Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher (born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes.

Michael Schumacher was born in the West German town of Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia, on 3 January 1969, to working-class parents Rolf—a bricklayer who later ran the local kart track—and Elisabeth Schumacher (1948–2003), who operated the track's canteen.

When Schumacher was four, his father modified his pedal kart by adding a small motorcycle engine.

After he crashed it into a lamp post in Kerpen, his parents took him to the karting track at Kerpen-Horrem, where he became the youngest member of the karting club.

His father built him a kart from discarded parts; at the age of six, Schumacher won his first club championship.

To support his racing, Schumacher's father took on a second job renting and repairing karts, while his mother worked at the track's canteen.

Nevertheless, when Schumacher needed a new engine costing 800 DM, his parents were unable to afford it; he was able to continue racing with support from local businessmen.

Regulations in Germany require a driver to be at least 14 years old to obtain a kart license.

To get around this, Schumacher obtained a license in Luxembourg at the age of 12.

In 1983, he obtained his German license, a year after he won the German Junior Kart Championship.

Schumacher joined Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert in 1985, and by 1987 was the German and European kart champion, then he quit school and began working as a mechanic.

After having enjoyed success in karting—such as winning the 1987 European karting championship—and in several single-seater series, Schumacher made a one-off Formula One appearance with Jordan at the.

He was signed by Benetton for the rest of the season, winning his first and second drivers' titles consecutively in and with the team.

Schumacher moved to the struggling Ferrari team in.

During his first few years with the team, Schumacher lost out on the title in the final race of the season in and, and suffered a broken leg from a brake failure in.

He and Ferrari won five consecutive titles from to, including unprecedented sixth and seventh titles, while breaking several records.

After finishing third in and second in, Schumacher retired from the sport, although he later made a brief return with Mercedes from to.

Schumacher was noted for pushing his car to the very limit for sustained periods during races, a pioneering fitness regimen, and ability to galvanise teams around him.

He and his younger brother Ralf are the only siblings to win races in Formula One and the first siblings to finish first and second in the same race, a feat they repeated in four subsequent races.

Schumacher was twice involved in collisions in the final race of a season that decided the title: first with Damon Hill at the, and later with Jacques Villeneuve at the.

In 1988, he made his first step into single-seat car racing by participating in the German Formula Ford and Formula König series, winning the latter.

In 1989, Schumacher signed with Willi Weber's WTS Formula Three team.

Funded by Weber, he competed in the German Formula Three Championship, winning the 1990 German Formula Three Championship.

He also won the 1990 Macau Grand Prix under controversial circumstances.

He placed second behind Mika Häkkinen in the first heat, three seconds behind.

At the start of the second heat, he overtook Häkkinen, who only had to finish within three seconds of Schumacher to clinch the overall win.

In the closing laps, Schumacher made a mistake, allowing Häkkinen to attempt to overtake.

Schumacher changed his line immediately before Häkkinen did the same as the latter moved to overtake, and Häkkinen crashed into the back of Schumacher's car.

While Häkkinen's race was ended, Schumacher drove to victory without a rear wing.

Schumacher gave the prize money from winning the race to his family as they had debts.

During 1990, along with his Formula Three rivals Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger, Schumacher joined the Mercedes-Benz junior racing programme in the World Sportscar Championship.

This was unusual for a young driver, as most of Schumacher's contemporaries competed in Formula 3000 on the way to Formula One.

Weber advised Schumacher that being exposed to professional press conferences and driving powerful cars in long-distance races would help his career.

Appointed UNESCO Champion for Sport in 2002, Schumacher has been involved in humanitarian projects and has donated tens of millions of dollars to charity.

Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis Hamilton); at the time of his retirement from the sport in 2012, he also held the records for the most wins (91), pole positions (68), and podium finishes (155)—which have since been broken by Hamilton—while he maintains the record for consecutive Drivers' Championships and number of total fastest laps (77), among others.

Born to working-class parents, Schumacher started his racing career in karting.

He won his first karting championship aged six in a kart built from discarded parts.

In December 2013, Schumacher suffered a severe brain injury in a skiing accident.

He was placed in a medically induced coma until June 2014.

He left the hospital in Grenoble for further rehabilitation at the Lausanne University Hospital, before being relocated to his home to receive medical treatment and rehabilitation privately in September 2014.