In his first few years in the sport, Michael Schumacher had a close rivalry with Ayrton Senna which on several occasions also led to crashes.
Senna was at the top of his game when Schumacher made his debut in F1. The Brazillian was a 3-time world champion and Schumacher, who had proved himself to be an amazing talent was threatening his position on the grid.
But over the period, Schumacher revealed that their relationship had gotten better in 1994. That was the season which brought the horrific San Marino Grand Prix where Senna saw an end to his life.
A huge funeral was held for the Brazilian star with the entire country flooding the streets in respect. Several high-profile personalities made their appearance to pay homage to Senna but Schumacher was nowhere to be seen.
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Why didn’t Michael Schumacher attend Senna’s funeral?
Schumacher was distraught after Senna’s death. His perspective of racing had changed and he was left questioning his future as a racing driver.
Just a day before Senna’s crash, Roland Ratzenberger had passed away in yet another racing incident. Left with all these traumatic incidences happening to his peers, Schumacher even thought of quitting the sport.
Speaking to Forumula1.com, the German driver said that he intensely thought about the deaths of the drivers and he was questioning himself. He revealed that was one of the reasons he didn’t go to Senna’s funeral.
Also, he said that he didn’t want to mourn in public. “I visited Ayrton’s grave later with Corinna,” he added.
Schumacher broke down during a press conference
Even after 6 years of Senna’s death, Schumacher was not fully recovered from it. During the press conference of the 2000 Italian Grand Prix, Schumacher broke down crying at the mention of Senna’s name.
The 2000 championship season was quite a stressful one for the German driver. He was Ferrari’s top man and the team was banking on him to bring the victory home with a title for the first time in 21 years.
Schumacher did win the championship season that year but he also gave the world an infamous moment.
Winning at Monza in 2000, Schumacher had equalled Senna’s 41 wins and the reporter mentioned that to him asking if these records mean a lot to him.
The Ferrari driver replied, “Yes it does mean a lot to me” and broke down crying.
