Could There Have Been Title Battles Between Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton?

Michael Schumacher clinched his record-breaking 7th F1 title in 2004 and while it looked like the German will further his legacy, Ferrari had other plans.

At the end of the 2006 season, Schumacher announced his retirement and it was just one year before Lewis Hamilton made his debut in Formula 1.

While the German did return to the sport in 2010 with Mercedes, both he and his team lacked performance. And during that time another young German, Sebastian Vettel was at the peak of his career.

Therefore Schumacher and Hamilton could not get head-to-head into a title battle.

So, whether or not the sport was robbed of at least two title battles between Hamilton and Schumacher is still worth pondering upon.

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Why did Michael Schumacher retire?

Back in 2005 Ferrari’s chairperson, Luca di Montezemolo was pushing to get Kimi Raikkonen aboard. He was trying to prepare his team for life beyond Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Schumacher.

The 7-time world champion’s contract was also on the verge of expiration due to which the German was not in a favourable position to negotiate his terms.

Although there was the option for Schumacher to stay at Ferrari and become Raikkonen’s teammate that was not what Schumacher wanted.

So at the end of the season, he retired from the sport as Raikkonen and Massa teamed up to defeat reigning champion Fernando Alonso in 2007.

Schumacher vs Hamilton

In his rookie season, Hamilton took his battle to the 2-time champion and his teammate Alonso in 2007. Raikkonen capitalised on his opportunities on the track and took the championship victory which ended up being his first and last.

In the 2008 season, Hamilton clinched his 1st title in F1 and was at the peak of his performance.

Who’s to say how the Briton’s career would have been if Schumacher had still been with Ferrari on the grid when Hamilton drove towards his first victory in 2008? But it is for sure that the two F1 greats would have gone head-to-head creating history.

When Schumacher did return to the grid, both he and his car lacked performance and the grid was overshadowed by Vettel’s dominance.

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