Tales from the Trip
Grand Prix Greatness.
A photo journey to the Michael Schumacher Collection in Cologne, Germany. The smell of success is in the air.
The Schumacher Collection. Passionate fans of Formula 1, regardless of their personal favorites, will always have respect and affinity for certain legends of the sport. Michael Schumacher is one of the great legends in this group.
“Schumi” was born on January 3, 1969. His hometown is Kerpen, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located less than 20 miles from the industrial city of Cologne – home of Opel and ex-F1 driver Rolf Stommelen.
It is in Cologne where the very impressive – we’re talking serious frissons, or chills in plain simple English – the Schumacher Collection is based. It is part of Motorworld Cologne, which I found out upon arrival is a large high end auto dealership dealing mainly in a massive selection of Aston Martin and Bentley vehicles.
The Karting Kid. Michael’s dad Rolf managed a karting track in their hometown of Kerpen and his mother Elisabeth managed the track’s cafeteria. This is where MS drove hours and hours honing his skills, while younger brother Ralf was also keen on racing but not interested in taking brotherly advice.
Same color. Different breed. Schumacher’s first car was the little FIAT 500. In 2000, he delivered Ferrari’s first Drivers’ title since Jody Scheckter in 1979. At the Christmas party the Scuderia surprised their new world champion by presenting him this “cinquecento”.
Schumacher delighted the team members by doing a couple of laps at the Fiorano test track in his new red car.
Mercedes’ Triple Stars. Three young talented drivers in the 1989 German Formula 3 Championship would become teammates in Mercedes sports car team. The championship winner by a single point was Austrian Karl Wendlinger. Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Michael Schumacher, both tied on 163 points, were second and third respectively.
Bubble Up Debut. Mercedes were planning an F1 return in 1992 with a Dr. Harvey Postlethwaite-designed car. The project was canceled due to economic slowdown and massive layoffs at Daimler-Benz owned AEG.
They placed their sports car driver Michael Schumacher, who was “very focused,” in the open seat at Jordan for the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
According to Mercedes motorsports manager at the time, Jochen Neerpasch, plan was always not to drive with EJ’s team as they knew the team will be using Yamaha engines in 1992. This turned out to be a very wise move. Engines from Ford, Renault and Ferrari powered Schumacher to seven championships and 91 Grand Prix wins.
Winning is birthright. Like Ayrton Senna before him and Max Verstappen after, Michael Schumacher raced with the mentality that winning was his birthright.
With their burning desire, dedication and pure natural talent why wouldn’t they?
Dress for success. A nice line-up of his driving suits on display, ranging from Benetton and Bitburger sponsorship to the Scuderia and Marlboro partnership, so crucial to ‘smoking’ the competition. Apart from Michael at Ferrari, Marlboro men included Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, and Luca di Montezemelo.
#1. Winner takes it all. Schumacher won five championships in-a-row with Ferrari and 72 of his 91 victories were scored riding a prancing horse.
No one ever imagined Schumacher’s numbers would be matched, let alone beaten. Then came Ron’s Project 4 LCH in 2007.
Badge of honor. Passport to performance from the Benetton and Scuderia Ferrari. His wife Corinna used to be the girlfriend of Heinz-Harald Frentzen when they were teammates at Sauber Mercedes sports car team.
Silver lining. Start to finish. Schumacher was managed throughout his stellar career by Willi Weber. Starting out as a Mercedes junior driver, Schumacher raced with Peter Sauber’s sportscar team with support from Stuttgart.
The company, famous for its star symbol and luxury cars, paid for his dramatic debut in Formula 1. After winning (at the time) more races and championships than anyone in the history of Formula 1, Schumacher retired at the end of the 2006 season.
When old friends and successful partners – Ross Brawn and Mercedes – came knocking on the door again, Weber advised Schumacher against another foray into Formula 1.
Michael went solo. After three winless seasons Mercedes replaced him with another driver who would go on to break his number of wins and pole positions, and match his number of championships.
Waiting for the oxygen mask to drop. Trip to the Michael Schumacher Collection in Cologne was definitely breathtaking. Frankly, I was gasping for air when I first saw the green 7-Up Jordan, the blue Benetton and the red and wild horses. Having watched Adelaide 1994, tango at Spa in the rain with DC, and that epic final drive for Ferrari in the 2006 season finale at odd hours while living in California, you realize in an instant this is real.
They say the best things in life are free. So is admission to this wonderful collection of motorsports greatness.
https://www.privatecollection.ms/en
– – Nasir Hameed.