Michael Schumacher had achieved an illustrious and spectacular Formula 1 career by the time he made the decision to retire from the sport in 2006.
He confirmed his decision with three races to go in the 2006 season, while he was very much in the picture to achieve an eighth Drivers’ Championship.
Sadly his battle with Fernando Alonso would take a cruel turn at the penultimate round in the Japanese Grand Prix as his engine failed, completely changing the outlook of the title.
Ferrari confirmed Schumacher’s replacement before the end of the year too, a man who would go on to take the crown in his debut season with them.
Kimi Raikkonen was considered to be one of the hottest prospects on the grid, and after a few disappointing seasons with McLaren, was ready for a new challenge.
Schumacher had a high-performance mentality at Ferrari, which helped to deliver multiple titles while he was at the team. His work also forged their success in the late 2000s with Felipe Massa and Raikkonen, as he had a lot of input in the development of future machines before retirement.
Luca di Montezemelo hired Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari without asking Michael Schumacher
Schumacher wasn’t the only man behind Ferrari’s dominance of the 2000s, with ex-boss Jean Todt and Ross Brawn playing a huge role too.
Their leadership and ideas brought the team back to the front of the grid and set them up for sustained long-term success.
Picking a replacement for Schumacher in 2006 wasn’t an easy task, with few drivers that had much of a wow factor at the time, besides current champion Alonso.
READ MORE: Flavio Briatore recalls why he was ‘not surprised’ when Michael Schumacher quit Benetton for Ferrari
Alonso replaced Raikkonen at McLaren and the two battled fiercely for the title the following season, so it didn’t make much of a difference, but the way that it unfolded was unusual.
According to The Race, Ex-Ferrari president Luca di Montezemelo was ‘uneasy’ at the level of control Schumacher, Todt and Brawn had at the time.
Therefore, he took it upon himself to hire Raikkonen as Schumacher’s replacement without consulting the seven-time champion or his colleagues before making the decision.
Who else could Ferrari have signed to replace Michael Schumacher in 2006?
Schumacher once gave a Ferrari engineer an incredible gift to help motivate him for a title run, which was what his approach to racing was all about.
Raikkonen was a different character altogether and although he won the championship in 2007, he didn’t bring the same work ethic that the German had.
It’s part of the reason why he was paid not to drive in 2010, as the team signed Alonso from Renault before coming very close to winning the title again that year.
READ MORE: Andrea Stella shares what Michael Schumacher did in 2004 that he would love to copy at McLaren
Schumacher’s input into the 2006 decision may not have made much of a difference, but there was some future talent out there that the team went on to sign and may not have spotted by that stage.
Robert Kubica was just starting his Formula 1 career with BMW Sauber and flourished in that setup before a move to Renault.
He signed a deal to race for Ferrari in 2012 before a tragic rallying accident nearly cut his life and career short, making him one of the greatest what could have been stories in the sport’s history.
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