MichaelSchumacher,bornJanuary3,1969,inH眉rthHerm眉lheim,nearCologne,Germany),nicknamed"Schumi"and"Schu",isaformerFormulaOnedriver,andseven-timeworldchampion.AccordingtotheofficialFormulaOnewebsite,heisstatisticallythegreatestdriverthesporthaseverseen,HeisthefirstGermantowintheF1Worldchampionshipandtheworld'sfirstbillionaireathlete,withanannualsalaryreportedtobearound$80millionin2004.Ina2006FIAsurveyMichaelSchumacherwasvotedthemostpopulardriverwithF1fans.

　　SchumachercurrentlyholdsnearlyeveryrecordinFormulaOne,includingmostdrivers'championships,racevictories,fastestlaps,polepositions,andmostraceswoninasingleseason.SchumacherwastheseniordriverofFormulaOnein2006,andhewasformanyyearsthepresidentoftheGrandPrixDriversAssociation.

　　OnSeptember10,2006,afterwinningtheItalianGrandPrix,Schumacherannouncedhisretirementasadriver.Itwasrevealedon29October2006thatSchumacherwillactasassistanttothenewlyappointedCEOJeanTodtforthe2007FormulaOneSeasoninparticularscoutingfornewdrivers.

　　Earlyyears

　　SchumacheristhesonofRolf,abricklayerwhoranthelocalkarttrackinKerpenforasecondjob.HismotherElizabeth[11]workedinthecanteen.[1]Hebegankartracingattheageoffourandahalf,usingahomemadekartbuiltbyhisfather.Itwasnothingmorethanapedal-kartthathadbeenfittedwithamotorcycleengine.Hequicklymasteredthevehicle,winninghisfirstkartchampionshipattheageofsix.Schumacher'sprodigioustalentswerenotedbyhisparents,buttheydidnothavethefinancialmeanstosupportthem.Instead,theyhadtorelyuponthegenerosityandsponsorshipofafewaffluentpeoplewhoalsosawthepotentialoftheirson.

　　From1984SchumacherwonnumerousGermanandEuropeankartchampionships,includingtheFormulaKonigSeries.By1987hewastheGermanandEuropeankartchampion,atwhichpointhewithdrewfromschoolandbeganworkingasamechanic.In1988SchumacherracedintheFormulaFordseriesandcompetedintheGermanFormula3seriesforthenexttwoyears,winningthetitlein1990.Towardstheendof1990hejoinedtheMercedesjuniorracingprogrammeintheWorldSports-PrototypeChampionship,gainingavictoryattheseasonfinaleattheAutodromoHermanosRodriguezinaSauber-MercedesC11andfinishingfifthinthedriverschampionship.Hecontinuedwiththeteamintothe1991season,winningagainattheseasonfinale,thistimeatAutopolisinJapanwithaSauber-MercedesC291,finishingninthinthedriverschampionship.HealsobrieflycompetedintheJapaneseFormula3000ChampionshipandtheGermanTouringCarChampionshipintheearly1990s.

　　[edit]FormulaOnecareer

　　Schumacherhasbeennotedthroughouthiscareerforhisabilitytoproducefastlapsatcrucialmomentsinarace,hisabilitytopushhiscartotheverylimit,andforhisdrivingabilitiesinwetconditions.WetconditionsareoftenthoughtofasthegreatequalizerinFormulaOneracing,wheredriverskillstrumpallelse.SomeofSchumacher'sbestperformancesoccurredinsuchconditions,earninghimthetitle"Regenkönig"(rainking)or"Regenmeister"(rainmaster).HeisalsoreferredtoastheRedBaron,bothbecauseofhisredFerrari,andalsoinreferencetotheGermanWorldWarOnefighterpilotManfredvonRichthofen.

　　Heiscreditedwithpopu