POLL | Which of these five races was Michael Schumacher's best?
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Today is racing legend Michael Schumacher's 56th birthday. In celebration, GPBlog looks back on five of his most iconic races.
The 1994 Monaco Grand Prix, a time for firsts
The 1994 Monaco Grand Prix was Schumacher's confirmation that a superlative talent had arrived at the F1 scene and would now proceed to take the mantle, tragically dropped by Ayrton Senna in the previous race in Imola. Having taken his first ever pole in the series, the German flew towards the chequered flag at an unmatched pace, securing the fastest lap in the process, and having also led every lap, this fourth consecutive win in his 1994 campaign would also signify his first ever Grand Chelem.
The 1996 Spanish Grand Prix: Wet weather mastery
Regarding poor weather, it was raining cats and dogs at the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix, but that didn't stop Schumacher. This was his first win with Ferrari, even though they did not have the strongest car at the time, rendering it a highly significant win. Schumacher's race also showed how strong of a driver he was because of how he worked with his team to manage his tyres using strategy and skill. He was also able to beat his direct competitor, Damon Hill, who was in one of the better cars on the grid. Despite not having the technical advantages that other drivers had, Schumacher excelled in the conditions and won by a demanding margin of 45.302 seconds.
The 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix: A race long qualifying level push
The 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix was a show of strategic brilliance on Ferrari's side. The only way they could challenge the Adrian Newey designed McLaren's MP4/13 driven by Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard, was to execute a daring strategy: Schumacher would do a three stop race and in order for it to succeed the German would have to drive the entire race at qualifying pace. The outcome? Schumacher won the race from Coulthard in P2 and his championship rival finished in P6 due to issues with his MP4/13's shock absorbers. This result kept his championship hopes alive.
The 1998 Japanese Grand Prix: a hero's defeat
It was yet another title showdown at Suzuka, only this time it was between Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen. Despite starting on pole position, because he stalled his car during the second formation lap, replicating Jarno Trulli's error during the first one, the German had to start the race from the back. With these circumstances at play, Schumacher made a display of skill, great, resolve and talent that could only be described as heroism. By the end of lap 1 he was already in P12. By lap 5 he was already 7th, having overtaken his brother Ralk Schumacher. But he could not move higher up since he became stuck behind ardent rivals Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.
By the race's equator Schumacher was already 30 seconds off of Häkkinen's lead, meaning his chances at the win and therefore at the title, had gone up in smoke. Yet the German had not quit. During the round of pitstops, Schumacher, after putting in some blistering laps, managed to bring his Ferrari up to P3 and was still pushing hard behind his then Ferrari teammate, Eddie Irvine in P2 and title rival, Häkkinen in P1. However, an incident in the final sector resulted in debris scattered across the track. Schumacher ran over them, picked up a slow punctured and within three laps his race was done with a tyre blowout.
The 2006 Chinese Grand Prix: a veteran's skill
The 2006 Chinese Grand Prix was Schumacher's 91st and final win in F1. Starting in P6 the German driver slowly but surely started making his way to the front, overtaking former teammate Rubens Barrichello for P5 and later Jenson Button for P4. After that his Bridgestone styres started to gain an edge in performance, while the Michelin tyres began to fade, which made Renault drivers, Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella lose ground. The Italian was overtaken by Kimi Raikkonen, who set off in pursuit of the Spaniard. However the Finn's charge came to a premature end due to reliability issues.
With Raikkonen's retirement, Schumacher was promoted to P3, a virtual podium, and following several off track excursions for Alonso who failed to keep his Michelin tyres alive, the Reanult driver's lead was evaporated to nothing, which meant the German could now sense a win was within his reach. Alonso was the first frontrunner to pit for dry tyres. Fisichella and Schumacher stopped later, but the Italian struggled with his cold tyres and ran wide, giving Schumacher an opportunity he would not miss. In the end, Alonso found his dominant pace again but ran out of time before he could overtake the German for the win. Schumacher's lead over Alonso at the line was of a little over 3 seconds.
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