10 years after the accident
Vettel on Schumi: “A hero of my generation”
December 23, 2023, 12:17 p.m
The name Michael Schumacher will probably always remain a household name in the Formula 1 circus. Also for ex-driver Sebastian Vettel, who still finds his idol’s path extremely impressive. But things would look different for future generations, complains the four-time world champion.
According to his friend Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher will not only be remembered for individual outstanding Formula 1 moments. “In sport, things always move on, they even move 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 remain a household name because his successes, 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. “The fact 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’s the way there that can be so special,” explained Vettel, who himself became world champion four times.
Vettel: Star worship is changing
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.
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. “They will never disappear from the history books or for 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 as 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.”