Michael exploded into Formula One in Belgium in 1991 after a brilliant year in Formula 3, and qualified his Jordan seventh on the grid, far ahead of team leader Andrea de Cesaris, having never seen the circuit before.
Following some bitter legal wrangling, he moved to Benetton for the next race where he became the lynchpin of the team. In 1992, his first full season, the Benetton was outpaced by the Williams Renaults, but he proved that he was not only blindingly quick, but cool and consistent with it, standing on the podium no less than eight times, with victory in the changeable Belgian Grand Prix. A similar theme ran through 1993, with the Williams of Alain Prost being the class of the field, though occasionally overshadowed by the McLaren of Ayrton Senna which used the same Ford engine as the Benetton. A superb victory came for the German in Portugal.
From the very start of 1994, Michael surprised the Grand Prix world by proving faster than Senna and his Williams, and after Senna's death Michael looked unstoppable in his quest for the title. However, he, and the team, were swamped by allegations of cheating and with a flurry of disqualifications and bans, Michael took the championship by only a single point over Damon Hill, after a controversial collision in the final race in Australia. To prove it was deserved, Schumacher stormed to the title again in 1995 taking 9 victories in his Benetton, now with Renault power.
In 1996 Michael accepted a huge fee to move to the struggling Ferrari team and dragged the car to three wins which it didnt deserve. His masterful driving simply couldn't match the pace of Hill and Villeneuve in the dominating Williams. Michael was determined that his team could win and both he and the team put in huge amounts of time, effort, and money to develop the car. In 1997, Michael was matching Villeneuve on pace and was a point ahead going into the final round, before tarnishing his image once again with a controversial move to take out Villeneuve as he overtook. In the incident, similar to that at the close of the 1994, Michael came off worst allowing Villeneuve through to clinch the title.
in 1998, the McLarens became the all-conquering team to beat, but Schumacher was challenging hard and ran close to Hakkinnen for the championship. Challenging again in 1999, he crashed at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, breaking a leg. Sidelined for much of the season, there was talk of retirement before shooting back to the top in Malaysia, but allowing Irvine to take the win to keep his championship hopes alive. A lacklustre performance at Suzuka, finishing behind Hakkinnen had observers questioning the German's commitment, but it was to all change in 2000. Michael Schumacher stormed to the championship title, Ferrari's first since 1979 when Jody Scheckter took the crown.
A forth title followed in 2001, a season which also saw him break Alain Prosts record of 51 Grand Prix wins. Again in 2002, he dominated the field and Juan Manuel Fangio's record of five World titles was his to match after an all too predictable season. To preserve viewing figures, rule changes over 2003-4 aimed to equalise the teams, but after a turbulent start to 2003 with 'acts of God' mixing it up more than any rule changes, Schumacher took his sixth championship title, breaking Fangio's record.
In 2004, Schumacher won a record twelve of the first thirteen races of the season, only failing to finish in Monaco after an accident with Juan Pablo Montoya. He clinched his seventh drivers' title at the Belgian Grand Prix, finishing the season with a record 148 points and a new record of 13 race wins out of a possible 18, surpassing his previous best of 11 wins from the 2002 season.
After two further seasons in Formula 1, Michael Schumacher announced his retirement at the end of the 2006 season, becoming advisor to Ferrari. A comeback to replace the injured Felipe Massa in 2009 was aborted when a neck injury Schumacher had sustained in a motorcycle accident proved too big a barrier, despite having tested the F2007 in preparation.
In December 2009, Schumacher was named as a driver alongside fellow German, Nico Rosberg in the new Mercedes Grand Prix team. Mercedes had taken over the 2009 championship winning Brawn team, bringing the record-breaking Schumacher-Brawn partnership back together for the 2010 season.
