Michael Schumacher is one of the most prolific racing drivers of all time. With 7 Formula One Driver’s Championships to his name, 91 wins, 155 podiums, and more. He was, jokingly, unmasked as Top Gear’s resident faceless racing driver, The Stig. And he once took the wheel of a taxi on the way to the airport so he could get there on time.
He has family raced for Benetton, winning two of his seven titles (Benetton would later become Renault F1 after Michael left for Ferrari), Ferrari, where he won his other five titles, and then Mercedes-Benz. The latter of which Michael is lauded for getting their program going to help get them on the right track to win multiple championships as a team and with their drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Nico won one title and retired, while Lewis has won 6 of his Schumacher-tying 7 driver’s titles (he won one with McLaren in 2008).
Sadly, on December 29, 2013, while skiing with his family in the French Alps, Schumacher fell and hit his head on a rock, cracking the helmet he was wearing. He was airlifted to a hospital and put in a medically induced coma. Doctors have said that had he not been wearing a helmet he would have certainly died. Sadly, not much is really known about Michael’s post-accident life. All we know is that he is alive, but to what extent we don’t know as his family is very guarded and tight-lipped about his condition, which is certainly understandable.
The only updates given about his condition are that Michael Schumacher is confined to a wheelchair, at least somewhat alert, but unable to speak. It’s also been reported that he was getting stem cell treatments, but possibly is having muscle atrophy and has osteoporosis due to being confined to his bed since the accident.
In January of 2014, mere days after Michael’s skiing accident, Robin Warner of Car and Driver wrote about his story of overcoming a similar traumatic brain injury after a 38-foot fall from a bridge into cold water. It’s an absolutely insane story. This happened in February 2013, and Robin wrote the story less than a year later. He is also alive and still writing about and reviewing cars.
Netflix announced recently that they have purchased a family-authorized documentary that’ll start streaming on September 15th. With that, maybe we will find out more about his life since the skiing accident.
According to Deadline.com, the documentary will feature never-before-seen footage throughout Schumi’s storied career, interviews with his wife, father, brother, and famous racing drivers, such as F1 champs Damon Hill, Mika Häkkinen, Sebastian Vettel, and of course Jean Todt and Flavio Briatore, his F1 team managers during his 7 championships.
So I don’t know what you’ll be doing on September 15th, but I know my fat ass will be plopped on the couch with a fine beverage, maybe a meal, and wide eyes as I joyfully watch the glory days of Michael Schumacher on my 75″ 4K HDR television. Yee doggie.
In the meantime, you can always watch Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Shelby American, and Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story.
Below you can check out a gallery of images from his days as a Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz Formula One driver.
Source: Deadline
