Humble Beginnings

Schumacher was born to a bricklayer father and an ordinary working mother in Hürth Hermülheim on January 3, 1969. He started with driving a kart at roughly four years old and was the youngest member of a karting club in his local town when his father brought him for membership. His father, who took a second job to financially support his son’s karting activities, ignited Schumacher’s passion for racing.

Formula 3 Career

Schumacher joined Willi Weber’s WTS Formula 3 team in 1989. The following year he won the German Formula 3 series title. Near the end of 1990, he joined in the World Sports Prototype Championship which he was later victorious at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in a Sauber-Mercedes C11 during the season finale.

Eddie Jordan Signs Him Up

Schumacher was signed by Eddie Jordan with Jordan-Ford to debut his Formula One driving career during the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix. Much to Jordan’s disappointment, Schumacher signed with Benetton-Ford shortly after his debut. During his first year with Formula One, Schumacher’s best performance was during the Italian Grand Prix where he finished fifth, outpacing his team mate Nelson Piquet, a three-time world champion.

Early Formula 1 Success

In 1992, Schumacher made it to the podium for the first time when he placed third during the Mexican Grand Prix. At the Belgian Grand Prix, he was victorious in a wet race on a difficult circuit which pushed him even further up the championship rankings. The 1992 season was a great year for Schumacher placing him third in the overall Drivers Championship and marking him as a driver to watch in coming years.

1993 - A Quiet Season

The 1993 season was dominated mainly by Alain Prost and Damon Hill, Schumacher only won at the Portuguese Grand Prix, retired in seven out of 15 races and placed fourth in the overall rankings. This probably wasn’t the year he had expected but nevertheless it was a good year and some lessons well learnt.

1994-1995 - Back To Back Championships

Schumacher won his first championship title in 1994, a victory amidst a sad occasion: Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died during the San Marino Grand Prix. There were also allegations for cheating but Schumacher proved again his capability as a driver by winning another Drivers’ Championship the following year.

Schumacher & Ferrari

Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996 which back then wasn’t the big name it is today. In fact he joined the team at their lowest point taking them from an average formula one team to what is now considered one of the greatest teams ever to have existed in formula 1 history; looking back on things Ferrari credits schumacher greatly for its rapid rise to Formula One success.

It’s through Schumacher’s decision to go from back to back championships to joining a lesser team and rebuilding them up to be the team they are today that really demonstrates the amazing driving and leadership skills this man possessed. He didn’t win a single drivers championship during the years 1996-1999 but was instrumental in their victory as the world constructor champions in 1999.

5 More Championships - 2000-2004

After the intial teething period with Ferrari he finally took them to 5 straight drivers championship victories giving schumacher a total of 7 world championships to his name. After retiring in 2006, and being hailed by many as the greatest all round racing driver in the history of formula one schumacher has continued his work with ferrari as both an assistant and a test driver.

Spainish Racing History

The first ever Spanish Grand Prix took place in 1913, at Guadarrama (near Madrid) on a 300 kilometer circuit where it was actually following touring car rules as opposed to Formula 1. Despite this it’s still considered to be the first official Grand Prix in Spain and certainly not the first ever motor race to be held in Spain.

The Catalan Cup of 1908 and 1909 are two of the more notable events to happen before the 1913 grand prix. Both these events took place on the roads of Sitges with Jules Goux of France winning both years and setting the foundations of Frances racing traditions in motion.

Not only was an official track built in Sitges offering a two kilometer oval shaped circuit known as the Sitges Terramar but the 1923 Spanish Grand Prix also took place there. Unfortunately after the first race the track came under some financial difficulties causing the official grand prix venue to move to Circuito Lasarte on the northern coast of Spain, and in 1926 this race became officially known as the San Sebastian Grand Prix.

The Wallstreet Crash

After much success in the 1920’s at Lasarte the 1930-1932 grand prix’s were all cancelled due to the great Wallstreet crash of 1929, and it wasn’t until 1933 that the grand prix at Lasarte returned with government sponsorship and backing.

Spanish Civil War

Racing continued strongly at Lasarte until 1935 when the Spanish civil war took place, causing racing to stop and not return to Spain until 1946 in the form of the Penya Rhin Grand Prix, which was held at the Pedralbes Circuit in Barcelona.

1951 Onwards

Racing continued at the Pedralbes circuit for a few more years until 1951 when Spain officially returned to the international circuit by joining the Formula One championship still at the Pedralbes. Unfortunately the Pedralbes suffered some negative exposure in 1955 when a major accident during the 24 Le Mans caused it to be dropped from the racing calendar.

Royal Automobile Club - 1960’s

Despite being dropped from the international racing scene, in 1960 the Royal Automobile Club of Spain helped return Spain to international racing by helping build a new circuit at Jarama where a non-championship Grand Prix was held in 1967 (Jim Clark won with a Lotus). At the same time it must be noted that Cataluna also refurbished their Montjuic circuit in Barcelona, and after the 1968 grand prix at Jarama it was agreed that the F1 racing venue would alternate beween Jarama and Montjuic.

Tragedy At Montjuic

Despite some great racing years at Jarama and Montjuic, 1975 marked the end of racing at Montjuic when a fatal crash killed 4 spectators. Concerns about track safety had already been expressed during practice and double winner Emerson Fittipaldi retired in protest after just a single lap. On lap 26 of the race Rolf Stommelen’s car crashed with his rear wing breaking off killing the four spectators. The race was won by Jochen Mass, though only half the points were awarded due to the race being stopped.

Circuito Permanente

Until 1981 Jarama hosted all the standard Spanish Grand Prix’s, but a new circuit was commissioned by the Mayor of Jerez to promote its towns tourism. The new circuit known as Circuito Permanente de Jerez, managed to be completed in time for the 1986 F1 championship and will always be remembered for the amazing showdown between Nigel Mansel and Ayrton Senna which resulted in an photo finish and the judges awarding the win to Senna by just 0.014 seconds.

1990 to Present Day

1990 was the last year at Jerez, after which the venue moved to it’s current location: the circuit de Catalunya where its expected to stay for many years to come.

Even if you forget the cost of the cars, and the technicians who’re involved in year round development and research you only have to look at the cost of the venues where even track preparation can go into the thousands of dollars, and with many venues specially built just to accommodate the F1 racing event, it’s no wonder that entry into becoming an F1 racing track is so difficult.

Media & Publicity

The Formula One Grand Prix is one of the worlds most highly publicised events and the prestige factor associated with it is second to none. Around the world newspapers and magazines attempt to outdo each other to get the latest scoop and updates in this high tech industry.

The advertisements aired during F1 racing events can generate millions of dollars in revenues for the lucky television company that secures the rights to its viewing. Millions of fans and car enthusiasts from more than 200 countries around the world tune in for each race making it a highly sought after slot on any tv networks advertising line up. In fact almost all of the major Formula One drivers have become celebrities and with endorsements that play into the millions of dollars, it’s no wonder why the sport is so competitive.

Team Spending

In 2003, F1 magazine calculated the spending of 10 Formula One teams to be over 2 billion dollars with Ferrari taking the top spot with a spending budget of almost half a billion dollars.

• Formula One – is a strictly regulated single-seat car racing. The word “Formula” in Formula One refers to rules and specifications of cars. The cars used are the most advanced and sophisticated in the world. The detailed designs of the cars consider air flows under and over the car so that it can run at speeds faster than 300 kilometers per house.
• FIA – stands for Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the governing of body of the sport. It based in Place de la Concorde, Paris, France. The FIA, established on June 20, 1094, is a non-profit organization representing the interest of motoring people. The membership of FIA consists of 207 national member groups from 122 countries around the world. Max Moxly is the current president of FIA.
• Alpha Prema UK Limited – is the owner of the Formula One group including the Formula One Holding which is the holder of the commercials rights to Formula One racing.
• Bernard Charles “Bernie” Ecclestone – is Formula One Management’s president and chief executive officer. He is also a stake owner of Alpha Prema. Ecclestone is the primary authority of Formula One race.
• Concorde Agreement – is a contract that stipulates the rules and terms of teams in Formula One as well as their share in television revenues and prize amount. It is signed by The FIA, the Formula One Administration and the Formula One teams.
• Grand Prix – refers to a series of races participated in by Formula One drivers and constructors. Grand Prix literally means “grand prize” and the series of races is held in many countries around the world to determine the Formula One World Champion of the Season. The 2007 Grand Prix will be held in 17 countries - Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain, Monaco, Canada, USA, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Italy, Belgium, Japan, China and Brazil. The combined results of these games will determine two world champions, one for the driver and the other for the constructor.
• Constructor – is the maker of car combinations. Constructors find the best components like engines and chassis used. Some of the Formula One constructors are Vanwall, Cooper, Ferrari, Lotus, Tyrrell, McLaren, Williams, Benetton and Renault.
• Pit Stop – refers to the point where car stops for a moment to refuel, make mechanical adjustments, change tires and change driver.
• Circuit – is the course where the cars do the race. There are over fifty circuits around the world, and their designs greatly vary. Most circuits are designed in clockwise direction. Many countries invest huge amount of money to build new circuits to accommodate the Grand Prix. Malaysia and Bahrain are two countries that have specially made circuits amounting to millions of dollars in recent years. The benefit of the move is to increase inflow of tourism, thus affecting the economy in a positive way.