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The Monaco Grand Prix was another record for Michael Schumacher. After passing Gerhard Berger's number of starts for Ferrari at the San Marino Grand Prix, it was now time to celebrate his century for the Maranello marque, with his career total now at 168 GP's. His first drive was with the team of Eddie Jordan in 1991 at Spa-Francorchamps, where he amazingly qualified 7th for the race. The Mercedes Group C star landed this seat because regular driver Bertrand Gachot was in jail for using pepper spray against a London taxi driver. Unfortunately for Schumacher he did not finish, but Benetton's boss Flavio Briatore immediately signed him for the rest of the season. He stayed with that team for 67 races, winning 19 of them together with two world championships in 1994 and 1995. With also 10 poles, 22 fastest laps and 303 world championship points, Ferrari decided to contract him in an effort to stop the miserable era they were in. Since 1991 the Italian team had only won two races: Gerhard Berger won the 1994 German Grand Prix after a lot of cars crashed and Jean Alesi won his only Grand Prix in Canada in 1995.
Many did not believe the German was worth the money Ferrari was willing to pay. One guy could not make the difference - at least that was the public opinion. True or not, Ferrari went uphill when Schumacher arrived while the opposite happened for Benetton, winning only once since (with Berger in Germany, 1997). Before Schumacher arrived at Ferrari, Niki Lauda has been the team's most successful driver with 15 wins, 23 poles and 12 fastest laps. The Austrian managed to collect 242,5 points in 57 races for the Maranello squad. This record already existed for more then two decades. In four seasons (1974-1977) Lauda has brought home the drivers crown twice (1975 and 1977) and missed out on a third one due to his crash on the Nürburgring. Time would tell if Schumacher could beat these statistics. His first appearance with Ferrari was in Melbourne in 1996. It was not a very successful outing and engine problems prematurely ended his race. The next race brought his first podium finish, behind Damon Hill and Jean Alesi at Interlagos, Brazil. The seventh round on the 1996 calendar was Barcelona. After scoring the first two pole positions in the previous rounds, this was the start of the winning streak. This race also marked his first fastest lap with a Ferrari. Today, after 100 starts his record shows 76 points finishes of which 66 were podium finishes! He probably does not like other finishes than on the podium, since these positions are quite rare. He seems to have listened to the saying: 'second place is the first of the losers'. His results have secured a massive 558 championship points for the Ferrari team. This makes the Schumacher-Ferrari collaboration the most successful combination in all time: Ayrton Senna won 'only' 34 races for the McLaren team against Alain Prost's 30, whereas Schumacher has already won 39 in a Ferrari. Luckily, there are still three lists he does not top yet. This should be enough fuel for the motivation to continue with the team, so that the tifosi will still have lots to cheer about. With 168 Formula 1 starts he is twelfth on the list of most starts. He will move into the top ten before the season ends, since Niki Lauda (171) Graham Hill and Jacques Laffite (both 176) are all within reach. Maybe he will move up further the ladder, but if he will ever beat Riccardo Patrese with 256 starts remains to be seen. One of the other more interesting lists is the one that is still topped by the late Ayrton Senna . The Brazilian driver managed to score 65 pole positions in only 161 starts, whereas Schumacher is in close pursuit with 46 . Last but not least is the number of World Championships. With Schumacher already having secured four Champion crowns and this seasons points table, it looks like he is on his way to equal the great Juan Manuel Fangio's record number of five titles. This one has stood for five decades, so it is time to beat it soon. Hopefully it will be another Ferrari crown… Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
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