Michael Schumacher

Born in Hürth-Hermülheim near Cologne, this future record world champion began his motorsport career in kart races, taking the wheel as a four-year-old. His success statistics in the beginners' category were impressive: Win in the German Junior Championship in 1984 and 1985, the runner-up in the World Championship in 1985, European and German Champion in 1987.

Via Formula König and Formula 3, he joined the Sauber-Mercedes team in 1990 and contested three races in the C 11 alongside the experienced Jochen Mass in the Group C Sports Car World Championship. The duo finished second in Dijon-Prénois and at the Nürburgring and won the last race of the season in Mexico. In addition to this commitment as a "Mercedes Junior", Schumacher continued to drive in Formula 3 and won the German championship title here in the same year.

In 1991, the young talent started in all the races for the Sports Car World Championship. Driving the new Mercedes-Benz C 291, he took second place at Silverstone together with Karl Wendlinger. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the proven C 11 was relied on again, and together with Karl Wendlinger and Fritz Kreuzpointner, Schumacher finished in fifth place. Finally, he succeeded – again with Wendlinger as his team partner – in taking the only victory with the C 291 at the season finale in Autopolis, Japan.

After the 1991 season, Mercedes-Benz ended its Group C involvement and Michael Schumacher turned to Formula 1. In the years that followed, he became the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time, winning seven Formula 1 world championship titles. He spent 2007 to 2009 as a consultant and test driver for Ferrari after his interim retirement from Formula 1 racing.

For the 2010 season, Schumacher came full circle and returned to his roots. He was signed up as a driver for the newly formed factory racing team Mercedes GP Petronas F1 as Nico Rosberg's team-mate. In the first year of his engagement, his results remained discrete, with three fourth places being the top finishes in a season that ended with Schumacher in ninth place in the drivers' standings – two places behind Rosberg. In 2011, the record world champion remained stuck in the front midfield, even though he was able to move up one place in the final Drivers' World Championship standings in his Mercedes MGP W02.

2012 brought a highlight with a third place at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, but the rest of the season was disappointing for Schumacher. While Nico Rosberg took the first, much-celebrated victory for the Mercedes team in Shanghai, Schumacher ended up in Formula 1 no-man's land at the end of the season – in 13th place in the drivers' standings. After his contract was not renewed at the end of the year, the record world champion announced his final retirement from motorsport.

In the previous three years, Schumacher had used his vast experience to do some very decisive development work for the fledgling Mercedes-Benz Formula One works team, paving the way for the domination of the Formula One World Championship, soon to be followed by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. A good year after his retirement, Schumacher suffered life-threatening head injuries in a serious skiing accident.