Formula 1 Ten years after the accident
Perception of Michael Schumacher is “undergoing a change,” says Vettel
As of: 2:21 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
Sebastian Vettel, then a BMW Sauber driver, and Ferrari icon Michael Schumacher at the 2006 Grand Prix in Brazil
Source: Corbis via Getty Images/Hoch Zwei
Shortly after Michael Schumacher’s skiing accident, which will be ten years old in a few days, Sebastian Vettel sends his friend a text message. The scope of the accident then becomes clear. Vettel says about the Formula 1 hero that he will be perceived differently in the future.
According to his friend Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher will not only be remembered for individual outstanding Formula 1 moments. “In sport, things are always moving on, in fact they are moving on very quickly. That’s a good thing because time runs forward and not backwards, time shouldn’t stand still. Someone like Michael will always be a household name because his successes and his statistics will forever be visible in black and white. But the peculiarities of characters also remain,” said Vettel before the tenth anniversary of Schumacher’s serious skiing accident on December 29th. “That Michael had this special bond with Ferrari, that he achieved the miracle of the World Championships, put together a team there and stuck together for such a long time.”
This one lap time, this one pole position, this one victory, “that’s often not it at all. It may sound banal, but it is the path to get there that can be so special,” explained Vettel, who himself became world champion four times.
Schumacher, seven-time world champion, is an idol for him. After the accident in France at the end of 2013, Vettel sent him a text message asking whether everything was okay. The severity of the accident then became clear. Schumacher lives shielded from the public. The family has not provided any information about his condition.
“For many children today, Michael Schumacher is less of a household name than for me”
Vettel’s view of Schumacher is different than that of the current or future generation. Stars would experience “a change”. “Even if it’s hard to imagine, a Michael Schumacher or a Michael Jordan are perceived differently over time,” said Vettel, who retired from Formula 1 at the end of 2022.
also read
“They will never disappear from the history books or among the absolute cracks, but for many children today a Michael Schumacher is less of a household name than for me back then. He was a hero of my generation. In the future, perhaps a Lionel Messi will be less of a household name than perhaps an Erling Haaland. But that’s a good thing, because every era writes its own stories, every era has its own heroines and heroes.”
Here you will find content from Twitter
In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, as the providers of the embedded content require this consent as third party providers [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and privacy at the bottom of the page.
