Original subtitles

You have to become one with the car.

You should know exactly how much stress you can give to the car.

Because there's a limit always,

and you should be careful, like with everything in life you like,

you have to have that kind of feeling to not go over the top or not be under it.

And if you do that, then both of us will be satisfied.

The car and I.

100% perfection.

To reach 100%, that's... that's my target.

I'm just that type of person.

I couldn't live with anything lower.

I don't like to talk about my quality very much

because I would sound arrogant.

And I don't like to talk about my failures because it's your job to find them.

There was a real air of excitement in the paddock.

Everybody's aware of who's coming up through the system.

We had a sense that this was someone who's looking very promising.

When Michael came into Formula One, this was a time when there were big names.

Senna was World Champion with McLaren,

Mansell was driving for Williams,

Uh, Prost was at Ferrari. You know, those are really big names.

All the drivers were over 27, 28,

with a lot of experience.

And Michael was the young one.

When Michael arrived, all the drivers looked at him like,

"Too young, too early, too soon."

Most Formula One drivers come up

through karts, Formula Three.

And he'd been helped in making the transition to Formula One

by having raced sports cars for Mercedes.

Yeah. Yeah.

Luck got him into Formula One.

A driver had dropped out, and they needed a new one.

Michael appeared in Formula One through a stroke of luck, really,

when Eddie Jordan had a seat available,

all of a sudden, partway through the season.

After I found out, I immediately

got on the phone and called Eddie Jordan.

I said, "Eddie, you've got to give me that chance."

And he said, "Who in the hell is Michael Schumacher?"

I said, "You got to remember. Formula Three, won Macau, won Fuji."

"Okay, now I know."

I've seen him in Formula Three.

And I have this... or the team has this attitude

to give youth a chance. And that's the way our team is formed.

Just everything that lay ahead of us,

just the possibility that he could show

what he was really capable of,

that was so incredible, but we had no idea.

That evening we sat out on a square and ate pizza, undisturbed.

The place was packed. I think four-to five-hundred people.

And no one came up to us.

That was the last time that nobody bothered us.

I remember you could hear the people in the Tannoy...

...describing what's happening in qualifying.

And this name, Michael Schumacher, kept popping up.

Well, he was... he was a sensation.

When Michael qualified seventh, it was just like,

"Wow! Here is a new star!"

Everybody was just so excited

that this new driver had exploded onto the scene.

I'm really happy.

But anyway, I have to say,

with this car you can do this qualifying time, you know.

It makes a lot of fun to drive.

And also for the time, I'm really happy, yeah.

Everybody noticed that. Everybody in other teams noticed that.

You know, he became immediately a hot property.

After the race in Spa, I called Willi Weber.

And we met with Michael, I think on Monday.

Monday or Tuesday in London.

At the time, our team was already fighting for podium.

We weren't fighting for a Championship,

but on some occasions we got close to the podium.

So we signed an agreement.

It cam e s uddenly. I was totally surprised.

I'd just driven my first race,

and the fourth-best team in the world makes me an offer.

I was gobsmacked.

I was stunned that it could happen so fast,

and I was so happy about the contract.

It was an absolutely fantastic situation.

He had this freshness about him.

You know, his skin was very tight on his face

and always very clean-shaven.

And he just radiated this confidence.

Michael was racing as a boy against hard men.

And it's Schumacher in fourth position

in the Benetton.

Schumacher is indisputably pushing Ayrton Senna.

Michael Schumacher comes through leading the Belgian Grand Prix.

Well, is Michael Schumacher gonna win his first Grand Prix

at the circuit where he first drove in a Grand Prix?

Twenty-three years old.

The youngest Grand Prix winner for a long, long time.

It's the first win ever for Michael Schumacher.

And he puts his arm out. And he is naturally elated.

Oh!

"Yeah! I did it," he says.

I really can't describe it. I mean, it's something crazy.

I think the German fans have waited a long time

for Formula One Grand Prix victory.

And I really give this victory to the German fans.

Any last words for anybody back at home?

I think my parents.

I wanna say just hello to them.

It all started with four years.

My father was always interested in working around, like,

mountain bicycles or little things.

And the... the thing he did was,

we had another old moped, I would say, with 40K's speed.

And he put it on... on this kid go-kart.

And from the beginning on, I just enjoyed it very much.

I always liked it very much.

I remember when I was six, seven years, my father started already

to rent out go-karts for the club at this time.

And I was always with him to work on the go-karts,

to help him and as well to test the go-karts.

When once he finished one go-kart, I had to test the go-kart if it is okay.

And so, I... I was always together with him in the go-kart.

We did everything together, and...

...it was just a... a big pleasure.

When he was just 8 or 9,

he looked after his brother, if necessary.

I could ask him to see that everything was locked up,

and he would do it.

Michael was always very dependable.

The Schumacher family had a food van,

and then later, they had a restaurant.

Financially, the Schumacher family was like...

Rolf began his working life as a bricklayer building chimneys,

but eventually took over the running of the go-kart track.

And Elisabeth always had to stay until the end,

until all the guests had left.

My parents had to work very hard

to give us a normal life.

But many rich kids are also poor, as their parents have no time for them.

We had our parents with us at the track, which was a big playground.

We always used the cheapest equipment available.

I fished discarded tires out of the bin,

put them on my go-kart, and won races with them.

I was always glad to have won with the worst and not the best equipment.

Having to really fight like that was an additional motivation for me.

Good afternoon and welcome to Kerpen,

to the World Junior Karting Championship.

A total of 18 nations are competing here, with approximately 80 drivers.

A driver who isn't competing for Germany, although he is German

and is even the odds-on favorite here, is Michael Schumacher.

You're competing for Luxembourg. Why?

Because the qualifying races in Germany cost money.

And if we're eliminated, we don't qualify for the World Championship.

But in Luxembourg we're the only competitors,

it doesn't cost anything, and we qualify.

He was already practicing like a world champion when he was a kid.

He already knew what he wanted when he was a kid.

He had to do everythin g to get to the top.

And... And I think there was this hard-boiled professionalism

from a very, very young age.

Because any small misstep along the way would have been the end of everything.

1983 in Kerpen-Manheim.

That was actually the... the first time when we raced together.

It's one of those strong memories

that stayed in my mind in my racing career.

Of course, it was a circuit,

which was a home circuit for Michael,

so he knew every corner for 100%.

And it was difficult to race against him on that track.

Looking at the style that he was driving, it was incredible.

There was a part of the racetrack in front of the barrack,

where there's a very high-speed chicane, and it was fascinating to see Michael

coming through that chicane,

having a completely different driving style than other drivers.

Very controlled.

The driving style was very physical.

The level of mistakes that he did

through that chicane every time was very little.

The other drivers, one lap was good,

the second lap again went a little bit wrong.

But Michael was all the time consistent, very controlled.

And when I was watching, I recognized straight away, you know.

This... This guy is... He's good.

We were like 13, 14 years old.

And...

And full of confidence.

In first place, Michael Schumacher.

He's already won 460 marks today

and will now receive a further 236 marks!

After those years, I was convinced

I would always be a go-kart driver.

Because I could never have imagined making it into the Formula class

for financial reasons alone.

In 1988, a young man kept catching my eye.

His name was Michael Schumacher.

It wasn't the victories. It was the way he moved the car.

I then asked him to come and drive for my team.

Of course, money was an issue.

Michael Schumacher had nothing at that time,

not even 500 marks to finance a season,

which even then cost 600 to 700 thousands.

Willi Weber said to us, "Come over to my place tonight."

"I'm giving him a five-year contract, a car and 2,000 marks a month salary."

That, of course, was crazy!

If you're involved in motor racing,

I think everyone dreams of competing in Formula One events one day.

And that's my dream too.

First of all,

I think I'm incredibly fortunate to have met Michael.

He's simply the most lovable person I've ever met.

I once made dinner for him on his birthday.

He was the only one who helped me to clear up and do the dishes.

And I thought, "That's a proper bloke!"

And yes, he was really funny, and that's what I saw in him.

I fell in love with him simply because he was a wonderful person.

I just sensed that he was something special to me.

I never once thought,

"He's a terrific racing driver at the start of a dazzling career."

No one could have guessed that would happen.

When I started, I said, "Don't make a star out of me."

"Don't push me too high up. I don't want this."

What he really didn't like was the press,

the people, all the hype around him.

That's not what he wanted. He wanted to do the sport.

He was looking for a normal life,

and he had a hard time understanding

why he couldn't have that normal life.

It's true, he could sometimes seem unsympathetic.

Because there were so many demands on him.

It was often too much and constricted him.

Because he's an extremely reserved person, shy.

And sometimes that was his way of dealing with his shyness.

At the time when Schumacher appeared in Formula One,

Senna was the preeminent figure in the sport.

Ayrton Senna's third World title ensures

that he'll be ranked among the all-time greats.

Ayrton had a mystique about him,

but mostly because he was incredibly quick

and incredibly competitive and aggressive,

um, and challenging towards other competitors.

So, he dominated the sport.

He was the number one.

He was the one that, if you asked somebody that started in Formula One,

"What do you want to be?" They'd all say, "Ayrton Senna."

Everyone looked up to him.

If you're suddenly starting

in the same thing, you want to be him.

Here, you've got, uh, at the time

basically an unknown for what he was,

challenging the best.

In the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, Schumacher was behind Senna.

And Schumacher challenging Ayrton Senna in the McLaren.

As they come up to the hairpin, there is a contact there.

Who is it? It's Schumacher.

And who has he hit? It's Senna.

And now they are sorting their way around. Are they gonna stop the race?

On the first lap, at the hairpin bend, Schumacher and Senna seemingly out.

And I am pretty sure the race will not be stopped.

And I have no doubt, a very angry Ayrton Senna,

who may well regard

Michael Schumacher's tactics as being just a bit too rumbustious.

I don't think Michael set out to try and upset him.

I think Michael was racing everyone in Formula One

the same way he'd race everyone, as he should have done.

But it... it caused some friction.

And, um, Ayrton tried to put Michael in his place a few times on the track,

which, um, upset Michael.

He didn't think that was... that was equally respectful.

So... So, they were a bit fractious in that early period.

Hey, you fucked up, and it's fine. I came and talked to you.

It's fine. I came and talked to you.

You see, at the time that Michael really was a super driver,

when he had the fight with Senna,

Senna smelled the guy was somebody.

When you're a lion, all lions will feel it when the young lion is arriving.

And you want to keep the territory.

'94 was definitely a growing-up year.

A growing-up year for Michael, a growing-up year for me.

Nobody could reconcile that our team

had come from almost nowhere and we're winning races

and mounting a championship challenge.

Michael Schumacher sliding that car around the circuit.

This is your race leader, Michael Schumacher.

He'll make the difference on those dayswhen a winner's in the balance.

Where is Ayrton Senna? That's the question.

Oh! And Senna spun. Senna is out of the race.

There he comes.

This can't go wrong. The checkered flag is out.

Michael Schumacher wins the Pacific Grand Prix.

And oh boy,

what a season are we gonna have in Formula One this year.

We were now championship challengers,

and we weren't used to it. We didn't know how to deal with it.

And when you're beating Ferrari, and you're beating McLaren,

and you're beating Williams... These are established teams.

And here was this, uh, you know, T-shirt manufacturer

coming in with this kid from Germany and suddenly beating everyone.

So, he won the race in Japan.

We were waiting in the airport.

And Michael was very confident he was quick enough to beat Ayrton,

and maybe to win the Championship.

When talking with Michael, it's like somebody with...

Like he's done this job all life, you know.

This was normal. And Senna...

You know, five years before or four years before,

he had a poster of Senna in the bedroom.

Going into Imola, Michael was very, very fast,

looking very strong.

And Senna knew that he had to win Imola.

He had to start to close the gap against Michael.

He had to impose himself on Michael,

because otherwise, Michael was gonna get away from him in the Championship.

Senna followed by Schumacher.

Schumacher is the chief rival to Ayrton Senna.

Senna goes through. Followed by Schumacher.

And into Tamburello.

What on earth happened, I don't know!

Senna is still in the car.

The race has been stopped. Red flag out.

Well, I say, that's about 190 miles an hour at that point,

the exit from the Tamburello.

Everybody was silent.

It was a very strange atmosphere, you know.

Michael Schumacher has, uh, stopped

and got out of his car.

Helmet off, uh, grim-faced.

Fact is that what he was doing when he crashed,

when he went off the circuit,

he was trying to stay ahead of... of Schumacher.

We've seen many crashes like this,

even crashes that were worse.

Crashes that, they seem to be worse than-than his crash, and...

and you don't expect anything like this.

You just think, "Yeah, maybe he has a bruise on the arm

or maybe he has a broken leg."

Then you go back. They put up the grid. You don't know what's going on.

Nobody comes to you and explains the situation.

And we just, you just think that "Yeah. The race has to go on."

"Everybody's going to race, so you're going to race."

You don't see why you shouldn't race.

Nobody knew at that point if Senna was dead.

Had he been declared dead at the circuit, they'd have had to stop the race.

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix

has been won by Michael Schumacher.

Before I went to the podium,

I said to Michael, "No champagne, nothing."

He asked me, "How is Ayrton?" I told him, "Not in good shape."

That was the first time I saw Michael as a different guy.

We went up to the podium.

He told us, "Yeah, he, uh, he's in a coma."

But a coma can be many things.

It can just be something that is going to be okay the next day

or very bad. But you don't judge it.

And because you still don't believe that there is something

particular or very dangerous or very heavy, you don't believe it.

And I... I still...

I... I think it was two hours after the race

when Mr. Walkinshaw came up to me and said, "It's looking very bad."

And I thought, "No! He's in a coma, but coma doesn't mean anything bad."

He said, "No, it looks not too good."

Uh...

And then somebody came to me later and said, "He's dead."

And one minute later, uh, the next one came to me and said,

"No, he's in a coma."

But there was so little information at this time

that you didn't know what you... what you should think about this.

And I still... I still didn't believe that he's gonna be dead.

I... I just couldn't... couldn't think of that at that point.

I just thought, "Yeah, no, he's going to be the champion."

"He maybe misses one or two races, and then he's coming back again."

But the worst... the worst was really the two weeks after this.

I mean, once I really had to accept that it is, that he is dead.

I mean, this... this was...

just something crazy.

Yeah.

With Senna gone, Michael Schumacher was now

the number one figure in the sport.

Although he hadn't yet won a World Championship.

Was it is easy to... to drive again?

I mean, in Silverstone, I went there...

and you suddenly saw many things with different eyes.

I went around with a road car in Silverstone through the circuit,

and I just thought, "This is a point you could be dead."

"This is a point you could be dead."

I thought, "Crazy, you always tested here, you always raced here."

"But there are many points you can crash and you can be immediately dead."

That's the only thing I was thinking of.

And I didn't know what's gonna be the situation

if I'm going to be in a race car.

I wasn't sure. Can I drive without thinking that,

or I am going to drive now, always thinking, "You can be dead here."

"If you go off here, it's going to be bad and..."

That was... something very strange.

I wake up during the night,

and I, like,

sleep maybe three hours a night and stuff like this.

We were totally shocked.

We asked ourselves how it could have happened.

And Michael really asked himself if everyone was acting correctly.

It was really, really...

really difficult.

It was a real struggle for him,

but he was a master at blocking things out.

He was able to focus so intently on whatever he was doing

that he blocked out everything else.

So I think that mentally he's very strong.

It's something he just has.

Extremely strong.

He still shows me every day just how strong he actually is.

Damon Hill was now leading the Williams team.

And he gave Michael a fight.

Damon Hill wins the British Grand Prix.

Magnificent!

Damon Hill wins the Italian Grand Prix.

He won here last year. It was the end of a hat trick...

It was a complex, turbulent,

human whirlwind of a season.

Michael Schumacher wins the European Grand Prix here at Jerez.

Michael Schumacher has opened up the gap again.

And it was an intensely human drama.

The races would swing like a pendulum between Damon and Michael.

Damon Hill wins!

Hill has got the biggest challenge in his life

to go head-to-head with Michael Schumacher.

The point is, that you know his is the decisive race

and all tactics, the overtaking maneuvers,

the situation will be based on that.

One point between Schumacher and Hill.

So the Championship went down to this incredibly thrilling last race.

Realistically, it didn't look like it was gonna be that easy.

So, there I was.

Suddenly in a title fight with, uh, Michael Schumacher.

The red light is on here in Adelaide.

And we are racing for the last time in this season.

And Michael Schumacher takes the lead!

Schumacher takes the lead. Or is it Damon Hill?

It's Schumacher who leads from Hill.

I had to fight very hard with the car.

It was very difficult for me

to keep the car on the road the whole time.

And as well, I... I couldn't go away from Damon.

We were just nose to tail for about 20 laps or so.

Michael had just started to pull away, and I was starting to think,

"I can't... I can't keep up that pace."

I had a time where I suddenly, uh, found a line

where I could disappear a little bit,

for I think two seconds, two-and-a-half seconds.

I was all the time on the limit, really fighting very hard.

And then, on the bump, I just, uh, stepped out.

Then, I painted the wall.

I was already disappointed. I thought, "Shit,"

but then I felt, "Okay, you... you still can go on."

When we went around one of the corners, I saw him coming back on the track,

and it looked like he'd just gone off and then came back on again.

And I saw his car wobbling.

When I drove over to the left, I was doing a bit like this

to check everything, clean off the tires.

I saw an opportunity to go past, and I felt, "I have to go."

Look at Damon Hill and Schumacher. Oh no!

The moment I turned into the corner,

it was Damon who hit me first on the sidepod.

And his car came back across and hit my car,

and he went up on two wheels.

In a moment, I was up in the air and then into the tire walls.

So no, I... I couldn't understand it.

Oh! Out goes Schumacher!

The German is out of the Australian Grand Prix,

and Damon Hill only has to keep going to be World Champion.

The point situation was very simple.

He had a points' advantage on me.

If none of us finished, he'd be Champion.

Damon Hill will have to go back to the pits.

I could see my suspension was broken.

So, I couldn't carry on.

As a competitor, he was going to win come what may.

Michael did what he had to do to stop me beating him.

Put me in the car,

um,

in Adelaide, and I've got a points' advantage,

and my rival comes up the inside, what would I do?

I don't know.

The 1994 World Championship

has been won by Michael Schumacher.

Oh!

Whoo! Whoo!

Corinna has given me great support,

and she certainly is doing so now.

That's why Corinna wanted to come, and I wanted her to come too.

And it looks like she's brought me luck again.

Actually, I always went with him

throughout those years.

It might have been in the bus or somewhere behind the scenes,

but I was always on the road with him.

We always enjoyed it together.

It was a support to him,

just knowing he wasn't alone.

Because we were traveling around the world, changing time zones,

we really did make sure that he slept well.

And Michael planned practically everything down to the minute.

Get up at such-and-such a time, 15 to 20 minutes in the bathroom.

One night, when we were in Suzuka, I realized there was no way

I was going to fall asleep,

so I spent half the night sitting on the toilet,

in order not to wake him up, to let him have a good night's sleep.

So I read my book in there.

On the other hand, when we were at home

and Michael had to leave early,

I never heard him.

He was so quiet.

He always came to my bed just before he left,

stroked my arm, gave me a kiss, and said, "I'm leaving."

And he was gone. He never woke me.

He was always very considerate towards me.

The crowd is roaring. The flags are waving.

To greet home their idol and their hero, Michael Schumacher.

And he wins the German Grand Prix.

There is the hero.

And there are the people who admire and venerate him.

There are over 100,000 Germans here.

This is what they have waited for for so long,

to see a German win the German Grand Prix.

Michael Schumacher enters the last corner of the last race

of the last lap to win the Pacific Grand Prix in Japan

and to become the World Champion of 1995

as he was the World Champion of 1994.

And, uh, no further proof is needed

that he is the best driver of his day.

I don't think Michael ever wanted to keep increasing the numbers

of World Championships.

If he'd stayed at Benetton, I think he'd have won

the World Championship in '96 as well.

But that didn't motivate him anymore.

When you're in the car, you are controlling your own destiny.

Yeah.

You only get one chance.

In Formula One, everyone is very discrete.

No one would approach a driver in the pit and say,

"Can we talk?" Never.

He received a number of offers.

He could stay where he was.

At McLaren, he could drive one of their cars with a Mercedes motor.

And he could come to Ferrari.

At that time,

Niki Lauda was working for Ferrari as a consultant.

The situation at Ferrari was anything but good.

Niki Lauda approached me and said,

"At McLaren, he'd just be one of many who get in a car and win races."

"At Ferrari, he'd be an exceptional driver who, after their fallow years,

would win races with this Ferrari."

And that appealed to his fighting spirit,

which he'd developed as a go-kart driver.

He'd won with used karts and tires,

so why shouldn't he do that at Ferrari?

My last piece of advice was,

"If you become World Champion in a Ferrari,

you can throw away your passport."

Schumacher!

Ferrari is the oldest team.

And in Italy, Ferrari is like a religion.

So, there's an expectation. There's a passion for Ferrari in Italy.

Expectations on any driver who goes to race for Ferrari are enormous.

The Ferrari President said, you know,

"Well, last year we had two very good drivers,

but this year we have a star."

Drive a Ferrari means to have a lot of pressure.

Drive a Ferrari means that if you don't win, you are an idiot.

Drive a Ferrari means to have also responsibility

because you drive not a normal Formula One car,

but you drive a legend.

You drive something unique.

We joined Ferrari at the same time, '96.

I remember when I sat in the car, I said, "It looks worryingly different

to everything else."

And, unfortunately,

I was proved correct.

That car was a disaster.

So, for quite a while, we really didn't understand

how bad the car was.

And, as it turned out, it was pretty unfixable, really.

The basic philosophy of the car was wrong.

Here this morning, Damon Hill clouted Frentzen.

And that's a problem for Schumacher already.

Looks like Schumacher's engine is gone o n the warm-up lap.

Now, that is incredible!

And he has, before the race begins, wrecked. Schumacher is out of it.

At the French Grand Prix in Magny-Cours, he didn't make the start.

It was... It was a lame duck of a car.

And Michael was... was in the car on the back of a tow truck.

It was like a symbol of impotence.

I'm not sure whether we're going to solve

all these problems, uh, in a couple of months.

I... I don't see the... the point.

We... We are in a position really to win the Championship.

It must... must be a lot of luck, and, uh, and maybe a dream.

But because I'm not a dreamer, I am a realistic person, uh,

I think it's... it's true what I'm saying.

In that first season, I remember, on the Friday night before the race,

everybody had gone, all the drivers had gone,

the team personnel had gone.

But in the Ferrari garage,

there was a car being worked on. It was Michael's car.

There were three mechanics and Michael.

And Michael was talking quietly to the mechanics.

I got such a strong impression of how hard Michael was willing to work,

how he would be the last one in the garage every night, with mechanics.

You know, he wouldn't leave early to go off and do something else.

He would be there, with them,

working with them, making them feel his presence.

Making them feel he cared about their work on the cars.

And that transformed the team.

Michael was always one of the last to leave.

In the years with Ferrari, he would be in meetings till ten at night.

We never went out for a nice dinner at a restaurant.

No. We sat in this tent the whole time.

I waited, we ate pasta,

we talked,

then he was gone again, another meeting, then he came back.

But I was thankful for every minute we could spend together.

Michael is super professional.

He just said, "Listen, we gotta work through this."

And he worked very, very hard.

The great thing about Michael being in the team

was everybody knew there was nobody who could drive like he could drive.

During the night, the rain absolutely hammered down.

It has continued to do so all day.

The prospects are for a totally wet race.

And there is the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher.

He's got past Gerhard Berger. He's up into third place.

And he's right behind Villeneuve and Alesi

and will soon be challenging for the lead.

If you got a terrible car, it's still terrible in the rain.

You can't overcome that.

In Barcelona, he managed to find a way of driving and...

and coping and, uh, and adapting his style.

I don't think there were many drivers who could do that.

He just disappeared, and no one was anywhere near him.

The genius of Michael Schumacher

is making up for the deficiencies of the Ferrari.

This is classic racing in appalling conditions.

You know, he always loved the rain.

You can jump to a different level.

And I think those are the circumstances

which demonstrate the true geniuses in the sport.

As kids, we only drove on slicks in the rain.

We went to the go-kart track whenever we could.

This allows you to develop incredible control over the car.

You gain confidence in it and become one with it.

And then you can perform these otherwise impossible miracles.

It is gonna be an historic win

for Schumacher, for Ferrari.

The last corner!

And Michael Schumacher wins the Spanish Grand Prix

after an absolutely superlative drive.

To win races in that car was the greatest achievements,

I would say, of any driver.

It's... It's... It's beyond credibility how that happened.

I have no idea how can he can do that.

The challenge of taking Ferrari back to World Championship level

is a challenge that Michael couldn't resist.

I talked to him about it quite extensively, actually.

And he just felt that the right thing to do

was to take on that challenge and make Ferrari great again.

Give them back the title that Ferrari had been wanting since 1979.

He wanted to do something that, you know, hadn't been done by Prost,

hadn't been done by Senna, hadn't been done by any of the drivers

in... in recent history.

That was a real challenge.

1997. There was a feeling now, going into the second year with Michael at Ferrari,

that they should be challenging for the Championship.

In a way, the momentum was with him.

The Tifosi's expectations were very high.

We knew we were gonna have a real showdown between Villeneuve and Schumacher.

I hope it'll be a real duel between us on the track,

and that neither teammates

nor lapped drivers nor any other drivers intervene.

What do you think will be the key to victory here?

Well, first of all, not being taken off.

That will be very important.

And then just being fast, being quicker than Michael. That's all.

And it's go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Villeneuve gets away,

and Schumacher gets away better, better, better!

Michael Schumacher leads and up alongside Villeneuve.

We knew that Jacques had a quicker car.

It was just a question of whether or not he and the team would be able

to use strategy and speed to get the better of Michael.

And the gap between Michael Schumacher

and Jacques Villeneuve is down to just over one second.

Some kind of gearshift problem, because Villeneuve is all over him, look!

He's through! Oh yes!

In his mind, Jacques Villeneuve had hit him.

He wasn't putting on an act.

In his head, that's what happened.

So, in that fraction of a second, what happened with him?

Who knows? It... It wasn't a conscious...

It wasn't a premeditated act.

It was something which happened, and he came back and was convinced.

And he wasn't trying to convince others that he'd not done wrong.

For Michael, it was, in a psychological point of view,

a very difficult moment.

He was in the lead. Ten laps to go,

to win, in 1997, the Championship in the second season with Ferrari.

Michael came back to the pits,

convinced that Jacques had hit him.

And then, when we showed him the video, he realized that that wasn't the case.

Um, that... that he had driven into Jacques Villeneuve.

And it was one of those moments

that Michael had two or three times in his career, where his commitment,

his competitiveness, his dedication,

just went that one step too far.

It's a very difficult thing for us to judge,

but I think he overstepped the mark that day.

Often, he overstepped the mark

when he really didn't need to.

When he had done enough, whether it was qualifying, he had pole,

whether it was a race victory which he had in the back,

whether it was a one-on-one, a battle with somebody.

You know, at times, did he have always to believe in himself?

That he was doing the right things? Because there was this paranoid perfection

that he needed always to do more to prove more to himself.

Because ultimately, a lot of the time, he was racing himself.

He was battling with himself.

That, "Have I done enough today? Do I want to do more?"

"How am I gonna destroy the opposition?"

"What do I need to do..."

"...to continue to be the main man?"

SCHUMI, THAT'S INSANE!

VILLENEUVE REAL CHAMPION

"I'M NOT TO BLAME, I'D DO IT AGAIN"

SCHUMI LOSES HIS SMILE

I think people that are and want to be in control

don´t want to accept the fact,

"Maybe I did it wrong."

So, that wasn't his character.

Michael is a Capricorn.

He was born under the sign of Capricorn.

And a Capricorn never apologizes,

can't apologize, and never makes mistakes.

The word "mistake" doesn't exist for a Capricorn. He never makes any.

- Morning from London, Michael. - How are you feeling, Michael?

All the races before, I've been put onto the sky from the press,

and suddenly after that weekend,

I have been put into the ground from the press.

Obviously, uh,

I'm as much a human being as... as anyone.

And things can happen to me as they can happen to anyone else.

And it happened to me, which I didn't want to admit at the time.

But now I have no chance than to admit, and I understand what I did.

The governing body had a look at it and basically disqualified him

from the '97 Championship.

It is quite a big deal, which has never happened before

in this sport.

Michael, any comment?

We stayed in the chalet.

We played a lot of games because he wanted to unwind a bit.

It was a wonderful time with many friends.

Sometimes there were 30 of us there, and we really had a lot of fun.

We took everybody with us. Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie.

The whole plane was full. We really enjoyed it.

He really enjoyed going there. We were there for six weeks.

And we didn't talk much about Formula One

or anything relating to his work.

We just had fun.

Michael exercised a little, but not that much during that time.

When the testing started again, he said,

"I'm curious to see if I'm still fast enough, if I can still do it."

Michael always had self-doubts in that respect. "Can I still do it?"

It was very important to Michael

that nobody in the team ever noticed

when he was really struggling, gritting his teeth,

maybe even having doubts or feeling desperate.

He was extremely good at hiding that.

Because outwardly, when he went to the garage

or anywhere he could be seen, he was energetic and dynamic.

He had realized very, very early on

in his racing career

that you only get out what you put in.

And that became his mantra.

It had to be absolute all-out commitment.

It is like a war.

If you don't go all in, then you're not going to come out on top.

And that is the philosophy of Michael Schumacher.

In the car, everything had to be perfect.

He always paid close attention to detail

and demanded that we do exactly the same.

And with people, too, he had an incredible eye for detail.

He always had a smile, a "Thank you," and a "Please" for everyone,

even at times of great tension.

This was the attention to detail that he dedicated to each of us.

To him, the car was important, the team was important, with everyone.

There were days when Michael would make the difference.

You know, a driver can be so influential in those things, motivating the team.

Michael knew all the staff.

He knew their names and sometimes knew their wives' names.

He would play football with them. You know, he was a great motivator.

And people would do an enormous amount

to support Michael and... and try and make him successful.

If you can fill everyone with enthusiasm,

then they'll do everything for you and enjoy doing it.

I think that's the key.

Even the guy who cooked their pasta was happy when he came

because he always thanked him and said, "Your pasta is the best!"

He said, "Pasta aglio e olio! That's it!"

He loved it.

Even the cook was a totally integral part of the team.

It was a big family that made us feel secure.

I think my mechanics, my engineers,

they know now what to think about me.

They trust 100% myself. I trust 100% them.

Every time I'm on the... on the circuit the whole day,

I think about what I can change

on the car to make it quicker.

They were spraying their track to test the wet tires.

They were testing the intermediate tires. They were trying different things

if they wanted to stay on until it was almost dark.

The amount of hours that he put in

on developing the car and testing outside of the public view

of the Grand Prix is incredible.

We'd start testing at eight in the morning,

sometimes we'd finish at like eight o'clock at night.

He demanded a lot from himself.

He was just on such a limit

to try and get the results in cars that weren't

as good as the opposition's.

McLaren was just fundamentally so much better

that there was no way we were gonna catch up.

That really got to him, you know?

As it would anybody.

Schumacher, who'd been developing the Ferrari with the team,

you know, making it more and more competitive,

discovered that he had a new rival.

The latest Flying Finn, Mika Häkkinen.

Right from the first test

Mika Häkkinen knew that he had a monstrous weapon in his hands.

The McLaren was a rocket ship that year.

And Ferrari had to fight really hard

to develop their car to be able to match.

Mika Häkkinen leading. Where is Michael Schumacher?

...a tremendous flume of spray.

Mika Häkkinen, of course, has got a clear track in front of him...

Mika Häkkinen is gonna give him a hard time right from the beginning.

The pendulum swung between Häkkinen and Schumacher throughout the year.

Häkkinen made a few mistakes. Schumacher had some... some brilliant races.

And he was in contention for that World Championship.

Michael was definitely on edge.

His approach of winning was that there was no fear.

There was no thinking that

"I can get hurt or somebody else can get hurt."

I did go to speak to Michael.

I said, "Look, you know, man, you cannot do this."

"You cannot do this when we go such a high speed,

300 kilometers per hour, and I come so much quicker."

"You cannot block me."

And he was just lifting his shoulders basically

and said, "Mika, this is racing."

Final move, you move again.

- Before you come in... - Yeah. Yeah.

We had great fun and respect for somebody's success.

And vice versa. We have our own life.

Uh, and in a racetrack, we were competitors.

So, it's difficult to be a friend.

I think there... there's the two sides, isn't there?

There's Michael, the racing driver,

uncompromising, fast, you know, determined, um, hard racer.

And then there's, of course, Michael the private man, the family man.

Um, you know, I've had many social evenings with him...

...drinking Bacardi-Coke,

and he'd have a cigar, and he was a completely different person.

Because, of course, at that point, there's no competition.

It's just sharing... sharing a nice social moment together.

At parties, he was the first to arrive and the last to leave.

He loved it.

We laughed so much, had so much real fun.

And the kids still remember that, that it was always fun.

Michael loved throwing people into the pool.

We all ended up in the pool every time.

That was Michael's thing.

Even at our wedding, people were thrown into the pool.

He couldn't sing well.

It was one of the things he didn't do so well.

But he always sang "My Way" because he knew the lyrics.

Really funny.

Oh my God!

Whoo! Whoo-hoo-hoo!

There were many times where he was just on his own.

No one was close to him.

I think it was pretty difficult to get to know Michael.

A difficult guy to really, uh...

He was... There was a... There was... There was still a fence there.

Michael is very suspicious.

He always has been, during the initial period.

Until he thinks he knows someone or can trust them,

then he opens up completely.

That wasn't only the case with me, in the beginning,

but also with other friends.

But he's always been a very suspicious person.

I have to say that.

But if he opens up, then 100%. Really all the way.

Drivers' Championship,

Mika Häkkinen leading the way by seven points from Michael Schumacher.

Alongside him on the front row,

his teammate, David Coulthard,

making it an all McLaren front row.

Mika Häkkinen starting in pole position

for the ninth time in thirteen races this year. Five lights.

Go! Go! Go! Go!

Häkkinen leads away again.

Irvine again comes up left.

Damon Hill has made an excellent start and leads! And leads!

Damon Hill gets ahead of everybody at La Source.

Schumacher going round the outside, and he is hitting Häkkinen.

Schumacher hit Häkkinen.

Since Häkkinen was already out early in the race,

you know, this was an opportunity for Schumacher to take advantage,

to take the ten points while Häkkinen wasn't going to score any.

And that would be key in what was obviously going to be

a long and tight battle for the title.

If Michael Schumacher can stay where he is now

he will be taking the lead in the World Championship by three points.

The track is covered in water.

The tires, huge tires, are throwing up spray,

throwing up water. And if you're following,

you can't see the other car. You can't see the sides of the road.

You can't see anything.

Michael was winning by a long margin.

The team told me, "The leader's coming up to... to lap you."

But of course, in the rain, you can't really see.

You have little mirrors, but with the spray, you can't judge

where the... the other car is.

So, I was waiting, waiting for him

to overtake as we went down to Blanchimont,

which is a fast left-hander.

Now let us not forget Coulthard in these appalling conditions...

Oh God! Michael Schumacher hits David Coulthard

and is out of the Belgian Grand Prix!

Maybe he should have been a bit more circumspect

about trying to pass him!

Michael was definitely the, let's say, the passenger in that accident.

And the first part of the track would have been very easy for Coulthard

to pull over and let Michael through and...

But he didn't. He stayed and made it difficult.

I think David came off the throttle.

You know, you never do that in the wet,

where drivers can't see what's going on.

You don't take your foot off the throttle. And Michael hit him.

...in the World Championship leads. Now, what is he up to?

He's storming down the pit lane, presumably to... Look at him! Look at him!

He is saying, "I am going to the stewards."

He is going to Coulthard.

He is going to have it out with David Coulthard.

I knew he was angry.

You know, his, his neck was... was red.

And his eyes were out on stalks. And obviously, the team kept us apart.

Do you want to fucking kill me?

We met up in Ecclestone's bus to try and clear the air.

I said to him, "You know, I accept my part in the crash,

but you need to take some responsibility as well."

And he went, "No, I don't see it like that."

I said, "But Michael, in fairness, you crashed into the back of me!"

"I didn't reverse into you."

And it led to a conversation where I said,

"Surely, you must be wrong sometimes."

And he thought about it for a while, and he went, "Not that I remember."

The expectation and the disappointment kept growing.

Because in people's minds it was,

"Michael has arrived, so Ferrari will win immediately."

So, he arrives in '96,

then '97, '98, '99.

And at some point, one wonders if Michael is the driver for us

or should we have someone like Häkkinen?

Mika Häkkinen is on magnificent form here.

We've had the qualifying session this morning,

and Mika Häkkinen was fastest and comfortably fastest

in all of those sessions.

Michael Schumacher, this morning in the warm-up,

was seven-tenths of a second slower

than Mika Häkkinen. Second fastest.

And it is

go at Silverstone!

Now!

The front wheel had smashed the cockpit,

and it was still stuck somewhere in there.

I couldn't get out, and I was trying to pull my leg out,

which was trapped.

So I'm lying there and notice that I'm calming down a bit.

And suddenly I feel my heartbeat fading, becoming slower and slower,

until suddenly it stops completely.

And I think, "This is probably how it feels

when you're on your way upstairs."

I remember I was at home.

And he waved from behind all those sheets to tell us,

"Hey, everything's all right."

That was a moment when I thought, "Oh my God!"

But on the whole,

we'd always made it through his races safely.

Which is why I was certain he had a few guardian angels

that were keeping an eye out for him.

I don't know if it's just a kind of protective wall

that you put up yourself,

or if it's because you're in a way naive,

I don't know.

But it simply never occurred to me

that anything could ever happen to Michael.

At the end of '99, they'd had four seasons,

they'd won some races, they'd been competitive,

but more patience was required.

Now people were beginning to wonder.

Is it ever going to happen for Michael Schumacher and Ferrari?

He knew he was a winner,

that he was a champion.

We were sure we were close...

...but we hadn't won the Championship,

and when that happens, there are always doubts.

What concerns me, I have no opinion about that,

and that's the natural situation.

First part of 2000, things weren't going the way we wanted.

And suddenly, we found ourselves in the middle of the season,

at a point where it was difficult to believe we could win.

So we were questioning the qualities of the whole team

and Michael's as well.

We now had to win every single race.

Because if we didn't, we wouldn't become World Champions.

This is the crunch point.

Schumacher leads. Häkkinen is in second place.

Michael Schumacher looks in his mirror to see whether Mika Häkkinen is there.

Michael Schumacher win at Monza in Italy

and close the gap between himself and Mika Häkkinen

in the World Championship.

This is your 41st victory, which put you equal second all-time

with Ayrton Senna. Do those records mean a lot to you?

Yes. It does mean a lot to me.

Sorry.

Thanks, Michael.

Mika, over the last two races, Michael's been magnanimous enough

to admit that, on the day, you had the fastest car, McLaren.

Do you think today the Ferrari was just the faster car?

Can we have a break?

The tension is genuinely well now unbearable.

My palms are literally sweating.

I am expecting it to be a nail-bitingly tense race

every inch of the way.

The title showdown at Suzuka,

this was his fourth final day Championship showdown.

And it probably is the most important race in Schumacher's Formula One career.

And Ferrari knew how quick Mika Häkkinen was.

He was all about the speed. He was uncomplicated.

He just was unbelievably, inspirationally fast.

He was almost meditating with his head down, his eyes closed,

and just thinking his way through this race.

Michael Schumacher needs to deliver this Championship

for himself and for Ferrari.

I think Häkkinen is totally relaxed, on the other hand.

We had lost the last race in 1997, 1998, and 1999.

The same could happen in 2000.

Watch for that.

Four lights, five lights in the Japanese Grand Prix.

It's go! And Michael Schumacher cuts straight across

and drives Mika Häkkinen towards the wall.

But Häkkinen has done it again!

He has taken the lead as he did last year and the year before.

A terrible bit of news for Michael Schumacher.

It's Häkkinen, the race leader,

coming in for his first stop at the end of lap 22.

Michael Schumacher, of course, is in the lead.

And he knows he's got that "Go! Go! Go!" in all this lap.

And Michael is in. James, are you there?

I am indeed, Martin. And I've worked out that Häkkinen

took on 13 laps' worth of fuel. That's all.

7.4. A tiny bit more fuel for Michael Schumacher. Ah!

Look at this! Here comes Mika Häkkinen on the right.

And he's gonna get through ahead of Michael Schumacher.

The status quo has been retained.

Out come the McLaren mechanics for a second stop.

Häkkinen was leading the race.

You know, he led the race for quite a while.

There was a situation where we were waiting for the pit stops

to... to finish,

and I was looking at the track, and I could see Mika was coming out.

Häkkinen, 7.4.

These next two laps could well decide the Japanese Grand Prix.

Now here is the pit stop. James!

Yes, he's... Look, he's made half a second on Häkkinen on this lap.

He's had a 26.8-second lead.

Look out, Michael. When you get out, he'll be there.

I'll talk you through. You're looking good. It's looking good.

It's looking good.

It's looking fantastic, Michael! Well done. Well done. Fantastic.

Just keep it on the road now.

Here comes Schumacher rejoining the track,

and he is ahead of Mika Häkkinen.

The horns blow because they are as keen on Ferrari

in Japan as they are in most other countries.

Can they believe it? Out come the Ferrari mechanics

to greet home their ultimate hero, Michael Schumacher.

You're going on broadcast.

Give us your feelings for broadcast.

Shit!

You are great, Ross! You are great, Ross!

All of you guys.

Oh my God!

Shit! We did it! We did it!

Thanks! Give Corinna a big kiss from me.

Now we will see joy.

Look at that!

Michael! Michael! Michael! Michael! Michael! Michael...

And when he finally clinched the title in 2000,

all the pressure he'd carried on his shoulders was released.

He no longer felt like he owed anybody anything.

He delivered Ferrari the World Championship they'd wanted

for 20-plus years.

And from that point onwards, everything was a bonus.

And he drove with freedom after that.

He drove with his heart. He drove with passion.

He drove with a sense, a relaxed sense of,

"This is... I'm doing what I love to do, but I don't owe anybody anything anymore."

And he was again onto another level.

Michael was very exciting to watch through the sheer speed that he achieved.

It was a style

that depended on 100% concentration, 100% commitment.

Going into a corner at 150 miles an hour,

knowing that your talent is going to enable you

to get out the other side safely, it's a special gift.

Michael got that natural talent,

that natural speed, higher than anyone else.

And what was so special about Michael is that he didn't waste it.

He did everything he could to enable himself

to exploit that natural talent that he had.

Michael was a little bit fearless, and people knew that.

Not quite sure if they could challenge him and take him on.

Michael didn't think about it because he knew his limit,

and the other guys were thinking, "This is a bit risky," and would back off.

You didn't see Michael back off.

He was a professional, but he also showed us he had a heart.

He had the charisma of a leader,

and that was his great gift to us.

This was the contribution he made to Formula One.

Michael Schumacher

gets his seventh Formula One World Championship

on a truly, truly eventful day for Formula One racing.

This is history!

He's been my idol since I started driving go-karts.

He's been a big influence.

The racing driver Michael Schumacher is my hero, my motivation to win races.

The sport fascinates me,

and I know other racing drivers, but there was nobody like him.

There was a beauty in the brilliance of the execution.

His execution, the teams' execution.

To win on a sustained level year after year is incredibly difficult,

and the proof of that is how rarely it's happened.

And what Schumacher and the team achieved

in that period from 2000 through to 2004.

Not giving an inch to the opposition, not giving them a sniff of a hope,

was absolutely incredible.

He did become untouchable.

People look back at periods of dominance

and think of them as golden ages,

which they were, the five Championship years in a row.

People will always remember it.

When we went to races with them

and saw all the commotion,

saw how many people thought he was great and admired him,

I thought that was totally brilliant.

And I thought,

"Yeah, that's my dad, and I'm really glad he's my dad."

I just have huge respect for Dad.

I have always had that. He just has this presence.

When he walks into a room, everyone goes quiet.

That's how I remember it.

And I was also one of those who kept quiet.

But like I said, my hero when he walked into a room.

So when I think to myself, every time I look at him, I tell myself,

"Yes, that's how I want to be."

Such strength, such total peace of mind.

At the end of this year, I've decided together with the team

that I'm, uh, going to retire from racing.

I should thank my family,

who at all times

supported what I was doing.

And without their support, without their strength to survive, uh,

in this business and this sport, and to perform,

I think it would have been impossible. And I can't be thankful enough.

I retired simply because

I didn't have the passion and the motivation anymore.

I was tired.

He found a different action. He didn't just sit on the sofa.

He had to go here

and there, do this and that, one thing after another.

Michael was restless.

For example, if the weather is nice,

"I could go skydiving!", but then it's not one, it's 24 jumps.

After he left Formula One, he thought, "What am I going to do now?"

He asked me, "What should I do?" And I said, "I'll drive rallies with you."

"I'm not so good at map-reading, but I can try." And he said, "No way!"

I think that Michael's comeback was obviously personal desire and fulfillment.

He... He didn't have anything to prove.

But he obviously felt that he needed to drive,

and he needed to compete and to join that... that Mercedes journey.

That was a new phase, a completely different approach for him.

He realized he could experience Formula One in a new way.

No longer being a World Championship contender

was exciting for him.

And he enjoyed it up to a certain point.

I was never at his level in terms of driving performance.

But I definitely know, towards the end of my career,

my last year of 37,

gaps that I was going for were closing before I got there.

Because I think you just get old. It's just the journey of life, you know.

We often stayed overseas between races,

as it would've made no sense to fly back.

He often said, "What am I doing here? I miss my family. Why am I so far away?"

"I've realized it isn't as important as it used to be."

"My family is more important now."

Michael Schumacher, the most successful driver

in Formula One history, is in the hospital...

Michael Schumacher is in critical condition at this hour.

Shortly before it happened in Méribel,

he said to me, "The snow isn't optimal."

"We could fly to Dubai and go skydiving there."

Fate is unpredictable.

Fate had usually been kind to Michael.

But this time, unfortunately, he became a victim of misfortune.

On 29 December 2013,

Michael and his family's life was turned upside down.

The family's life changed completely from one minute to the next.

A father, such a strong leader,

with such a great personality,

and that disintegrated from one minute to the next.

I have never, um, um...

blamed God for what happened.

It was just really bad luck,

all the bad luck anyone can have in life.

Um...

It's always terrible when you say,

"Why is this happening to Michael or us?"

But then why does it happen to other people?

Of course, I miss Michael every day.

But it's not just me who misses him.

The children, the family,

his father, everyone around him.

I mean, everybody misses Michael,

but Michael is here.

Different, but he's here,

and that gives us strength, I find.

We're together.

We live together at home.

We do therapy.

We do everything we can to make Michael better

and to make sure he's comfortable.

And to simply make him feel our family, our bond.

And no matter what, I will do everything I can.

We all will.

When I think about the past now,

the images that pop up in my head

are usually of the four of us having fun.

I see images of us

driving a go-kart in the meadow.

I see images of us where we're out and about

with the ponies, sitting on the carriage.

Really many moments

that resonate with joy.

The highlight was always when he came home.

That was so nice

because he used to put up with us for hours

after he'd got back, although he was probably very tired.

But we didn't notice that.

We were just happy to have him home.

Yes.

And since the accident, of course, these experiences,

these moments

that I believe many people have with their parents,

are no longer present, or to a lesser extent.

And in my view,

that is a little unfair.

I think Dad and me,

we would understand each other in a different way now.

Simply because we speak a similar language,

the language of motorsport.

And that we would have much more to talk about.

And that's where my head is most of the time.

Thinking that would be so cool,

that would be it.

I would give up everything just for that.

Yes.

We're trying to carry on as a family

the way Michael liked it and still does.

And we are getting on with our lives.

"Private is private," as he always said.

It's very important to me that he can continue

to enjoy his private life

as much as possible.

Michael always protected us, and now we are protecting Michael.