Michael Schumacher achieved some amazing things on the track during his Formula 1 career and is regarded as one of, if not the greatest driver of all time.
He brought Ferrari back to winning ways in the early 2000s after 20 years with little to write home about at Maranello.
Lewis Hamilton will become the second seven-time champion after Schumacher to drive for them in 2025 as he aims to eclipse one of the last records that he shares with the German by winning the Drivers’ Championship again.
Modern-day Formula 1 is a very different place compared to what it was 20 years ago, with far more of a spotlight on the sport now.
Hamilton has already copied Schumacher’s Ferrari move by learning Italian before joining the team which will be a wise step for communication purposes.
The better both sides can understand each other, the greater the chance of him bringing glory back to the Italian team for the first time in 17 years.
Michael Schumacher gifted Ferrari colleague James Allison something he ‘didn’t expect’
Schumacher was a strong leader and knew how to push his Ferrari team during his time working with them from 1996 to 2006.
No driver has ever achieved five consecutive championship doubles like he managed to and a lot of that was down to his work ethic.
READ MORE: 1-time F1 race winner says Michael Schumacher is the only reason he never joined Ferrari
He wanted others around him to work as hard, so when it came to Christmas, James Allen says that he used to motivate his colleagues with great presents, including current Mercedes technical director James Allison.
“He used to be in his room after a session having a massage and he’d say right Sabine [Kehm] get the pad out and let’s run through,” he said. “Such and such, what do you think they would want for Christmas?
“He said ‘it’s important’. Eventually, he would go through all the people in the team. I remember James Allison, the technical director at Mercedes. He was at Ferrari earlier in his career in this Schumacher period.
“He said to me one year, Schumacher got him a Colnago racing bike for Christmas, not a cheap thing. Really nice one and it was the right size. He was absolutely made up and didn’t expect it. That’s the kind of length Schumacher used to go to to get the most out of people.”
Is Michael Schumacher the greatest F1 driver of all time?
Schumacher had a high-performance mentality and his meticulous approach is something which isn’t seen as much nowadays.
He no longer holds the records for the most wins, pole positions or championships alone but he won multiple titles with multiple teams (still an unbeaten record) and played a big role in Hamilton’s success.
Before the Brit arrived at the Silver Arrows in 2013, the German had been helping to develop their car and project for the future.
READ MORE: Rob Smedley shares ‘key difference’ between working with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso
They went on to win six consecutive title doubles with Hamilton and Nico Rosberg before falling short in 2021.
Schumacher came from DTM too. He didn’t have any glitzy driver academy backing him, he fought his way onto the grid which makes his story even more impressive.
