F1 2006 Review: Michael Schumacher?â?ó?óÔÇÜ?¼?óÔÇ×?ós Greatest Hits

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I was fascinated to see both Autosport and F1 Racing carried pieces in their most recent issues on Michael Schumacher’s greatest races.

I’m not too proud to not have a go at an idea that has already been covered by two other publications, so here are my ten favourite Schumacher races.

To me, they are the finest examples of his great talent not just because of the feats he performed, but because they are easily separated from the usual criticisms of Schumacher (foul play, subservient team mates and the like).

Thus I think my top ten looks quite different from many other top tens. I’d be fascinated to see what your Schumacher favourites are?â?ó?óÔÇÜ?¼?é?ª

When Autosport listed Michael Schumacher’s ten greatest races they decided on the following:

10. Belgian Grand Prix, 2002
9. Monaco Grand Prix, 2003
8. Canadian Grand Prix, 2003
7. Belgian Grand Prix, 1995
6. Spanish Grand Prix, 1994
5. Monaco Grand Prix, 1997
4. Brazilian Grand Prix, 2006
3. San Marino Grand Prix, 2000
2. Hungarian Grand Prix, 1998
1. Spanish Grand Prix, 1996

And F1 Racing picked these nine as the greatest examples of Schumacher’s ?â?ó?óÔÇÜ?¼?àÔÇ£genius?â?ó?óÔÇÜ?¼?é?Ø.

9. Belgian Grand Prix, 2002
8. Austrian Grand Prix, 2003
7. French Grand Prix, 2004
6. Spanish Grand Prix, 1994
5. Canadian Grand Prix, 2003
4. Spanish Grand Prix, 1996
3. Malaysian Grand Prix, 1999
2. Belgian Grand Prix, 1995
1. Hungarian Grand Prix, 1998

In compiling my list I wanted to steer clear of the controversies and the innuendo. Yes, he raced from 16th to 1st magnificently at Spa-Francorchamps in 1995, but he was censured by the FIA afterwards for baulking Damon Hill.

I wanted to keep the debate about his merits and demerits entirely separate from my ten favourite races:

10. Canadian Grand Prix, 2003

Ferrari went marginal on brakes and Schumacher was chased across the line by brother Ralf, Juan Pablo Montoya and Fernando Alonso. At a circuit where overtaking is not as tough as others, Ralf’s failure to overtake his brother brought him a lot of criticism.

9. European Grand Prix, 2000

Classic Nurburgring weather soaked the track halfway through the race, and Schumacher floored the opposition.

8. Portuguese Grand Prix, 1995

Needing only to beat Damon Hill, Schumacher did exactly that, slicing past the Englishman at the hairpin late in the race. Cleverly, he spent the preceding laps running up the inside of the corner to work out how late he could brake. Hill should have seen the move coming, but didn’t.

7. Portuguese Grand Prix, 1993

Schumacher’s second win was an opportunistic gem. He clung on grimly on worn tyres, keeping Alain Prost at bay. Perhaps Prost would have pushed him harder had he not only needed second place to become champion, but at the line there was less than a second between them.

6. Brazilian Grand Prix, 2006

After an unfortunate puncture, Schumacher in his final race carved through the field with merciless brilliance. Too many drivers surrendered immediately to his attacks, but his pass on the robustly defensive Kimi Raikkonen was magnificent.

5. San Marino Grand Prix, 2003

Even hardened Schumacher-phobes must have felt for him as he put thoughts of his mother’s recent death to score his first victory of 2003.

4. Belgian Grand Prix, 1996

How on earth did he win at Spa in the dog of the car that was the Ferrari F310? His fastest lap time, though two seconds quicker than team-mate Eddie Irvine’s, was nearly a second slower than the quickest of the race. This was won with consistent speed and smart tactics at the track he loved best.

3. Japanese Grand Prix, 2000

He may often have been accused of cracking under pressure, but in this mano a mano duel with Mika Hakkinen he snuck ahead and hung on to finally give Ferrari their first drivers’ championship title in 21 years.

2. Spanish Grand Prix, 1992

Before he even won his first race he underlined his class behind the wheel. He ‘only’ finished second, but put Nigel Mansell in his dominant FW14B under serious pressure in the pouring rain.

1. Chinese Grand Prix, 2006

His final win was a masterpiece. In qualifying he took third while every other driver on Bridgestone tyres struggled. Then he began picking off his rivals as the track tried. Once Renault had fumbled Fernando Alonso out of contention he blew past Giancarlo Fisichella and hung on to win as Alonso came back at him. Masterful.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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One comment on “F1 2006 Review: Michael Schumacher?â?ó?óÔÇÜ?¼?óÔÇ×?ós Greatest Hits”

  1. I like your list :)

    All of those listed there are fantastic, I quite liked Malaysia 2001 and Monza 2003. Malaysia was just stunning, in appalling conditions on inters he blew everyoen including Rubens, who in the rain is no slouch. Monza he went head-to-head side by side with JPM and won, something you don’t hear too much about from the JPM fans.

    Monza 1996 also showed just how aware he was, how quick a thinker. About 5 cars in front of him smacked the apex tyres and broke their suspensions, when Michael took the lead he also hit them, but as he saw the hit coming, he let go of the steering wheel – with nothing to break against the barrier just turned the front wheels without ruining the suspension – Michael gathered it back up in an instant and took a famous victory.

    But probably my favourite win was the Nurburgring 1995. It had the battling with Hill (which he won ofcourse) then had a 30 or so second gap to the leader Alesi, with an extra stop to make! He fought back and after his last stop he was 26 seconds back with 20 laps to go. He caught Alesi with a few to go and with 2 to go went around the outside at the chicane, they banged wheels hard (but fair, there just wasn’t enough room for two) and Michael came out in front! I was on the edge of my seat for that one!

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