Exactly 27 years ago, in the rain, starting from third place, the German Michael Schumacher won his first race aboard a Ferrari, at the Spanish GP, in Barcelona, the seventh time he crossed the Maranello squadron, the exact same stage of the next stage of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship , Sunday 4.
Wearing the number 1 on his car on June 2, 1996, due to the title he brought back from Benetton the previous year, and also the other (he was champion in 1994 and 1995), Schumacher, then aged 27, returns to Ferrari after the top step of the podium after almost a year. The Italian team’s last triumph was at the 1995 Canadian GP, when Frenchman Jean Alesi’s only victory in Formula 1.
On the podium, alongside Schumacher, who started in the second row, in third place, were Jean Alesi (Benneton-Renault) and the Canadian Jacques Villeneuve (Williams-Renault), who was in his first year in F1.
The race also marked the first point won by the Brazilian Pedro Paulo Diniz, then in Ligier-Mugen-Honda. Two other Brazilians took part in this race: Rubens Barrichello (Jordan-Peugeot), who even fought for second place in the event of a broken differential, and Ricardo Rosset (Footwork-Hart), who crashed.
Ferrari did not have the best car of the season in which Schumacher made his debut for the Italian team, nor the favorite to win in Spain, but the German made a mistake on pole Damon Hill, which made spin his Williams-Renault and retired on lap 16.
Incidentally, Williams dominated the 1996 championship, with Damon Hill winning the title and Villeneuve finishing second.
Schumacher, who won two other races that year (Belgium and Italy), finished the season in third place, with 59 points, 38 less than champion Hill.
FANTASTIC AT FERRARI
In total, Schumacher won 72 races for Ferrari, between 1996 and 2006. Before that, he had won 19 GPs for Benetton, tallying 91 achievements, a record which was surpassed by Briton Lewis Hamilton, who now has 103 victories.
The year 2006 marked his first start from the F1 tracks.
ASSISTANT AT MERCEDES
Michael Schumacher returned to F1 in 2010 for Mercedes, where he competed until 2012, but without the brilliance of before. During this period, he won only one podium, during the 2012 European GP, held in Valencia, Spain.
For Mercedes, Schumacher finished all three championships he contested behind teammate, compatriot Nico Rosberg.
In 2010, he was 9th (Rosberg, 7th). In 2011 he was 8th (Rosberg finished 7th), and in 2012 he was further behind, in 13th (Rosberg finished 9th).
HARD SITUATION
Currently 54 years old, his state of health is unknown after the very serious accident he suffered on a ski slope in France, on December 29, 2013. He had been in a coma for more than five months, after being hit his head against a rock.
The family of the ex-pilot, seven-time Formula 1 world champion, does not disclose more information on his clinical condition.
On September 8, 2021, in preview of the release of the Netflix documentary “Schumacher”, an extract was broadcast, broadcast on the Télé-Loisirs program, with a statement from Corinna, his wife.
“I never blamed God for what happened. It was just bad luck, because it could have happened to anyone. Of course, I miss him every day, but I’m not the only one who misses him. The children, the family, his father, everyone around. Everyone misses Michael,” commented the wife of Michael Schumacher, who finished.
“Michael has always had our backs and now we have our backs on Michael. We live our lives. ‘Private is private’, as he always said, and it’s very important to me that he can continue to enjoy as much privacy as possible,” Corinna reflected.
He is married to Corinna Betsch, with whom he has two children: Gina-Maria, currently 26, and Mick Schumacher, 24, currently reserve driver for Mercedes in Formula 1.
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