Schumacher being signed by Benetton Formula One team as their driver for the rest of that season. Establishing himself as a top driver, finishing third in 1992 and fourth in 1993, Schumacher became the first German World Drivers' Champion in 1994 by one point over Damon Hill. In 1995 he repeated the success, this time with a greater margin. Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996. Schumacher came close to winning the 1997 and 1998 titles, before breaking his leg at the 1999 British Grand Prix, ending another title run. Things then came good for Schumacher who won another five consecutive drivers' titles from 2000 to 2004. Schumacher retired from Formula One driving in 2006 staying with Ferrari as an advisor. He came close to an eighth title that year, but due to technical problems in the final two races he fell short to Fernando Alonso. Schumacher agreed to return for Ferrari part-way through 2009, as cover for the badly injured Felipe Massa, but was prevented by a neck injury. Schumacher returned to Formula One on a permanent basis from 2010 with the Mercedes team before retiring for a second time at the conclusion of the 2012 season.
His career was not without controversy, including being twice involved in collisions in the final race of a season that determined the outcome of the World Championship, with Damon Hill in 1994 in Adelaide, and with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 in Jerez. Off the track Schumacher is an ambassador for UNESCO and a spokesman for driver safety. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts throughout his life and donated tens of millions of dollars to charity.[10] Schumacher and his younger brother, Ralf, are the only brothers to win races in Formula One, and they were the first brothers to finish 1st and 2nd in the same race, a feat they repeated in four subsequent races.
In December 2013, Schumacher suffered a serious head injury while skiing. He was airlifted to a hospital and placed in a medically induced coma, having suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was in the coma for six months from 29 December 2013 until 16 June 2014. He left the hospital in Grenoble for further rehabilitation at the University Hospital (CHUV) in Lausanne. On 9 September 2014, Schumacher was relocated to his home where he continues to receive medical treatment and rehabilitation privately.
On Dec. 29, 2013, seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher was severely injured in a skiing crash in the French Alps. One year on, and very little news about the condition of the 45-year-old German has emerged, other than he is in a stable, non-life threatening condition and is currently undergoing medical attention in his home in Switzerland.
Schumacher is statistically the most successful Formula One driver of all time, yet many attribute that – with justification at times – to being in the right car at the right time.
However, one doesn’t become a seven-time champion without a few spectacular drives. There were several to choose from but, in the end, here’s what we listed as 10 of Michael Schumacher’s finest races:
10: 2006 Brazilian GP
Michael Schumacher had a shot to win eight World Championships in Formula One though – granted – it was unlikely. The German had lost out to Spaniard Fernando Alonso in the fight for the 2005 title and looked set to lose out to him again after his engine had let go at the Japanese GP. Unfortunately, in his final race for Ferrari and what was – at the time – expected to be his final race in F1, Schumacher cut down a tire early on in the race and had to limp back to the pits. He almost fell a lap down in doing so but was able to rally back up to fourth place – just 24 seconds behind the winner – when the checkered flag fell. It was a stunning drive but not quite enough, and Alonso took the title.
9: 1995 European GP
Schumacher was known for excelling well in races that were ran in the wet or – in this case – mixed conditions. The 1995 European GP – held at the Nurburgring – had started off in the wet, but had gradually began to dry out. Ferrari driver Jean Alesi fitted the right tires onto his car at the right time, leaving Schumacher (and the rest of the field) 30 seconds behind. However, the Benetton driver got down to work and clawed that time back, making a daring move on Alesi with 2 to go for the win.
8: 2004 French GP
The Circuit de Magny-Cours has a very short pit road, which worked to Schumacher’s advantage at the 2004 French GP. Fernando Alonso was leading late on the going in the Renault, and it seemed the only way Schumacher was going to get by was by playing the strategy card. The Ferrari-driver was well-known for being able to put on hot laps with very low fuel loads, and so that’s when the team decided to switch him over to an unprecedented four-stop strategy. The gamble paid off and Schumacher took the win.
7: 1994 Spanish GP:
Michael Schumacher looked set to win the 1994 Grand Prix in Spain, but things began to fall apart early on when his gearbox jammed up in fifth. Damon Hill went on by and on to take victory, but Schumacher was somehow able to drive the car all the way to the end in fifth gear, even throughout the course of pit stops where he struggled just to keep the car running. The Benetton driver came home with a second-place finish.
6: 1998 Hungarain GP:
Schumacher was aided by gremlins on Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren to win the 1998 Hungarian GP, but it was still a fantastic drive. The German had been racing the McLarens of Hakkinen and Coulthard all race long, but now found himself just in front of them but with an extra pit stop still to go. Schumacher put the pedal down and was able to build up enough of a gap – partially thanks to the aforementioned shock absorber problem on Hakkinen’s car – to pit and come out again with the lead and the win.
5: 1997 Belgian GP:
Schumacher made it clear throughout his career that Spa was his favorite track, and there were numerous impressive drives from him that demonstrated that. One of his better ones was the 1997 Belgian GP – which was held in the wet. Schumacher passed the cars in front early on after the field had started behind the Safety Car and had built up a lead of about 40 seconds within five laps. Game over.
4: 1997 Monaco GP:
In a similar situation to the 1997 Belgian GP, Schumacher and his Ferrari simply humiliated the field in damp conditions on the streets of Monaco, going on to win by 53 seconds while a demolition derby erupted behind him.
3: 1992 Belgian GP:
Schumacher returned to Spa-Francorchamps just one year after making his Formula One debut at the same circuit. In that race, he had retired with a mechanical failure from seventh on the grid on the opening lap. This year, he redeemed himself, and logged his first of 91 wins in damp conditions that went dry. Racing for Benetton, It was the only win that was not in a Williams or a McLaren during the ’92 season.
2: 1995 Belgian GP:
One of the more entertaining races on this list came when Schumacher started 16th on the grid following a crash during qualifying at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The German engaged in a lively mid-race battle with Williams’ driver Damon Hill … and ran off, which gave Hill the position. However, Schumacher came in to change tires right when conditions were changing which was enough for him to leapfrog Hill and take a famous victory.
1: 1996 Spanish GP:
Ferrari was not always the powerhouse in Formula One that it is now and, before Schumacher came to the team in 1996, they had been struggling. However, the 1996 Spanish GP – which was held in appalling conditions – gave us a demonstration of what Schumacher and Ferrari could do: dominate. The German pulled away from the field at around 2 seconds a lap through the rain-soaked circuit and got his first win for Ferrari by 45 seconds – lapping up to third place.
F1 champion Michael Schumacher has left hospital in Grenoble and is no longer in a coma, his family says.
The 45-year-old has been transferred to Lausanne university hospital in Switzerland, officials there say.
Schumacher was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a severe head injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps on 29 December.
His family thanked people who had sent messages of support, saying: "We are sure it helped him."
They also praised the "excellent job" of medical staff at the hospital in Grenoble, in south-east France.
Doctors had kept the seven-time champion in a coma to help reduce swelling in his brain.
"Michael has left the CHU Grenoble to continue his long phase of rehabilitation. He is not in a coma anymore," Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, said in a statement on behalf of his family on Monday.
"For the future we ask for understanding that his further rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye," she said, without giving further details.
Relatives have previously warned that "it was clear from the start that this will be a long and hard fight for Michael".
The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva reports that the university hospital in Lausanne is one of Switzerland's most renowned.
He will have a team of specialists, and his own private accommodation, and he will be much closer to his family home on the shores of Lake Geneva, our correspondent says.
But it is not clear what Schumacher's condition is and his process of recovery is still expected to be a long one, she adds.
Monday's statement was the first substantial update since early April when Ms Kehm said the German racing driver was showing "moments of consciousness and awakening."
Medically induced coma
Can be induced by powerful anaesthetics and is broadly similar to the sedation and artificial ventilation used during surgery
Used to shut down many brain functions, lowering blood flow and pressure
Taking a patient out of an induced coma is a delicate process, especially after a prolonged period of sedation
Neurosurgeon Tony Belli told the BBC that rehabilitation from this sort of injury could take months or years.
"We know that some people can spend three, four years in rehabilitation," he said. "It depends very much on the severity of the injury, how young and fit they are."
Meanwhile, the German football team sent their wishes to the F1 legend from the World Cup in Brazil at the weekend.
Lukas Podolski, the Arsenal striker, told a news conference: "I'd like to greet a good friend, who unfortunately is unable to be here. He is Michael Schumacher.
"He is just as crazy about football as all of us. We wish his family a lot of strength. If we win the title, that would be something that would make him happy."
Michael Schumacher
Born: 3 January 1969
First GP win: Belgium 1992
Last GP win: China 2006
Races started: 303
Wins: 91 (155 podium finishes)
Championships: 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
The BBC's James Allen says the reaction from the F1 world has been enormously positive on one level, but the lack of specific details about his condition has left a question mark for many people.
The Mercedes team, for which Schumacher raced in the last three years of his career, posted on Twitter: "Encouraging news on Michael's condition this morning. We couldn't ask for a better start to the week."
Ferrari's Renato Bisignani told the BBC: "My reaction is one of overwhelming joy. There is not one day when we haven't thought of Michael, followed his progress and remembered him."
Investigators probing last December's accident said Schumacher had been going at the speed of "a very good skier" at the time of his crash in the resort of Meribel.
He had been skiing off-piste when he fell and hit a rock, investigators said.
Schumacher retired from racing in 2012 after a 19-year career.
He won two titles with Benetton, in 1994 and 1995, before switching to Ferrari in 1996 and going on to win five straight titles from 2000.
