Michael Schumacher turns 53: Legendary example for today's grid

The seven times world champion Michael Schumacher turned 53 today. The German experienced a terrible accident eight years ago and has still not recovered from it. Because of his track record in F1 the former driver remains an inspiration to many on the current F1 grid.

In the most important ranking in the F1 world, Schumacher shares first place with Lewis Hamilton; both drivers are seven time world champion. In life, the German is already a legend, as proven by the way his colleagues and successors on the F1-grid look at him. His family has not revealed much about Schumacher's current situation. What we do know is that he is still alive and turned 53 today.

Ferrari team members remember Schumacher

For this occasion, a Twitter account has dived into the statements of the drivers from the past years and has listed in tweets what Schumacher still means to the drivers and the sport. His son Mick Schumacher who will drive his second F1 season with Haas in 2022 says: "My father is my idol. I have particular respect for what he has achieved. He had to work hard for it; nothing was given to him. That impresses me."

Fellow countryman and also former Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel said, "Michael was always a great inspiration to me. Not only when I saw him race as a kid, but also when I met him in person, and he became a friend. He remains the greatest in my eyes!" Current Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc says he only has two great examples: "Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. I never thought I would be driving for the same team as he once did."

Title rivals think back to Schumacher

Max Verstappen got to know Schumacher at a young age, as father Jos Verstappen and Schumacher were friends. The Dutchman remembers certain weekends: "I was three or four years old. All I know was that it was Uncle Michael. He was nice and an extreme family man. You can see that very well in the pictures and in the movies we have at home. I still have fond memories of those weekends."

Hamilton is on a par with Schumacher in terms of world titles. The Briton says: "I remember the first time on the track together. That was during a test in 2006. It was unreal for me to suddenly drive next to him. Just before that, I was driving as Michael in my computer games." Read for yourself what the other drivers have to say about the 53-year-old F1 legend in the tweets below.

Here is a little thread with comments from the current
F1 grid about Michael [comments were made over the years]

— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) January 3, 2022