Michael Schumacher has often been referred to as “the second best Formula One driver who ever lived” after Ayrton Senna. But Schumi has to be the best known Forrmula One driver ever, for, today, his name is synonymous not just with F1, but with all automobile races. And why shouldn’t he be – for F1’s Red Baron can take on anything from karts to formula cars to superbikes. On one occasion, much to the dislike of local authorities, Schumacher personally drove a taxi to ferry his family to make sure they do not miss their flight, and paid the fare to the taxi’s original driver too.

The bricklayer’s son, who showed potential behind the wheels at the age of four, has come a long way from winning the German Junior Kart Championship to become seven-time World Champion. Schumi is not just known to be one of the finest drivers, but also as a good human being. It is not surprising then, that Michael Schumacher is easily the first name one would associate with Formula one.

Here are excerpts from an exclusive interview

What goes in the mind of a seven time F1 World Champion when he gets behind the wheel?

On the road? Well, I probably would say it’s about how to get to your destination as safely and smoothly as possible. On the track? It’s total concentration on the job in hand and what we have to do – the practice programme, or my qualifying preparation, or my options at the start.

How does a Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team formulate its strategy before every qualifying and the main race? How far does on spot decisions of driver during the race affects it?

We have a team of strategists who we work with to establish the fastest way of running the race, and then how we adapt this strategy to take account of different circumstances. As drivers, we probably have more influence than we used to, because so many of the decisions come down to our feeling with the tyres – particularly in wet conditions. We are the guys in the car, so we have the best information about how the tyres are performing and what the track conditions are like. But the team has the overview of what strategies our rivals are doing, and how they are performing. So like everything in this sport, it’s a team effort.

Since the Schumacher days in F1, how different are the scenarios on the race track today?

In the end it is still about pushing to the limit and battling right to the edge with every other driver. Today, the regulations are quite different, and this has put the cars closer together and brought more overtaking. So we are racing wheel to wheel more often than in the past. But this is great for the drivers, because it’s what we enjoy and it is exciting for the fans, too. In race conditions, we cannot push to the limit because we have to think about how we are using the tyres, make them last and try to make our strategy work. So it’s very different to how it was when we could sprint flat out between every pit stop. Maybe that was more fun from a pure driving point of view, but I think we have great races now, and the challenge for us is to adapt to this way of racing.

You have raced against the bests in the racing world. Which is your most memorable race and who is your favourite F1 driver of all times?

My favourite race would probably be Suzuka 2000, as it was just so pure battling between me and Mika. I remember us pushing our performance to a level which was just great racing. Winning the first Ferrari title with such a race is something that will always have a special place in – luckily – some more good memories I have.

By special arrangement with Mercedes-Benz magazine

Related Topics