Interview With Michael - Tim Sheridan

Broadcast on the Channel 9 telecast of the Australian Grand Prix, 13 November 1994. The narrator/interviewer is Tim Sheridan.

They appear born to the Monaco lifestyle. With girlfriend Corinna on his arm, Michael Schumacher certainly knows his way around the streets of this seaside tax haven. It's not uncommon to see the 25 year old lapping the city astride his Harley, and it must be about the only chance they'll ever get to catch him, let alone book him for going too fast. In May this year Monaco made it four wins from as many starts for the former motor mechanic, who never thought he'd drive anything beyond a kart.

MS : "For me, it was never a target to be a Formula 1 driver. It was the financial point was not there to think about that. If you have some parents that have the money, to put you in a Formula Ford or 2 or whatever, where you can think about some developing and going on in the real motorsport world, then it's maybe different, but for me it was never the case, I was happy with what I did in go kart. I earned enough money to live with it, and no, there was never real thought about any Formula thing."

He never thought he'd drive Formula 1, and he never thought he'd win this year's title. It's a bit in Herr Schumacher's nature to underpromise and overdeliver, but even his conservative approach has been caught short by the events since mid-season. He's won 8 times, yet he could lose the title, because Benetton was rubbed out by the rulebook in 4 other races. When he could've wrapped it up last weekend, Benetton came out of the Suzuka washing machine 2nd, caught in a tangle of rain, safety cars, pit stops and the grim determination of that Pom, Damon Hill.

MS : "The point is we had a particular strategy which, still, we wouldn't do a change for it, but the circumstance, driving. I don't know many laps behind this pace car, and then having this kind of weather, we were not allowed to use our strategy in the most efficient way."

Think of the horror the hare felt, when he first saw the tortoise over his shoulder. After all, Schumacher won 6 of the first 7 races and led by 37 points. Then, there was that wave of the Marshal's arm at Silverstone.

Commentary from the race at Silverstone 1994 (Dr. Jonathan Palmer) : "Schumacher goes by Berger there, but it may be all to no avail, because if he's been black flagged then this could well be the end of his race. He will be out of the race for not having obeyed that command to come in for a stop-go penalty, which it seems most extraordinary that a driver of Schumacher's capacity and there it is, 5 being black flagged"

The German had broken the warm-up rules, and ultimately, ignored racing's equivalent of the red card. Two races later, Benetton was disqualified from Belgium on a skid-plate technicality. Already it was only some quick thinking and later talking that saved them from more heartache, over a refuelling incident. By now, their lead driver had swapped his firesuit for a collar and tie, to appeal the two race suspension on the black flag fiasco. No amount of talk was going to do anything about that, or his rapidly disappearing Championship lead.

Question : "When you were suspended you were critical of Damon Hill's driving. What did you mean by that?"

MS : "I got a bit misunderstood. That is certainly not the point I am saying. I am saying more or less what I just said before with the car, that his car is very good, but the point is without a good driver you will not win the race as well, so it must be good somewhere, otherwise he wouldn't be able to win races."

Schumacher is better at hiding the animosity than Hill, who doesn't have the arrogance to stonewall on the regular imbroglios that punctuate a Formula 1 year, But there is one issue that genuinely breaks down that Teutonic facade. The young German was in Ayrton Senna's mirrors when tragedy robbed Formula 1 of its supreme practitioner. The king was dead, the heir was on the throne prematurely, and dogged by self doubt.

MS : "It's the first time I have been confrontated with death, and it was the worst time I had really in my life. And I wasn't sure if I gonna be the same racing driver as I was before, and I really had to go out, in a test and try out. How is my reaction, if I will see now every corner there could be a danger, if I still could go to the limit, or if I couldn't."

With encouragement more so than wealth, Schumacher's parents guided their sons into motor racing, and now younger brother Ralf drives Formula 3 in Macau. Michael won a sportscar race for Mercedes, and they spread the word of his talents around the Formula 1 pits. Jordan signed him in 1991, and a 7th in qualifying heralded a great new talent, even if the race was a disappointment.

Commentary from the race at Spa 1991 (Murray Walker) : "And I think that was Michael Schumacher, dropping back, it was, Schumacher dropping back. That was his first ever Grand Prix start."

In a messy legal bun-fight, Benetton snatched Schumacher off Jordan, and he scored points immediately.

Commentary from the race at Monza 1991 (Murray Walker) : "And you're looking at Michael Schumacher in 4th place, and Ayrton Senna taking it from the 22 year old German who is driving an absolutely magnificent race."

Fifty races later, he has 10 wins, 8 more than any of the other 37 Germans to who've driven in the modern era of Formula 1. Only one other German has ever started from pole, and that was the dashing Wolfgang von Trips 33 years ago. Sadly, this was the race in which he was killed. It's the long years of waiting since Germany's dominance of motor racing before World War 2 that will make Michael Schumacher a sensation if he wins the title. He'll be Germany's new Boris Becker, but he isn't too fussed about it.

MS : "I don't think about that. I'm looking forward to trying to win this race, and the championship with it, that's my target, and I'm going to do everything for that. I mean there are so many things that I didn't think of, I just went in and then I learnt how to handle, so I take it with this the same way."

By fate, Schumacher's rise is shoulder to shoulder with the Senna years, and comparisons are unavoidable. If Senna's forté was brilliance when it was needed most, Schumacher has his chance to assume that mantle this weekend.

Commentary from qualifying at Adelaide 1994 (Murray Walker) : "And now Michael Schumacher begins his search for the perfect lap."

MS : "That's exactly the right word. For me the perfection is the most important thing, which I have or want to achieve all the time, every lap. And every lap is a different lap. You have to see, tyres going down, fuel load is going down, so the car changes handling, but you don't know before you arrive at the corner how the car will be, so you just judge it, and with the judgement, you try to do the best job. And if you achieve that, then you can feel happy."

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