Tragic Formula 1 icon Schumacher turns 50

After Schumacher's serious skiing accident, the family continues to ask for your understanding that the topic of health remains private. “You can be sure that he is in the best hands and that we are doing everything humanly possible to help him,” wrote Schumacher's family the still huge fan base.

Since September 2014, Schumacher has been recovering from an accident that changed his life in the familiarity of his adopted Swiss home of Gland on Lake Geneva. On December 29, 2013, he suffered a severe traumatic brain injury after a fall in the ski resort near Méribel, France. How is Schumacher, who turns 50 on Thursday, doing now? Only people in the know know this; information is not made public.

The public, however, has unhindered access to the records that Schumacher has collected. Seven times Formula 1 world champion – no one else has more titles. 91 Grand Prix victories – no one else has won more races. Behind such numbers lie tireless hard work, irrepressible will and, in Schumacher's case, the knowledge that records are fleeting. “Michael always said that records are there to be broken,” Schumacher’s companion Ross Brawn conveyed the family’s congratulations to Lewis Hamilton in the summer of 2017. In Belgium, of all places, where Schumacher had contested and won his first Grand Prix, the Mercedes successor equalized the German's pole record. Hamilton, himself a five-time world champion, has now increased the mark from 68 to 83. “Michael was extraordinary,” he praised Schumacher.

The car mechanic from a humble background - father Rolf worked, among other things, as a groundskeeper at a go-kart track, mother Elisabeth ran the kiosk there - raced his way into an exclusive sports squad of superstars, in which in Germany only greats like Max Schmeling, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker or... Steffi Graf are represented.

The four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel, for whom Schumacher is an idol, is also missing as an advisor. The Heppenheimer once reported on a phone call in 2009 when he asked Schumacher, long into his first Formula 1 retirement, for tips on the Suzuka track. “In the middle of the night I wanted to know how he won there so many times and wanted to know the best way to get through the first sector,” Vettel once said. Schumacher replied: “I have no idea, I just always tried to drive as fast as possible, from turn one to turn seven. I never thought much about it, just drive as fast as you can.” At the time, this advice didn’t really help Vettel – but it did in his future. “The more you think about the corners, the worse you drive them,” said Vettel, who finally wants to become world champion with the Scuderia for the first time in his fifth year with Ferrari – like instinctive driver Schumacher.

Michael Schumacher's most important Formula 1 records Michael Schumacher was a collector of records in Formula 1. His seven World Cup titles alone are an extraordinary record. But Lewis Hamilton is getting closer and closer to the German in one category or another.

An overview of Schumacher's most important records:

World title: 1. Michael Schumacher 7 2. Juan Manuel Fangio 5 Lewis Hamilton 4. Alain Prost 4 Sebastian Vettel

Grand Prix victories: 1. Michael Schumacher 91 2. Lewis Hamilton 73 3. Sebastian Vettel 52

Most wins this season: 1. Michael Schumacher 13 (2004) Sebastian Vettel (2013) 3. Michael Schumacher 11 (2002) Sebastian Vettel (2011) Lewis Hamilton (2014,2018)

Podium places: 1. Michael Schumacher 155 2. Lewis Hamilton 134 3. Sebastian Vettel 111

Fastest racing laps: 1. Michael Schumacher 77 2. Kimi Raikkonen 46 3. Lewis Hamilton 41

Hat trick (pole position, win and fastest lap): 1. Michael Schumacher 22 2. Lewis Hamilton 14 3. Jim Clark 11

Most wins at the same Grand Prix: 1. Michael Schumacher in France 8 (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006) 2. Michael Schumacher in Canada 7 (1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004) Michael Schumacher in San Marino 7 (1994, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006)

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Tragic Formula 1 icon Schumacher turns 50

50 years of Michael Schumacher. Years of triumphs – years of compassion. The Formula 1 world bows to the legend.

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