Sabrina faija
09/15/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 09/15/2021 6:01 AM
Michel Schumacher's life was lit by flashes since he won his first Formula 1 title, in 1994 with Benetton, until he became the most winning driver in history, with all five titles at Ferrari between 2000 and 2004, with those who surpassed the Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.
But one day the lights went out and secrecy surrounded him
.
They promise that the mystery that revolves around his health since
the ski accident of December 29, 2013
will be revealed with the premiere of the documentary Schumacher, available on Netflix from this Wednesday. What can be reconstructed until then are
those 14 months since he retired from Formula 1
, at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, until he suffered a head injury that required two surgeries in the first 24 hours.
After two stages in Formula 1 and an overwhelming dominance,
the beginning of the end
in the category in which he became the best driver in history began on September 28, 2012. On that day, Mercedes announced the hiring of Lewis Hamilton , who had been champion with McLaren in 2008, to make him the new partner of Nico Rosberg.
But he still had Michael Schumacher on his team.
The accident of Michael Schumacher in the paper edition of Clarín.
Rumors began to revolve around the future of the German: would he look for a seat in a lesser team or, finally, would he announce his retirement, the one who could not fulfill when on September 10, 2006 he said that at the end of the season he would leave Ferrari?
"My batteries are empty," he argued then.
Three years later, however, the return of Mercedes, the team that had supported him in his early days as a driver, to F1 after 55 years
convinced him to try again
.
He put his scrolls on the line - seven titles and 91 wins in 250 races - in that 2010 season but it coincided with the beginning of the dominance of Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel.
In those three years with the Silver Arrows,
Schumacher was unable to score victories
- his record was brought down by Hamilton in 2020 - and the team barely managed one, Rosberg's at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix. "I wish Lewis all the best. I had three good years in a team that unfortunately did not do well in sports, "summed up that 43-year-old Schumi.
Although the director of Sauber at that time, Monisha Kaltenborn, expressed her desire to hire the German when her contract with Mercedes ended in December, Schumacher anticipated a future offer
and announced his retirement
, this time definitive, in the previous of the Gran Prize of Japan, when there were still five dates of the World Cup.
"It's probably not a surprise. Basically, I decided to retire at the end of the year. Although I am still able to compete with the best drivers, it
is good to say goodbye
. I lost the energy and motivation that are certainly necessary. I want my freedom to come." it said that first weekend in October.
His last performance was on November 25 in Brazil.
"I'm not sad at all. I'll do my best to get to the top and enjoy it as much as I can.
And then when I get home, I'll go for a new life again
," he explained before that seventh place at Interlagos.
"I had a lot of fun, I had a good time, I ran relaxed," he concluded when he got out of an F1 car for the last time at Interlagos.
The last race.
Michael Schumacher retired after 308 races and saluted compatriot Vettel for his third Red Bull title.
But he did not shy away from motorsport.
In December, a few weeks after retirement, he and Vettel - then three-time champion - won the Nations Cup of the Race of Champions for the sixth time in a row by defeating France.
In January 2013, meanwhile, the news that broke out was that Schumi had been hired as the official driver of the Italian karting manufacturer Tony Karts to race in the KZ class.
He looked for adrenaline elsewhere, such as when in March he appeared at the Valencia circuit in a Honda suit and tested the Holzhauer Racing CBR 1000RR.
Motorcycling was no stranger to his life
;
He had even tempted him after his first retirement from F1, but an accident in which he injured a cervical vertebra scared him and took him away from both wheels.
He also continued to be connected to Formula 1 and to Mercedes, where he helped develop the team's car for the 2013 season. "Without a doubt, development bears part of my signature, as have the cars of the last two years," he remarked. .
He was also designated by the German team to drive the Mercedes W02 (used in 2011) in the pre-show at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring.
In an interview given in June of that year, the seven-time champion said that the distance had changed him physically.
"I gained three or four kilos. No pork and chips, just more muscle. It's just that I don't practice resistance so much anymore.
And I'm happy with how everything is now,
" he confessed.
At the same time, it was surprising with a road safety campaign in Chile.
On June 13, Schumacher became the face of a road safety campaign promoted by the Chilean Ministry of Transport and the National Commission on Traffic Safety (Conaset), in which the pilot asked those who do not respect speed limits and invoked his name that they were not "stupid".
Meanwhile,
Formula 1 continued without him
.
"Replacing Schumacher with Hamilton was the best decision the team could have made," observed Niki Lauda, a Mercedes adviser.
Although there was even talk of a temporary return, when the German press claimed that Schumacher had said "no" to Lotus to return to Formula 1 replacing Raikkonen in the last two races of the year and his representative explained that "Michael he would be in a position to compete, but he has other projects ",
also his records, little by little, were beaten
.
On June 30 at Silverstone, Finn Kimi Raikkonen was fifth in the British Grand Prix and broke his mark of 24 consecutive races in the points zone.
On October 13, in Japan, Fernando Alonso broke the record for points in F1 by adding 12 with his fourth place and reaching 1,571 units, five more than the German, who in his time added ten for every win and not 25.
While on November 24, in Brazil, Vettel achieved his fourth title and surpassed the nine consecutive victories achieved by the Italian Alberto Ascari between the 1952 and 1953 seasons and the 13 successes in a single contest that his compatriot achieved when he was crowned in the 2004.
Records dropped.
In the 2013 season, Vettel achieved his 13th win of the year (the ninth in a row) to equal Schumacher's record from 2004.
"Records are one thing, doubts I think are very important so as not to have too much confidence, to be skeptical and look for improvements and take the next step. I've always thought:
'I'm not too good, I have to work more
.
'
it is one of the recipes to become what I have become, "Schumacher acknowledged in an interview conducted on October 30, 2013, but which his family disclosed only five years after the accident he suffered while skiing in the French Alps.
Since then, his family has protected his condition under seven keys.
Until the decision to make this documentary.
Will hidden details come to light?
The documentary
Schumacher
, co-directed by Hanns-Bruno Kammertöns, Vanessa Nöcker and Michael Wech and endorsed by the German's family,
promises to offer an "intimate portrait"
of the seven-time F1 champion through exclusive interviews and archival footage.
The question is whether he will deliver any details of the accident of December 29, 2013.
Like every end of the year, the Schumacher family had gone to their house in the ski resort of the Méribel resort, in the French Alps.
A fan of this sport, the pilot went out with his son Mick, who today races in Formula 1 but was 14 years old at the time, and at least three friends.
In a place renowned for its 600 kilometers of slopes, so much so that tests of the Alpine Skiing World Cup are even held, the German, who was 44 years old at the time, crashed while skiing off-piste, something that experts do.
His state went from "out of danger", according to the first reports in the media
, to a "critical and in a coma", when, on the European night, an official statement came out
.
Schumacher.
September 15. Netflix.
pic.twitter.com/o7CRcfw5b6
- Formula 1 (@ F1) August 25, 2021
The doctors at the Grenoble University Hospital Center, the first to attend to him until his transfer, did not take long to assure that he was "fighting for his life". "He suffered a severe head injury and was admitted with a state of agitation, intracerebral hematomas and diffuse cerebral edema. His condition is critical;
his vital condition is very compromised
. He has been revived, but the problems are serious. Anyone who had suffered this accident without a helmet would not have survived. At the moment, we cannot pronounce on his future. We could say that he is fighting for his life, "they said in that medical report. A few days later it was learned that
his helmet broke in two
when he hit a rock and that he lost a lot of blood.
"
It's incredible that this happens to a driver who stayed alive in 300 F1 races
. Only God can help him," reflected Niki Lauda. "Every day you try to fill the void left by Formula 1. There is nothing that gives so much adrenaline. It was bad luck," said Alain Prost, among many other figures who prayed for his recovery.
He turned 45 in the hospital and his birthdays followed one another in hospitalizations, either in hospitals or in mansions equipped with permanent medical and nursing elements.
Fans had to get used to the name of Sabine Kehm, the family spokesperson and sole official voice.
Hermeticism became gigantic
and in eight years little was known about its evolution
, just that, according to his friend Jean Todt, "he has been treated to be able to return to a more normal life."
Look also
Corinna, Schumacher's wife, broke the silence and spoke about Michael's health
Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton does not rule out a talk with Max Verstappen to avoid a new crash
