Michael Schumacher once held the most dominant run in the history of Formula 1. The German helped Ferrari to six consecutive constructors’ championships at the turn of the century. At the same time, he racked up seven world championships throughout his career.
The sport is a lot more structured now; a driver earns his spot in Formula 1 through karting, Formula 3, and Formula 2. However, Schumacher’s path to Formula 1 was completely different as the German’s manager, Willi Weber, explained the importance of sports car races in his career.
Schumacher drove in the DTM and in the sports car world championship before his Formula 1 debut in 1991. “I pushed it and wanted him to do it. Some journalists wrote me down to the ground for this,” recalled Weber.
“I would ruin Schumacher’s career, it’s an old man, I should never have done that.” Looking back, Willi Weber believes Schumacher should have gone to Formula 3000. However, he also remembers, “[Formula 3000] stood on shaky legs, where you never knew which team you should actually go to.”
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Weber explains that the decision was to ensure Michael Schumacher grows
At that time, Weber’s decision with Schumacher’s career was a controversial one. In 1990, Schumacher was in Mercedes‘ junior team. However, he clarified that the decision to race sports cars helped him become a much better driver and gave him an edge over the rest of the grid.
“He had to learn to drive qualifying, to deal with a team that is in the public eye. He had to learn what punctuality is, what is this and what it is what is that. And that’s why I say: This stopover was very good,” explained Weber.
Weber further pointed out that his lessons from that part of his life helped him a lot later in his career. Michael Schumacher retired from Formula 1 in 2013. However, an unfortunate accident during a skiing accident has the former champion bed ridden to this date. We wish him a successful recovery and hope we can hear from the German soon.
The post ‘Journalists Wrote Me Down to the Ground for This’ – Michael Schumacher’s Manager Recalls Controversial Decision appeared first on EssentiallySports.
