In occasion of the Japanese Grand Prix, let’s go through how Michael Schumacher won the sixth World Championship of his career, becoming the most successful driver in the history of Formula 1.
A tough weekend…
Arriving at Suzuka for the final race of the 2003 season, the German was only one point away from celebrating the title (P8 at the chequered flag would have been enough). It all seemed just a formality, but the weather and a complicated qualifying had other plans.
After a negative Saturday for Ferrari and Schumacher (with Barrichello on pole, but Michael only P14) the chances of winning the title were not that high anymore. The start of the race was not easy either: Schumacher got caught up in a collision with Takuma Sato’s BAR-Honda, which damaged the front wing of his car.
The Scuderia pitted car number 1, thus anticipating the refuelling and the first tyre change; but it was all looking much more difficult for “the Kaiser”.
Schumacher managed to come back all the way to P6 before making his third and final pit stop, which set him back in P10. One lap later, however, he found himself involved in a three-way battle with Da Matta and Ralf. When the three of them arrived at the infamous Casio triangle chicane, the reigning World Champion had contact with his brother’s BMW-Williams, which could have cost him the title.
…But a relieving result
Despite the chaos, Schumacher took the chequered flag in P8: exactly the result he needed to secure his sixth WDC (becoming the first driver ever to do so, surpassing Juan Manuel Fangio), with Ferrari taking home the Constructors’. The two McLarens of Raikkonen and Coulthard finished on the podium, but their result was not enough to fulfill the team’s and Kimi’s dreams.
The following year, the German would better himself by enjoying one of the most dominant seasons ever, adding a seventh title to his tally and further establishing himself as the Greatest Of All Time in F1 history. That he was all alone until 2020, when a certain Lewis Hamilton equalled this astonishing achievement at the Turkish GP, but that’s a whole other story…
