End of the Road

German ace Michael Schumacher is recognised as being at present the world's best racing driver. Many people say he is the best ever, but he himself denies any comparison to Fangio of the 50s - the only other driver to achieve five F1 championships.

Yesterday, he said farewell to the Ferrari faithful with an emotional victory in his final Italian Grand Prix before retirement. As the most successful driver in Formula One history celebrated a 90th career win, he slashed world champion Fernando Alonso's overall lead from 12 to two points with just three races remaining.

Born January 1969 in Cologne, he holds many Formula One records, including those for most drivers championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, and most races won in a single season. Schumacher is the only German to have won the drivers' champoinship who won the 1990 German Formula Three title before joining the Mercedes-Benz junior driver scheme in the World Sportscar Championship in 1991. He made his debut in Formula One at the age of 21 with the Jordan team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix where, despite his lack of experience, Schumacher matched the team's season-best grid position of seventh. The race-winning Benetton team signed him before the next race, despite what Jordan believed was a binding contract. Schumacher went on to win world championships in 1994 and 1995 with the Anglo-Italian team before joining the then uncompetitive Ferrari team for 1996. In 2000 Michael Schumacher took Ferrari's first driver's championship since 1979. He won the next four championships and in 2004 won 13 of that year's 18 races.

Schumacher has attracted controversy during his long career in the top flight. The Benetton team was investigated several times in 1994 and 1995 for using illegal technology and Ferrari are regularly accused by the other teams of getting their own way with FIA decisions. His rivals have accused him of being excessively ruthless on the track. Although these accusations have not always been supported by the FIA, his results were deleted from the 1997 championship after he was judged to have deliberately driven into title rival Jacques Villeneuve at the final race of the season.

He has been noted throughout his career for his ability to produce fast laps at crucial moments in a race and for his abilities in the wet, earning him the title "Regenmeister" (rain master), though many consider Ayrton Senna the true rain master. As the senior driver in the Formula One world championship, Schumacher has continued to win races up to and including the 2006 season, having won at least one race every season since his first victory in 1992.

Michael Schumacher has won the coveted Laureus World Sporman of the Year award in 2002 and 2004, for his outstanding performance in the 2001 and 2003 seasons respectively. He joins a select group of sports personalities to win the award - golfer Tiger Woods, cyclist Lance Armstrong and tennis player Roger Federer. In its 7-year history, no other sportsman has been nominated more times than Schumacher, who also received nominations for the 2001, 2003 and 2005 awards.

Schumacher is a special ambassador to UNESCO and has donated US$3 million to the organization. He has funded projects for the construction of a school in Senegal, a clinic in Sarajevo and a centre for street children in Peru. He has even taken the rare step of visiting Sarajevo to see how his funding has benefited child victims of war. For his contribution, he was named a UNESCO Champion For Sport by its Director-General in 2002. As of 2004, Schumacher earns an estimated US$80 million annually, including all his endorsement deals. One notable deal is with the German investment counseling company deutsche Vermogensberatung, which will pay him US$8 million over three years for wearing a four-inch advertisement on his post-race hat. Schumacher also owns a new Dassault Falcon jet, a Dassault 2000EX registration HB-JEG with a pricetag of over $20 million USD

Formula One Record
As of the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher holds the following F1 records:

Career Records:
Most race wins: 89 (previous record beaten in 2001)
Most race wins with one team: 70
Most podium finishes: 152
Most second place finishes: 43
Most points finishes: 187
Most pole positions: 68
Most fastest laps: 75
Most race wins from pole position: 40
Most "clean-sweeps" (pole position, race win, and fastest lap): 22
Most championship points: 1,344

2006:
Only racing driver ever, in any racing class, to win 5 times at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Only driver in history to win the same Grand Prix 8 times at French Grand Prix at Circuit de Nevers Magny Cours
Only driver to lead over 5,000 laps.(Achieved at 2006 German Grand Prix)
Most time between first and last race wins: 13 years, 11 months, and 3 days

2004:
Most championship titles: 7 (previous record beaten in 2003)
Most consecutive championship titles: 5
Most race wins in a season: 13 (in 18 races) (previous record tied in 1995, 2000, and 2001 and beaten in 2002)
Most consecutive race wins: 7
Most fastest laps in a season: 10 (in 18 races)
Most championship points in a season: 148 (out of a maximum of 180)
Most consecutive race finished without retirement 24 (Alonso broke series of 22 at Hugaroring 2006)

2002:
Most podium finishes in a season: 17 (in 17 races)