Michael Schumacher is fighting a tough battle, trying to hang onto dear life after his horrific ski accident on the 29th of December in 2013.
While his family hasn’t really disclosed details about his health condition, they have gone ahead and released an unseen interview of the 7 time world champion in lieu of his 50th birthday(which is on the 3rd of January).
The released interview was recorded on 30th October 2013, weeks before Schumacher met with that ski accident.
Schumacher answered a range of questions in that interview, ones that were often put forth to him during media sessions and interviews.
He started off with answering about his most emotional championship and termed his 2000 championship as the most emotional one, as there has been a lull of 4 years where he hadn’t won the title.
“The most emotional championship was undoubtedly that of Suzuka in 2000 with Ferrari, after 21 years without Ferrari World Championships and four years for me without success, we finally won the race, an exceptional race, and we won the great championship” Schumacher said.
Speaking about the driver that he respects most, Schumacher was quick to point out Mika Hakkinen.
“The boy that I have respected the most in these years is Mika Häkkinen for the great battles and a very stable private relationship,” he said.
When quizzed about his idol, Schumacher surprisingly pointed out a football legend, Toni Schumacher.
“When I was a kid, in my karting era I saw Ayrton Senna or Vincenzo Sospiri, whom I admired a lot because it was a good pilot, but my real idol was Toni Schumacher because he was a great soccer player ” Schumacher emphasised.
The 7 time world champions spoke about how he kept himself grounded despite having achieved so much in the sport.
“The records are one thing, the doubts I think are very important to not 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 . ” is one of the keys to becoming what I have become” Schumacher explained.
Schumacher emphasised on keeping a good balance between hardwork and talent and that karting helped a driver get some much needed skills into his system.
“Talent is very important in motor racing , like in any other sport, but it’s something you have to develop, karting is a good base to show your talent, but also to find other skills you need to be a racing driver,” he concluded.
Check out the full interview here:
Here’s wishing Michael a speedy recovery and hopefully we see him on the race track again.
