Throughout history, humanity has found numerous ways to entertain itself by competing with other creatures, including other humans. As a result of this competitive race, they sometimes felt the passion for triumph as well as the infamous feeling of loss. Nevertheless, they never gave up on their desire to compete and be ranked among each other. Sports has always been one of the most popular means of entertainment, passion, and defeat for humanity. For this reason, they never gave up on sportive activities and unveiled new types of sports by developing them. Until today, there have been a few leading sports branches, including football, basketball, tennis, swimming, and even golf. Along with these prominent branches that intrigued all the people around the globe, exclusive sports demanding money and huge efforts have also shown themselves in the world of sports. Automobile racing is considered to be one of these exclusive sports since it not only requires a remarkable amount of money to participate in, but also makes it possible for a limited and privileged group in society to watch the races. Formula One (F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ). Since its first race in 1950, the FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the top racing competitions worldwide.
As the sport of auto racing has evolved with the developing types of equipment and the passing of time, racers have started to show outstanding performances in the tournament. Formula 1 fans even ranked racers and made a list of all-time favorite racers including Niki Lauda (Marlboro), Alain Prost (Renault), Ayrton Senna (Honda), Jim Clark (Team Lotus), Jackie Stewart (Tyrell), Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), and Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing).
According to this list, one of the most significant careers of all time was Michael Schumacher’s career. In order to examine his career and success, his steps throughout the way should also be taken into account. Born on January 3, 1969, in Cologne, Germany, he was six years ahead of his brother Ralf, who would go on to become a well-known Formula One driver. Michael loved playing on the pedal kart. His passion shaped his life which also elicited a career in auto racing. Later on, he had the first opportunity to pursue his passion by participating in the junior karting competitions in 1984 and 1985. Not only was he eligible to participate in these challenging races, but he also completed them in triumph and won championships. Subsequently, at the age of 19, his carting journey ended, leading him to become a driver of Formula 3 (F3). Finally, Schumacher won the German F3 championship after two years of exertion.
When Schumacher joined the Jordan team in 1991, he was qualified to race in Formula One. The following year, he moved to Benetton, where he won the drivers' world championship in 1994 and 1995. He joined the Ferrari team prior to the 1996 season and finished third in the championship rankings. Schumacher recovered from a 1999 incident that left him with a fractured leg to win a third championship the following year, marking Ferrari's first drivers' crown since 1979. He placed third in the F1 standings in 2005 and second in the standings in 2006. Ultimately, he retired 2006 with outstanding statistics such as 7 championships, 91 Grand Prix victories, and 155 podiums. In addition to his success, he also participated in diverse projects and organizations such as being an ambassador for UNESCO and the and making donations for natural disasters.
Despite him being the “King of Speed” and taking risks during the auto racing competitions, he hadn’t experienced multiple accidents, which could have hindered him from racing or slowed his career down. As most of us have noticed by now, Michael Schumacher followed his passions and allowed them to shape his life, as did his passion for racing. Another passion of Schumacher was skiing, and he regularly went skiing. Nevertheless, on 29 December 2013, he had an incident that shaped his life in another way. While Schumacher was skiing, he fell 3.5 meters onto a boulder after his skis struck a rock that was partially hidden by the snow even though he was not going with an excessive speed. Moreover, he was also wearing a helmet in case of any incidents. However, in spite of the precautions, he had severe brain damage which left him in a coma for almost 250 days after his accident, until June. He then entered a permanent vegetative state.
For ten years, the media couldn’t obtain any further information about his circumstances until the retired English driver, Johnny Herbert talked in a recent interview. Herbert informed the media that he could sit at the dining table and eat his food independently. Although people were happy to hear about the good news, they still were sad due to Schumacher’s severe situation. Nonetheless, Schumacher’s contributions to racing as well as the sports world is being recalled by Formula 1 fans and drivers who take him as a role model and aspire his footsteps.
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