German Formula One driver, and the most successful of all time, Michael Schumacher made his Formula One debut at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on this day in 1991.
Schumacher was born in Hurth-Hermulhein, West Germany in 1969. His father managed a go-kart track in the town of Kerpen, and young Schumacher won the German junior karting championship in 1984 and 1985, and the German and European titles in 1987.
He left school to work as a car mechanic and in 1988 began racing on the Formula Three circuit, which features less-powerful vehicles than those of Formula One. After winning the German Formula Three championship in 1990, Schumacher made the move to the big time.
The next August, he made his Formula One debut at Spa, racing for Irish businessman Eddie Jordan’s team. Though Schumacher retired during the first lap of that first Grand Prix with clutch problems, he drew the attention of Benetton, another Formula One constructor.
Benetton soon snapped up the rising young star (he and Jordan had not signed a contract), beginning a successful five-year collaboration. Schumacher won the World Drivers’ Championship, Formula One’s top individual honour, in 1994 and 1995.
Schumacher then signed with the Ferrari team before the 1996 season. Things began well, despite an incident in 1997 when Schumacher tried in vain to ram the car of his top rival, Jacques Villeneuve, off the road during the final race, at Jerez in Spain. He was stripped of his second-place finish as punishment.
After crashing his Ferrari during the 1999 British Grand Prix – he emerged with a broken leg – Schumacher won the 2000 World Drivers’ Championship (Ferrari’s first since 1979). He went on to win the title another four years in a row, racking up nine Grand Prix wins in 2001 and 11 in 2002.
His sixth drivers title in 2003 broke the previous record, held by the Argentine driver Juan Manual Fangio. In 2004, Schumacher won 13 of the 18 Grand Prix races, easily securing his seventh championship.
At the age of 37, still at the top of his game, Schumacher retired from racing. During his final season in 2006, he won seven Grand Prix races, bringing his career total to 91, making him by far the most successful driver in Formula One history (his closest rival, French driver Alain Prost, had 51).
Schumacher’s total of seven World Drivers’ Championships and five in a row, remain the highest-ever by a Formula One driver.
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