Schumacher bears burden of history

   Copyright c 1998 Nando Media
   Copyright c 1998 Reuters

LONDON (Oct 27, 1998 - 22:03 EST) -- It may appear that Michael Schumacher,
with two world titles and a reputation as the best Formula One driver
around, has little to prove.

Ferrari fans do not see it that way.

The German's ability is beyond all doubt -- he is the best driver, in the
most evocative of teams -- but "Schumi" has yet to deliver what
they believe is motor racing's biggest prize.

Schumacher needs to secure Ferrari's first world championship since 1979
before he can join the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari and Niki
Lauda who have driven the famous red cars to the title.

The German lags Finland's Mika Hakkinen by four points going in to the
closing Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on Sunday but says he is confident
that he will be champion by the end of the day.

That would lift him alongside just seven others who have won three or more
titles -- Fangio, Alain Prost, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Lauda, Nelson
Piquet and Ayrton Senna.

Unlike Hakkinen, who had not won a race until last year, Schumacher has
been down to the wire before and won.

In 1994 he won his first title in a final race showdown in Australia that
also established him as a ready source of controversy and as an
uncompromising and stubborn talent determined to win by fair means or foul.

In Australia, he collided with nearest rival Damon Hill -- who later
dismissed the German as "a product, not a person" -- forcing both
men out and taking the crown.

Last season, he tried it again when he went into the final race at Jerez in
Spain needing to beat Canadian Jacques Villenueve.

This time, Schumacher rammed the Canadian but the tactic backfired with the
German going out and Villenueve claiming the title. Schumacher was later
stripped of his overall second place, but not his race wins, by the FIA.

The incident drew worldwide condemnation and tarnished the brilliant
reputation of a man recognised by four times champion Prost as the greatest
driver of the modern era.

Schumacher has won 33 grands prix, 14 with Ferrari.

He knows that he must win at Suzuka, but above all he knows he has to win cleanly.

Ironically, this season has seen Schumacher accuse others of reckless
driving. Calm and controlled in the paddock, the German has also paid the
price for his own aggression.

He could be comfortably ahead of Hakkinen now had he not driven into the
back of the McLaren driven by the Finn's team mate David Coulthard at the
Belgian Grand Prix -- one of his favourite races where he had his first win
in 1992.

Schumacher was leading by 30 seconds and trying to lap Coulthard in heavy
spray -- the sort of conditions he has used in the past to demonstrate his
skill and superiority.

The German's ability to push a car to its limits and then find a bit more,
his skill in the wet and iron self-belief have turned Ferrari from
also-rans to title contenders.

Until he arrived from Benetton in 1996, the Italian team was living on past
glories, with just five race wins in six years. Schumacher has matched that
total this season alone.

"I am not going to Ferrari because they have the best car or the best
team but because Ferrari is something very special," he said in
November 1995.

He was also paid a huge amount of money -- worth an estimated $2 million a race.

Schumacher joined Benetton in 1991 alongside Brazilian Nelson Piquet after
making his name in karts, Formula Three and sports cars.

Senna's death at Imola in 1994 overshadowed Schumacher's first world title.

The Brazilian was the unrivalled king of the circuits and the tragedy left
a large question mark over the German's achievement, apart from ripping the
soul out of the sport.

But Schumacher answered any lingering questions about his ability in 1995
by winning a record-equalling nine races.

Schumacher, married with one daughter Gina Marie, first gripped a steering
wheel at the age of four when he began racing go-karts in his home village
of Huerth-Hermuelheim.

Son of a bricklayer, he won his first championship aged six and his
single-mindedness was soon evident.

He also displayed an attitude that has occasionally alienated his peers and
left his team mates deeply frustrated.

In 1984, Schumacher won the country's junior kart championship at 15 and
three years later he won both the German and European titles at senior
level.

He won the German Formula three championship in 1991, the year he made his
Formula One debut for Jordan, before switching after one race to Benetton.

In 1992, he became the first German in 17 years to win a grand prix and was
fourth overall in 1993.

The next year he won the title -- despite being banned for two races for
ignoring a black "stop" flag and being disqualified from another
for technical reasons.

With Schumacher, controversy and glory go hand in hand.

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