On the 28th of December, a new five-part Docu-series will air in Germany, highlighting the life and legacy of the legendary Michael Schumacher as in-depth as possible. Talking about the iconic German driver before the release of the docu-series, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso had only words of praise for the 54-year-old.
A few years ago, another documentary encompassing the life of the seven-time world champion released on Netflix. Corrina Schumacher also made an appearance in the feature, providing an important update on her husband’s health. While there’s no confirmation whether a similar clip would feature in the latest feature, two of the greatest drivers of all time took the time to talk about the icon that is Schumacher.
Talking about one of his greatest rivals ever in the sport, Alonso recalled how he lost to Schumacher more than he won, as quoted by F1 Maximaal. Furthermore, he recalled how Schumacher dominated the sport, even during their karting days.
“He is an incredible driver, he was an inspiration to all the drivers of my generation, when we were in karting and in the junior classes, to see Michael [Schumacher] dominate the sport.”
Alonso also highlighted Schumacher’s impact on the sport and how he changed the way people race. Starting from the physical prep for a race to the work ethic with the engineers on a race weekend, the Asturian believes Schumacher brought a revolution to the way things worked in F1. Sitting on equal numbers in terms of winning the drivers’ title, Hamilton also praised Schumacher for winning almost everything there was for him to win. “He’s a great racer. He won the race in which Ayrton [Senna] died. He just won everything!”
Fernando Alonso believes Schumacher was his greatest rival
Despite often engaging in enthralling battles with Hamilton, Alonso does not believe the Briton is his greatest contemporary. Instead, the 42-year-old named Schumacher as his arch-rival, recalling the battles he shared with the German on his way to back-to-back world championships.
Alonso also mentioned sharing great rivalries with drivers such as Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton but asserted the best of the bunch was the one he shared with the former Ferrari driver, especially given that he already had seven world titles to his name. “When I came to this sport, Michael Schumacher was dominating the races, and everything probably that fight with him would still be the one I would choose.”
