Bob Jennings

It's a fact. Michael Schumacher is the most successful driver in Formula One history. He has a record tying five World Championships, a single record 64 F1 victories and 945 points. The German is second on the list of F1 pole winners with 50, as compared to Ayrton Senna's all time record of 65 and that's about the only record Schumacher doesn't possess. It is widely expected Schumacher will win a sixth World title in 2003 (I know I expect him to be champion again), surpassing the legendary Argentinean Juan Manuel Fangio.

During the 2002 Formula One season, Schumacher's dominance with Ferrari was so pronounced it rocked the F1 world in a detrimental way. Attendance at races and TV ratings dropped dramatically. Even the supreme egotist and autocrat Bernie Ecclestone and his lieutenant Max Mosley realize the dangers to their sport posed by Schumacher's brilliance with Ferrari. In response, Bernie came up with the idea of weight penalties to restrict Ferrari. If the Ecclestone proposal wasn't foolish enough, Mosley devised an even more ridiculous plot, the idea of moving drivers from team to team over the length of a season in an effort to legitimize the World Championship. 

I can visualize the strong possibility of a struggle for power, not unlike what occurred in Indy cars, in the future for Formula One. The automakers led by Daimler Chrysler, who continue to play an ever increasing role in F1, have indicated a restlessness and weariness with Bernie and Max. They threaten to form a new series once the current "Concourde Agreement" expires in a few years. Recall the same thing happened in 1981 when the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA), led by Bernie Ecclestone, actually broke away from FISA, the sporting arm of the FIA as it was called in those days. The result was a face saving series of concessions by FIA "boss" J.M. Balestre (remember him?), which essentially handed commercial "ownership" to FOCA under Bernie's leadership first, and then to Ecclestone himself.  

A similar circumstance seems a likely scenario to me in the current era, with a gradual shifting of some of the power away from Bernie and Max to the automobile manufacturers. Whether there will be a wholesale transfer away from Ecclestone and company I can't predict. I do believe there will be a wider distribution of "ownership" in Formula One in the future however.

Certainly all of this can't be directly attributed to Michael Schumacher's competitive excellence. The world economy stinks right now and is likely to continue to do so well into the new year if not longer. War is on the horizon and money is tight and corporations are reappraising their priorities. The Formula One "money pot" fattened by Ecclestone's devices has to go on a diet. Formula One has become an exercise in mega dollar technology and the mastery of science over speed threatens the stability of the series.

In recent weeks, Mosley has voiced dire concerns about the future of Formula One, warning the present state of crisis threatens the world championship's very existence. "We have never had a problem like this before," Mosley stated. Earlier this month Mosley and FIA officials met with the directors of F1 teams and ordered the following rule changes for the coming 2003 season:

* the elimination of in car telemetry to and from the pits

* the elimination of radio communication between the pits and the driver

* the allowance of only two cars entered per race per team per race weekend, including elimination of the "spare" chassis

* the elimination of traction control, launch control and automatic gearboxes for all or part of 2003 and total elimination for 2004

* the FIA also proposes that teams begin to use common components

In addition, the FIA also introduced rule changes for the 2003 season which will include voluntary restraint with testing, changes for qualifying and a revised point system. For 2004, the FIA will invoke standard braking systems and rear wings and engine manufacturers will have to supply engines to all teams interested. Does that sound like the Indy Racing League to you? It does to me.

These are severe changes, more drastic than anything since Formula One mandated treaded tires and narrower chassis designs a few years ago. It's in the same realm of change as the ban on computerized suspensions after the 1993 season and turbocharged engines following competition in 1988. 

In making the announcement about the changes for F1, the FIA released the following statement. "Despite the disappearance of two Formula One teams in the last 12 months, nothing has been done to save money. Last October, the Formula One teams rejected all the FIA's cost-saving proposals. The teams themselves have had several meetings but produced nothing."

In the days since the announcement by the FIA of the impending rule changes, the teams worked out a compromise where many of the new specs won't take affect until the Grand Prix of Britain in July. I'm not exactly clear what will or won't be postponed until July but I'm ready for drastic action to alter the current personality of Formula One, like millions of other fans around the world I'm sure. 

The big money and technical overreach that feeds Formula One has created the correct environment for a determined, resourceful perfectionist like Schumacher to succeed. So as we look to Formula One in 2003, we see in the German driver someone who has figured the whole thing out to the extent he is the master of the F1 universe. 

Often on this web site I refer to two-time "Indianapolis 500" winner Bill Vukovich. From the 1952 "Indianapolis 500" until his death on the 57th lap of the 1955 running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing," Vukovich dominated the Indianapolis Motor Speedway like no other driver before or since. The manner in which Michael Schumacher controls Formula One today is very reminiscent of the way Vukovich, son of Russian immigrants who settled in Fresno, California, mastered his competition at Indianapolis in the mid 1950's.    

I divide Michael Schumacher's Formula One career into four chapters. Perhaps competition period is a better way of putting things. There was the early period, beginning with Schumacher's debut at the 1991 Grand Prix of Belgium in a Jordan - Ford, following two seasons with the Sauber - Mercedes sports car racing team. While racing for Mercedes, Michael was one of the "junior" drivers on the team. Along with fellow Germans Karl Wendlinger and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Schumacher learned to race Mercedes Benz sports cars under the tutelage of veteran racers Mauro Baldi and Jochen Mass. Michael also won the German Formula Three title in 1990. Everyone was impressed when 22 year old Schumacher qualified seventh in his F1 debut at Spa - Francorchamps. However the clutch failed and Schumacher was out of the Belgian race without completing a lap.

Before the next Formula One race at Monza, Schumacher moved to the Benetton team. He finished  fifth in the Grand Prix of Italy. The first F1 victory came in August 1992 at Spa - Francorchamps in a Benetton - Ford. At season end, the German was third in the 1992 World Championship behind Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese. However it was more than one year later before the second win came at Estoril. Michael finished fourth in the 1993 title chase behind Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Damon Hill.

In the first chapter of Michael Schumacher's career he was regarded as the up and coming star similar to the way Juan Montoya (but not quite the same; Schumacher hasn't conquered America and won the "Indianapolis 500" and the CART championship the way Juan Pablo has) is thought of today. Despite his universally recognized potential, Schumacher was still racing deep in the shadow of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell in 1993.

1994 was Schumacher's breakout year and the start of what I consider Michael's second chapter. He won the season opening races in Brazil and at Aida, while Ayrton Senna fell out of both events. It looked to me as if Schumacher's Benetton B194 - Ford V8 was superior to Senna's Williams FW16 - Renault V10 although the Brazilian had mishaps in both races.

Then came the fateful day - May 1, 1994 - at Imola, when Ayrton Senna crashed to his death on the fifth lap of the San Marino Grand Prix and the F1 torch of leadership passed to Michael Schumacher when the young German swept the season's first three events.

Over the final eleven races of the 1994 season Schumacher was strong, winning five more races. However he was also disqualified for infractions at Silverstone and Spa and the resulting penalties kept Michael out of the races at Monza and Estoril. At the same time the Williams team corrected many of the early season problems with the FW16. Damon Hill was almost as tough as Schumacher had been at the start of the year, when the German won six of the season's first seven events. Beginning with a win on May 29 in Spain, Hill's Williams - Renault was victorious in six races including four in the final six events. 

Coming into the season closing F1 race on November 13 at Adelaide, Australia, Schumacher led Hill by a single championship point, 92 to 91. On the 35th of  81 laps, Hill attempted to pass Schumacher for the lead. Michael made contact, taking both drivers out of the race and giving the German the first of his four World titles by a single point. This was an occurrence that would be repeated under similar circumstances three years later, although it didn't work to Schumacher's advantage the next time. 

I remember watching on TV as Schumacher climbed the barrier and safety fence bordering the Adelaide circuit, standing among a crowd of course marshals and spectators when he learned he was the new World Champion. There was the familiar jaw jutting from below the smile on the new World Champion's face, reflecting the pride Michael felt for having achieved international motor sport's leading honor.

For 1995, the Benetton team acquired use of the Renault V10 engine, which meant the showdown with Williams was going to be on equal terms from a power standpoint. Damon Hill was often fast in the Williams FW17 and the Brit won four races during the season. David Coulthard, in his first full season of Formula One competition, added another win for Williams at Estoril. But Schumacher was truly awesome. Michael had a first class support system at Benetton. Flavio Briatore called the shots and Tom Walkinshaw's technical group led by Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn put together an outstanding B195 package for the German to race. Schumacher used his resources to the maximum. 

Schumacher won a season record tying nine events in 1995 on the way to his second World Championship. It should be noted it took Michael seventeen races to accomplish what Nigel Mansell did in 16 races in 1992. Regardless, there was no doubt who was the best racer in Formula One at the end of 1995. Despite having to contend with an effective threat from Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and the Williams team, Schumacher placed himself firmly in the tradition of earlier F1 legends Juan Manuel  Fangio, Alberto Ascari, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell.    

The Ferrari racing organization was deep in the doldrums, facing difficult times in 1995. Millions of dollars were thrown at Michael Schumacher to revive the struggling "Prancing Horse of Modena." This began the third chapter in Schumacher's career in which he worked his magic to assemble what is regarded today as the strongest racing effort in the world and the most dominant in the history of Formula One. 

Schumacher's quest for success at Ferrari reminds me a lot of a similar situation in which Niki Lauda rescued the Italian team after a bleak period in the early 1970's. Lauda joined Ferrari in 1974 and began to win races. In 1975, Niki brought the World Championship back to Ferrari and repeated the feat in 1977, one year after nearly burning to death in a crash at the legendary old Nurburgring circuit.

Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell), Niki Lauda (Ferrari) and Michael Schumacher (Benetton and Ferrari) were or are likely the only drivers capable of leading a racing organization to a championship based on a combination of excellent driving talent, racing intelligence and the will to win. In many ways the third chapter of Schumacher's career might be the most notable. Ferrari was in sad shape when Michael arrived. Schumacher led his Ferrari associates on a daunting crusade to restore the World Championship, something that hadn't taken place since 1979 when Jody Scheckter brought the title to Ferrari.

The principals on the Ferrari team are a talented bunch. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has always been a racer and ran the F1 program in the Niki Lauda glory years in the mid 1970's, during the period when the Italian team re-established itself as a racing force after a number of lean seasons similar to those preceding the Schumacher era. Racing team manager Jean Todt came to Ferrari after leading Peugeot to world sports car racing supremacy. Although Todt has been left in the shadows of his Ferrari counterparts recently, the little Frenchman is considered a talented coordinator. Michael Schumacher grew up in F1 at Benetton with Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne alongside and when the German driver persuaded his "old mates" to join him at Ferrari, things began to come right.   

This is a team which complements Schumacher's talents to the maximum. However the primary force behind Ferrari's rise to racing excellence is Michael Schumacher. The five time World Champion engineered the effort in much the same way a general manager builds a Super Bowl championship team in the National Football League. Schumacher knows exactly what he wants in a racing car and he has created the team to provide it for him. Perhaps the best analogy to what the German driver has done with Ferrari is the way Michael Jordan built the Chicago Bulls into an unbeatable machine in the NBA during the 1990's. 

Damon Hill put it all together in 1996. Hill won eight races in the Williams FW18 - Renault, including victories in the first three events of the season, on the way to the World Championship. Before the championship could be celebrated however, Damon was out the door at Williams in favor of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The FW18 was an excellent package and "rookie" teammate Jacques Villeneuve added another four Formula One victories in 1996 for Frank Williams and Patrick Head.  

It was a tough season for Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. The F310 model was a handful, but somehow Schumacher and company whipped the red car into good enough shape to win F1 races in Spain, Belgium and at Monza in front of 100,000 joyous Ferrari "tifosi." The big dollars which Ferrari spent to get Schumacher began to pay some dividends. 

I have resurrected another "observation" from the original version of Bob Jennings' World O' Racing. It's a piece about Michael Schumacher's problems during his first season with Ferrari in 1996, concluding with the German's win in in the Grand Prix of Belgium at Spa-Francorchamps. Other than getting rid of too many commas, this offering is left in its original text. It was interesting to see what I was thinking about regarding Formula One in 1996.  

Ferrari's entry for 1997 was an evolution of their previous year's model, the F310B. Jacques Villeneuve and the Williams FW19 - Renault V10 became the primary competition. World Champion Damon Hill was relegated to driving for an unlikely contender, Tom Walkinshaw's Arrows - Yamaha. McLaren was on a three year winless streak and for 1997 they replaced the traditional Marlboro colors of white and day glow red with silver and dark gray representing Mercedes Benz and West cigarettes on their race cars. 

David Coulthard is my contemporary Formula One favorite. The evening of March 9, 1997, I arrived at my mom's home in Indianapolis for a visit (I was still living in Chicago), in time to watch Coulthard's McLaren MP4/12 race to a convincing win in the Grand Prix of Australia in Melbourne. Michael Schumacher opened his second season at Ferrari with a second place finish. Jacques Villeneuve failed to complete a lap after being knocked out of the race by a mishap at the beginning of the event.  

Villeneuve won at the next race at Interlagos in Brazil, while Schumacher finished fifth. This is significant in the context of the 1997 World Championship. After two events in the seventeen race season, Villeneuve had ten championship points and Schumacher had eight. In the next race at Buenos Aires, Jacques won his sixth career F1 victory while Schumacher was knocked out of the Grand Prix of Argentina in a first lap mix-up with David Coulthard's McLaren. Villeneuve's victory in Argentina tilted the points more decidedly in the Canadian's favor over Schumacher, twenty points to eight.      

However a racing season is often a series of ups and downs. Villeneuve's new Williams teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen won the next race at Imola. Schumacher was second. Villeneuve retired after 40 laps with gearbox problems. This closed the points slightly, 20 - 14. At Monaco Villeneuve was out after 16 laps with suspension damage resulting from an accident, while Schumacher was victorious. Michael moved ahead in points, 24 to twenty. But Villeneuve came back to win in Spain while Schumacher finished fourth and the points lead returned to Jacques 30 to 27. Schumacher won the next race in Canada. Villeneuve was knocked out on the first lap by another accident. Michael took the lead again, 37 to 30. Talk about going back and forth, Villeneuve versus Schumacher was intense. 

The Grand Prix of France at Magny-Cours was all Schumacher. He qualified on pole and won the race. Villeneuve started and finished fourth. Michael's lead over the Canadian increased to fourteen points, 47 to 33. However two weeks later at Silverstone, the roles reversed with Villeneuve taking the pole and the win. Schumacher started from fourth but dropped out of the race after 38 laps with wheel bearing failure. Jacques closed to within four points, 47 to 43. Villeneuve followed his success in the UK with a miserable weekend at Hockenheim, qualifying ninth and spinning out of the race after 33 laps. Schumacher finished second ironically to the Benetton - Renault driven by Gerhard Berger. After ten of seventeen events, the points were Schumacher (53) and Villeneuve (43).

Villeneuve came back to win in Hungary while Schumacher finished fourth and the points tightened again with Jacques only trailing by three, 53 to 56. At the next race at Spa-Francorchamps, Schumacher won again and Villeneuve was fifth, spreading the points from 66 to 55. David Coulthard won for McLaren - Mercedes at Monza. Villeneuve finished fifth with Schumacher one position behind. Michael lost a net of one point and the totals with four races left in the season were Schumacher 67 - Villeneuve 57.  

On September 21, Formula One returned to Austria for the first time in ten years. It was Villeneuve's turn to win again while Schumacher only finished sixth. In the process, the Canadian brought Williams - Renault to within one championship point, 67 to 68 for Michael and Ferrari. I had forgotten what a thrilling World Championship battle the Canadian and German had in 1997! 

Villeneuve won at the Nurburgring while Schumacher was knocked out of the race from a lap two accident. The advantage swung back to Jacques and he led the points 77 to 68. At Suzuka it was Michael's turn again and he won while Villeneuve was disqualified and the German took a one point lead into the season finale at Jerez, 78 to 77.

The memory of the 1997 Grand Prix of Europe is still fresh in my mind. I watched the race at Guy Nadeau's apartment on the northwest side of Chicago. Guy was from Quebec City and obviously he felt a lot of pride in fellow French Canadian Jacques Villeneuve's accomplishments. Looking back on that now and knowing how much I miss Guy, I feel good about October 26, 1997.

On the 47th of 69 laps, with the Canadian's Rothmans Williams FW19 - Renault V10 leading, Schumacher came up to challenge and bumped wheels with Villeneuve going through a corner. In contrast to what happened with Damon Hill at Adelaide on November 11, 1994, this time the German came out the loser and the Ferrari spun off course. Jacques eased his pace in the closing stages of the race to finish third behind the McLarens of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard. The World Championship belonged to Villeneuve and Williams by three points over Schumacher 81 points to 78. 

Schumacher lost all of his points for the 1997 season and his all time leading total of 945 doesn't include anything from that year. Schumacher deserved to lose his 1997 points. His move against Villeneuve was blatant and Michael was wrong for the way he provoked an accident. Still the German and his Ferrari teammates could take pride in the fact they had come very close to being World Champions in only their second season together.  

Renault pulled out of Formula One after the 1997 season, leaving the Williams and Benetton teams "high and dry" for 1998. The Renault V10 engine package was still available to both teams but it was no longer developed and supported by the "factory." The V10 powering the Williams FW20 carried the badge Mecachrome while the engines in the Benettons were designated Playlife. The Renault withdrawal essentially eliminated any chance World Champion Jacques Villeneuve had to defend his title. By season end, Villeneuve accumulated only 21 points with third place finishes in Germany and Hungary being Jacques' best results. 

Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari teammates faced a new threat, this time from McLaren - Mercedes Benz. 

Schumacher had a new model Ferrari (the F300) and qualified third at the season opening Grand Prix of Australia on March 8. The engine in the Ferrari failed after five laps however, taking Michael out of the race. Meanwhile David Coulthard adhered to McLaren team orders and allowed Mika Hakkinen to pass for the lead near the end of the race and the pair of silver West McLaren MP4/13 entries finished one two. It was another Hakkinen - Coulthard McLaren - Mercedes sweep at Interlagos while Schumacher finished third.

Michael brought victory to Ferrari in the next race at Buenos Aires while Hakkinen finished second and Coulthard was sixth. The respective point totals of the main contenders after three events were Hakkinen (26), Schumacher (14) and Coulthard (13). The Scot Coulthard won at Imola, followed by Michael's Ferrari in second. Hakkinen dropped out of the race after 17 laps with gearbox problems but Mika held on to the points lead. Coulthard (23) and Schumacher (20) weren't far behind though. 

The race in Spain came next and Hakkinen returned to the top of the podium for his third win in five events. Coulthard was second and Schumacher finished third. The order of the championship contenders after five races was Hakkinen (36 points), Coulthard (29) and Schumacher (24). Monaco saw another Hakkinen victory while both Michael (tenth) and Coulthard (retired after 17 laps with engine trouble) finished out of the points. This gave the Finn a 17 point lead for the World Championship. 

In Canada, it was Schumacher's turn to win again and both McLarens experienced problems. Hakkinen's car had gearbox problems and failed to complete a lap. Coulthard only ran 18 laps, falling out of the race with throttle linkage failure. This tightened up the championship chase somewhat with Hakkinen (46 points) still leading Schumacher (34) by a reasonably comfortable margin but Coulthard (29) was beginning to fall away from the competition for the title.  

Two weeks following Schumacher's Canadian victory, he scored another win at Magny-Cours. Hakkinen finished third and Coulthard was sixth. The French race marked the end of the first half of the 1998 season. Schumacher won three times and accumulated 44 points. Hakkinen had four wins and 50 points. Coulthard had a single race victory and 30 championship points. 

The rejuvenation of Ron Dennis' McLaren team in 1998 was nearly as intriguing a story line as the path to the World Championship being followed by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. 

After the halcyon days of Alain Prost and Marlboro McLaren TAG Porsche in the mid 1990's followed by the dominance of Ayrton Senna and Marlboro McLaren Honda, the wins trailed off when the Japanese auto manufacturer left F1after 1992. Senna managed (on driving skill alone) to win five races in McLarens powered by Ford V8 engines in 1993, but when the Brazilian left after six seasons to go to Williams - Renault for 1994, the winning stopped completely. A partnership with Peugeot for 1994 brought few results to the team. In 1995 McLaren and Mercedes Benz came together for the first time. 

Throughout the post Senna period at McLaren, Mika Hakkinen provided stability for the team. After being hired as a test driver, the Finn got his first competitive drive in a McLaren at Estoril in September 1993 following Michael Andretti's departure from Formula One. Other drivers came and went at McLaren, including Martin Brundle, Nigel Mansell and Mark Blundell. But Hakkinen survived the "storm" and persisted.

David Coulthard joined the team for 1996 and initially looked like the driver to bring McLaren back to its former level of success. Coulthard's win in Melbourne to open the 1997 season was the first F1 victory for the team since Senna's win at Adelaide in the season finale for 1993. The Scot won again in 1997 at Monza and was leading the final race of the season when he was asked by Ron Dennis to allow teammate Hakkinen to pass in order that Mika could score his first F1 victory. 

Obviously Hakkinen enjoyed that first taste of triumph so much that he couldn't get enough of it and by the early races of the 1998 season, the Finn's hunger for victory was nearly insatiable. Hakkinen's new found enthusiasm and aggression, combined with the design genius of Adrian Newey, was a powerful "brew" and as things turned out, it was the combination to beat for a couple years.

Schumacher opened the second half of the 1998 season with a win at Silverstone. Hakkinen finished second. Coulthard spun out of the race on lap 37and for all intents and purposes, this was the end of David's bid for the 1998 title. However the Hakkinen - Schumacher battle heated up with two points separating the two drivers, 56 to 54. Two weeks later in Austria, Hakkinen, Coulthard and Schumacher were one - two - three and the point totals after ten events were Hakkinen (66), Schumacher (58) and Coulthard (36). In front of his countrymen at Hockenheim, Schumacher only finished fifth while Hakkinen led Coulthard to another McLaren one - two. Mika increased his points total to 76, sixteen more than Schumacher (60). Coulthard was another 18 points behind with 42. 

Michael came back at the Hungaroring to win for the fifth time in 1998 and Coulthard finished second while Hakkinen was sixth. At the three quarter mark of the 1998 season, Mika's lead was cut to six with a total of 77 points as compared to 70 for Schumacher. Coulthard was scoring points on a regular basis but was still far behind with 48.

Damon Hill was a surprise winner in a Jordan - Mugen Honda in the rain at Spa-Francorchamps. For the first time in the 1998 season, Hakkinen, Schumacher and Coulthard were all shut out of the points. David was seventh but Michael was out after 25 laps when the Ferrari crashed. Mika fared even worse, wrecking at the start. Schumacher drove the "tifosi" at Monza wild with ecstasy with his win for Ferrari. Hakkinen was fourth. Coulthard was out of the Grand Prix of Italy after 16 laps with engine failure. There were two races left for 1998 and Mika and Michael were tied at 80 points and six wins apiece.

As I recall the 1998 Formula One season, I remember thinking at the time the Hakkinen McLaren versus Schumacher Ferrari battle was being fought on a relatively level field of combat. My basic analysis of the situation was that although Schumacher was the superior driving talent, the combination of McLaren - Mercedes, Adrian Newey and Hakkinen was the better overall package. Therefore as the World Championship entered the final two races of the 1998 season, I expected Mika to prevail.

However one might have anticipated Schumacher to be at his best in the penultimate race in front of his countrymen at the Nurburgring. Hakkinen was not to be denied though and he beat Michael in a straight fight with Coulthard finishing in third behind the two points leaders. Going into the final race at Suzuka, the Finn had a four point margin over the German, 90 points to 86. Coulthard, in third place in the points, was well off the pace with 50.

Against an opponent as formidable as Mike Hakkinen and McLaren - Mercedes Benz, four points would prove too much to overcome for Schumacher and Ferrari. In fact Michael's season ended on lap 31 at Suzuka with a tire puncture. Hakkinen won for the eighth time in 1998 and his final points tally of 100 gave him a fourteen point margin over Schumacher. Coulthard's 56 points was good enough for a distant third place in the final standings. 

While Schumacher and Ferrari were on nearly equal terms with Jacques Villeneuve and Williams - Renault in 1997, Hakkinen's McLaren - Mercedes looked clearly stronger over the length of the 1998 season. It was as if Ferrari had digressed to an extent and been slightly diverted from their path to the World Championship. However Schumacher and the Italian team hadn't been diverted that far and they were still moving closer to the elusive title. 

The most enduring memory of the 1999 season for almost anyone who pays attention to Formula One racing has to be the image of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari going head on into the barriers on the first lap of the Grand Prix of Britain at Silverstone. It was a terrifying vision and my first thought as I watched the crash on TV was Ayrton Senna's fatal crash on lap five of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Thankfully the Schumacher accident was less tragic and Michael escaped with a broken leg.

In the context of this piece, the most pressing unanswered question from F1 1999 remains whether Michael Schumacher could've won the World Championship had he not missed six of 16 races. Perhaps. Perhaps not. The German won two of the season's first seven races before the Silverstone crash. After those seven events, Schumacher had 32 championship points. In comparison, Mika Hakkinen had three wins and 40 points. 

Obviously the Ferrari F399 package was superior to the previous year's F300 model. Eddie Irvine, Ferrari's number two since he and Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996, won the season opening race in Australia, albeit Hakkinen and David Coulthard were both out of the race by lap 21, each the victim of problems with their new McLaren MP4/14's and Schumacher finished one lap behind in Melbourne in eighth place after puncturing a tire. That alone might not have been much to get excited about. But the flamboyant Irishman also won three more races (Austria, Germany and Malaysia) after going winless in six previous Formula One seasons. 

It's incredible isn't it? Who would've seriously considered that Eddie Irvine would be leading the 1999 World Championship, by four points, going into the final race, at the start of this season? Even Irvine's season opening win, last March, in Australia, was considered an unusual circumstance.  

I wrote those words for this website in the hours leading up to the 1999 Grand Prix of Japan, as I anticipated the looming battle between Irvine and Mika Hakkinen for the World Championship. Eddie Irvine's success for Ferrari, in Schumacher's absence, was testimony to the effectiveness of the Italian car. When Michael returned to F1 in Malaysia, he won the pole and pulled away in the lead before moving over to allow Ferrari teammate Irvine by and then the German "safe guarded" Eddie's victory by running directly behind for the rest of the race. In the season finale at Suzuki, Schumacher won pole, but Hakkinen was hell bent on winning a second World title and led Michael and Irvine to the checkered flag.

Mika's 1999 championship was more difficult to attain than his 1998 title. The Finn only won five races with 76 points to beat Irvine by two points in Japan. However the Constructor's title fell to Ferrari thanks to Irvine and Schumacher's efforts. Winning the constructor's championship is secondary to the driver's title though. Therefore the German and his Ferrari associates still had not accomplished the "big prize" after four seasons. 

Perhaps the best way to measure Michael Schumacher's impact on Formula One in 1999 is the fact that with the German missing for six races, it was the most competitive and entertaining season in years. Six different drivers (Irvine, Hakkinen, Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Coulthard and Johnny Herbert) won for four teams (Ferrari, McLaren, Jordan and Stewart) during the 17 race season. Along the way, there were some uncharacteristic F1 "classics" like the Coulthard - Irvine contests at Silverstone and in Austria. How different those 1999 F1 races seem from the races during the past couple seasons.     

I just read a long, detailed piece I wrote for this website covering the first 13 races of the 2000 Formula One season. Gee, that was pretty good if I do say so myself. How did I write such an informative profile with so much personality? Pardon me while I reach behind me to try to pat myself on the back or more correctly kick myself in the ass. This account of the 2000 World Championship season looks like an up and down legitimate competition among two teams and four drivers. I'd forgotten how well David Coulthard raced in 2000. It is also the tale of the final moments of the third chapter of Michael Schumacher's career, leading up to the first World Championship for Ferrari since 1979.       

However, despite my attempt to present the first thirteen rounds of F1 2000 like a "watercolor" of words (rather than brushstrokes), my September 2000 analysis was off the mark. The conclusion I drew in that piece now looks like force of habit rather than intelligent insight. My analysis read:

Now things become serious. This Sunday the Formula One circus travels to Monza and in less than three weeks the inaugural F1 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will have taken place. That brings up some important questions. Can Michael Schumacher and Ferrari finish the 2000 season with the same flourish as they started? Now that he's gathered first place in the points can anyone or anything keep Mika Hakkinen from becoming the first three time consecutive World Champion in 43 years? Is David Coulthard going to pick up where he left off earlier in the season and make his presence felt or is he going to slip back into convenient, familiar role of supporting his McLaren teammate on the way to the title? My feeling is that now that Hakkinen has assumed control he's going to understand what's at stake and do everything possible to take his third championship. 

As I wrote in early September 2000, I expected Mika Hakkinen to continue the advantage he picked up at the Grand Prix of Hungary, when he took the World Championship points lead for the first time that season. It all seemed right to me that McLaren and the Finn two time defending champion would convert their new found momentum into a third consecutive title. How wrong I was! 

First things first however. Let's speed things up and take a quick trip through rounds one through thirteen of the 2000 Formula One season.

March 12 - Melbourne: Schumacher first (10 points), Barrichello second (6), Hakkinen dnf (0), Coulthard dnf (0)

March 26 - Interlagos: Schumacher first (20 points), Barrichello dnf (6), Hakkinen dnf (0), Coulthard disqualified (0)

April 9 - Imola: Schumacher first (30 points), Hakkinen second (6), Coulthard third (4), Barrichello fourth (9) 

April 23 - Silverstone: Coulthard first (14 points), Hakkinen second (12), Schumacher third (34), Barrichello dnf (9)

May 7 - Catalunya: Hakkinen first (22 points), Coulthard second (20), Barrichello third (13), Schumacher fifth (36)

May 21 - Nurburgring: Schumacher first (46 points), Hakkinen second (28), Coulthard third (24), Barrichello fourth (16)

June 4 - Monaco: Coulthard first (34 points), Barrichello second (22), Hakkinen sixth (29), Schumacher dnf (46)

June 18 - Montreal: Schumacher first (56 points), Barrichello second (28), Hakkinen fourth (32), Coulthard seventh (34)

July 2 - Magny-Cours: Coulthard first (44 points), Hakkinen second (38), Barrichello third (32), Schumacher dnf (56)

July 16 - A1-Ring: Hakkinen first (48 points), Coulthard second (50), Barrichello third (36), Schumacher dnf (56)

July 30 - Hockenheim: Barrichello first (46 points), Hakkinen second (54), Coulthard third (54), Schumacher dnf (56)

August 13 - Hungaroring: Hakkinen first (64 points), Schumacher second (62), Coulthard third (58), Barrichello fourth (49)

August 27 - Spa-Francorchamps: Hakkinen first (74 points), Schumacher second (68), Coulthard fourth (61), Barrichello dnf (49)         

Man oh man! Just like 1999 when Schumacher was missing in action for much of the season after his Silverstone crash, the 2000 title chase was outrageous - for thirteen races that is. I forgot about the frantic F1 title fight in"Y2k." It must have stung Schumacher and Ferrari to squander a 22 point lead after the Grand Prix of Canada, with three consecutive breakdowns in France, Austria and Germany, especially when their primary foe (Hakkinen) was coming on strong after experiencing a slow beginning.  

I'm not sure whether I should consider the Grand Prix of Italy on September 10, 2000 or the inaugural SAP United States Grand Prix two weeks later at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the official start of the fourth chapter of Michael Schumacher's career. The German was still two points behind second place finisher Hakkinen after winning the race at Monza. After Schumacher's domination at  Indianapolis, combined with Mika's retirement, Michael regained the points lead and held a margin of eight over Hakkinen with two events left on the 2000 schedule. 

I know I began thinking about Michael Schumacher as the 2000 World Champion on that rainy day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as I watched the German celebrate after the race on one of the video screens in the infield. The momentum had definitely swung back to Schumacher and Ferrari.

Perhaps I should play things safe and define the beginning of the fourth chapter of Michael Schumacher's career as being October 8 at Suzuka when he won for the eighth time in sixteen races in 2000 to earn his third career World Championship and make it the first time since 1979 the fabled Italian team won the driver's title. 

Hakkinen and Coulthard valiantly followed Michael's Ferrari to the finish in Japan, but the championship was gone because Schumacher held a thirteen point advantage with only one race and a maximum ten points left. Luca di Montezemolo, Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne and all of Italy had done it. They won the World Championship - - - on Michael Schumacher's shoulders.

The World Championship season was punctuated when Schumacher took a record tying ninth F1 win in the season finale in Malaysia. That was it! Michael Schumacher was the undisputed king of Formula One again and he took the "Prancing Horse of Modena" with him to the top. The church bells were ringing again in Maranello and the brilliant German driver was the person most responsible. 

As Schumacher pondered the 2001 season he might've considered how he could top the efforts of the previous year. After 21 years, the championship finally belonged to Ferrari again which was a story onto itself. What could Michael do to surpass that accomplishment? There were two Formula One records within his grasp. One of those records was five World Championships held by Juan Manuel Fangio. The other milestone was 51 Grand Prix victories by Alain Prost. At the start of the 2001 season, Schumacher was within seven wins of Prost's all time record of 51 F1 victories and two titles shy of Fangio's championship mark. 

Obviously the new Ferrari F2001 was fast because Michael won the two opening events in Australia and Malaysia. Schumacher finished second to David Coulthard's McLaren MP4/16 - Mercedes Benz in Brazil to gather 26 points in the first three events. Coulthard was having a good start to his season as well, with a second in Australia, third in Malaysia and his victory in Brazil and after three races, the Scot trailed Schumacher by six points.

Ralf Schumacher's Williams FW23 - BMW won at Imola, giving Michael's younger brother the first victory of his Formula One career. Coulthard finished second, followed by Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari and Mika Hakkinen's McLaren. Schumacher (the older) was out of the race after 24 laps with brake problems. This jumbled the standings because Coulthard had 26 points, equal to that earned by Michael, although Schumacher was still ahead because the German had two wins to one for David. 

However Schumacher came back to win in Spain and he increased his points total to 36. Coulthard was fifth and so the spread between the two was 36 for Michael and 28 for Coulthard. Moreover the German scored his 47th career F1 victory, only four shy of Prost's all time total. Coulthard won again in Austria while Schumacher finished second. The standings closed up again with Michael holding forth with 42 points to the Scot's 38 points. Actually Coulthard was giving it a good go six races into the seventeen round season. Perhaps one might have expected, considering the Schumacher surge at the end of the 2000 season, the German would display more superiority during the early stages of 2001. 

The next stop for the F1 circus was Monaco and Schumacher resumed his mastery for career win number 48. Coulthard was only fifth, allowing Michael to open up a 12 point advantage in the championship standings, 52 to 40. It was Ralf Schumacher's turn to win again in Montreal. Michael was second while Coulthard failed to complete a lap. Was David disqualified in Montreal? I don't exactly remember. Schumacher (the elder) kicked his point total to 58 and that gave him an eighteen point margin on Coulthard after eight races. Two weeks later on June 24 it was on to Nurburgring where Michael scored career win number 49. Coulthard finished third, picking up four championship points but falling 24 points behind in the chase. 

The race at the Nurburgring was the ninth event on the 17 race schedule. Although he could still be beaten in the eight events which were ahead, Schumacher for all intents and purposes won the 2001 World Championship barely into the second half of the season. The point totals among the top contenders were Schumacher (68), Coulthard (44), Ralf Schumacher (25), Rubens Barrichello (22), Juan Montoya (12) and Mika Hakkinen (9). Now that a fourth World title was nearly in his grasp, Michael had the luxury of focusing on the Prost career mark only two wins away.

Career win number 50 came to Schumacher in the next race at Magny-Cours on July 1. He was within one victory of Alain Prost's all time record. The icing on the cake in France for Michael was the fact Coulthard finished fourth, giving the German a 31 point lead in the championship standings. The standings among the leaders after ten events was Michael Schumacher (78 points), Coulthard (47), Ralf Schumacher (31) and Barrichello (26).   

Mika Hakkinen experienced a mostly lackluster year in 2001 but on July 15, the two-time World Champion was back to his "butt kicking" ways of old when he scored his nineteenth career Formula One victory at Silverstone. Schumacher finished second. Barrichello was third. The point standings showed Michael with 84 points, a 37 point lead on second place Coulthard with six of 17 races left on the 2001 schedule. Ralf Schumacher won in front of his German countrymen at Hockenheim two weeks later. Rubens Barrichello was second. This had the effect of working to Michael Schumacher's advantage because although neither he nor David Coulthard earned any championship points, it left one less race on the calendar and one less opportunity for the Scot to reduce the points deficit.  

August 19, 2001 was one of the highlight days of Michael Schumacher's career. He not only scored the record tying 51st Formula One victory, placing him even with Alain Prost as the all time F1 race   winner. Michael also raised his 2001 season point total to 94. David Coulthard finished third behind the Ferraris of Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, raising his count to 51. With only four races left on the 2001schedule, Michael had a 43 point advantage with only a maximum forty points available. 

For the fourth time in his career, Michael Schumacher was World Champion racing driver. Everything was coming up roses for Schumacher. At the next race, at his favorite circuit Spa-Francorchamps, Michael won for the 52nd time in his Formula career. He became the all time winner in F1 history. 

Then came September 11, 2001. The tragedy appeared to affect Michael Schumacher deeply. The German finished a disheartened fourth at Monza behind Juan Montoya, Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher. The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington frightened and worried Schumacher and he expressed concern about going to Indianapolis to race on September 30. Although he qualified for the pole at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Michael was never a serious contender in the second annual SAP U.S. Grand Prix and he finished a consistent second place to winner Hakkinen. 

There were more than a few questions raised in the motorsports media about Schumacher's competitive desire in the weeks after September 11 and his performances at Monza and Indianapolis fueled that speculation. As if to react to the question of his intensity, Schumacher came back like a tiger on October 14 at Suzuka to score career win number 53. I particularly remember the ferocity of Michael's dominance at the 2001 season finale. The following day at work, I was discussing the 2001 Grand Prix of Japan with my boss. We were both overwhelmed with Schumacher's mastery. It was almost too much to comprehend.  

The win at Suzuka in October 2001 seemed to set the tone for Michael Schumacher and Ferrari in 2002. After everything he accomplished in winning the World Championship for Ferrari in 2000 and 2001, some might have wondered what would motivate the German in 2002. Of course a record tying fifth World Championship had to be uppermost in Schumacher's plans but there was also another record left for him to attain. Three times in his career (1995, 2000 and 2001), Michael won nine events in 17 race seasons. However the single most successful F1 year belonged to Nigel Mansell, who won nine times with 14 pole positions in 16 races in 1992.   

Schumacher responded with the greatest season in the history of Formula One last year. Michael won eleven times, ending once and for all the single season tie with Mansell. However I'm convinced he could have won each of the four races that went to Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello (Nurburgring, Hungaroring, Monza and Indianapolis) had he felt like doing so. The only time Schumacher lost in a straight fight all season was at Monaco where David Coulthard's McLaren had Michael's Ferrari beaten.  

While I was standing on the spectator mound inside the stretch between turns eleven and 12 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last September 29, with Schumacher pulling away from the field, I thought to myself the German was merely toying with the opposition. Michael's racing was better than ever and he had the world's best racing machine, the Ferrari F2002, under him.

If you think about it, Ferrari was brazen (they ran up the score to refer to the Super Bowl later today) throughout the 2002 season, so superior was their package. It wasn't until the third race of the season the new model F2002 made its racing debut. The previous season's F2001 was still better than anything else on track though as Schumacher easily won the season opener in Melbourne. 

Everyone made such a big deal about Rubens Barrichello being asked to pull aside to allow Schumacher to pass in the closing laps in Austria, for another win. The way I looked at it, Barrichello wouldn't have been in the lead anyway had Michael not let him be there. When Schumacher slowed to a crawl in the closing laps at Indianapolis to allow Barrichello to catch up for a Ferrari photo finish, it reportedly annoyed some important racing people and the fans didn't appreciate it either. I didn't like it myself because it made it look like Schumacher was taking the SAP U.S. Grand Prix less than seriously.     

Schumacher clinched his fifth World Championship on July 21 at Magny-Cours, only the eleventh of 17 races on the 2002 calendar. Never has a driver wrapped up a title so early in the season. If there was one area where Michael might have tried harder, it was in qualifying as he only started from pole position seven times. I watched most of the F1 qualifying sessions on TV and it looked to me like the German didn't have to work hard before the race because he had enough car to get him to the front regardless of where he started on the grid. 

Perhaps the most significant statistic from Schumacher's 2002 season is that he finished on the podium for each of the seventeen races in the World Championship. Michael's worst finish of the season was a third place in Malaysia. The most ominous aspect of Schumacher's 2002 season is the way he closed competition with in Suzuka with a victorious display every bit as powerful as his 2001 win in the same event.  

The motivation for Michael Schumacher in 2003 is obvious. He has the all time career win record with 64 victories, a winning percentage of 35.8 in 179 Formula One starts. Michael has a record 945 World Championship points despite losing 78 (from 1997) for his misbehavior with Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez. The German broke his tie with Nigel Mansell at nine single season wins with eleven victories in the 17 rounds of the 2002 championship.  

But there is still the matter of a record breaking sixth World Championship and who among us doesn't expect Michael Schumacher and Ferrari to focus their efforts on accomplishing Formula One's longest standing and most important milestone? 

Will Michael Schumacher still be in the fourth chapter of his career this season. What do you wanna bet?  

    Michael Schumacher's career Formula One record