Jean Todt, the big boss of the FIA, confides in the most famous racing driver in the columns of the last issue of “Paris Match”. He tells in particular how Michael Schumacher, by becoming seven times world champion, changed the world of F1.
Long before Lewis hamilton Where Max Verstappen, the German racing driver Michael schumacher, now 52 years old, reigned supreme over the world of Formula 1 for years. With seven titles, he is one of the sport’s most famous world champions. His main successes, but also his greatest emotions, the runner experienced within the Ferrari house, which was his stable for ten years from 1996 to 2006. It was there that he met Jean Todt, a former French rally driver who was then president of the team. The two men tied a strong friendship, which still lasts today. Now president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), Jean Todt, 75, speaks regularly (and he is one of the few) about Michael Schumacher.
In the latest issue of Paris Match, published this Thursday, December 23, the automobile enthusiast, who will leave the presidency of the FIA at the end of the year, returned to his best memory in this sport at the end of his fifty-five year career. “I have plenty of them ! The most moving is the day Michael Schumacher becomes world champion, in 2000, in Suzuka. This is the reason why we were hired at Ferrari, which had been waiting for the title for twenty-one years.“, said the one who is also the UN special envoy for road safety.
>> Discover: PHOTOS – Michael Schumacher: who are the members of his clan?
Michael Schumacher, the triumph of F1
The seven-time world champion won his first two titles in 1994 and 1995, while racing for the Benetton-Ford team. But it is under the direction of Jean Todt and the Ferrari team that Michael Schumacher has forever marked in the world of F1. The famous pilot, victim of a ski accident in 2013, actually won five consecutive world championships, from 2000 to 2004. A first in the history of the sport at the time. It was also hand in hand with Jean Todt that Schumacher won seventy-two of his ninety-one Formula 1 Grands Prix. A record!
Article written in collaboration with 6Medias.
Photo credits: GTRES / BESTIMAGE