Did Ferrari Need Schumacher More Than Schumacher Needed Ferrari?
Updated: Aug 28
Introduction
When Michael Schumacher arrived at Ferrari in 1996, he was already a two-time World Champion racing for Benetton. Ferrari, meanwhile, had fallen behind the likes of Benetton, McLaren, Williams and even a Brabham team at times, and not won a Drivers' Championship since 1979.
Fast forward 10 years, Schumacher had become Formula 1's most successful driver ever and Ferrari had become the dominant force of an era, culminating in the highest level of F1 driver and car dominance possibly ever seen. Five straight drivers and constructors world championships from the turn of the decade until 2004.
But how exactly did this happen, and most importantly, did Ferrari create Michael Schumacher's legacy, or did Schumacher restore Ferrari's?
Ferrari Before Schumacher
Ferrari is a team like no other. It boasts the most F1 World Constructor’s championships with 16 with the next best being McLaren at 10, the most Driver’s titles with 15 and the backing of an entire nation expectant of success.
Ferrari are a team that have been fighting, struggling, crying and celebrating for the past 91 years since its inception thanks to Enzo Ferrari in 1947. He simply always had the ambition to race his own cars. This ambition has translated into the only Formula 1 team to compete in every season since the inaugural season in 1950. To put that into context, McLaren joined F1 in 1966, Williams in 1977 and the works Mercedes team were absent from 1955 until 2010.
They had a recent marketing campaign in 2019 with the hashtag ‘Essere Ferrari’, which refers to the David-versus-Goliath spirit which impoverished Italians used to take on the might of the German giants such as Mercedes and Auto Union in the battle of technical superpower in the 1930s (1).
This rich history has captured the imagination of its homeland, Italy. To some degree they are a victim of their own success, with their fans being the most expectant of all motor racing fans, and the Italian media famous for calling out when success is absent.
So how can this infamous and historic team go over 20 years with no driver winning the championship in their machinery? A bit of history which is currently on route to be repeated.
In 1980, the year after Jody Scheckter wins the title with Ferrari, they have their worst campaign in history, registering 8 points, no wins, no podiums and no poles. They finished a dismal 10th. Fast forward 10 years having secured a couple of constructor’s championships, and they’re struggling again. They failed to register a race win in 1991, 1992, and 1993.
This time has been etched in the teams history for all the wrong reasons, and it was defined by political chaos, unreliable V12 engines and severe design failures. Prost was fired in the 1991 season for publicly comparing the Ferrari to a “truck” and the 1992 car featured a radical twin floor which produced unpredictable grip, and poor weight distribution.
Things needed to change for Ferrari, and fast. The team needed a leader, it needed someone to bring discipline and structure to a team built on emotion. Ferrari carried the weight of its history, but not the momentum of its future.
Schumacher Before Ferrari
Everyone’s start to Formula 1 is different, but none are as intriguing as the saga of Michael Schumacher. Casting our minds back to 1991 and the Belgian grand prix, Schumacher was given his first drive by Eddie Jordan for the Jordan F1 team in their debut season as his lead driver, Bertrand Gachot, was jailed before the race due to an altercation with a taxi driver. His manager secured this claiming Schumacher loved the circuit at Spa, despite having never driven a lap there.
Despite this, he got his opportunity. His manager may not have been lying however, as he shocked the paddock by qualifying the Jordan in P7 on the Saturday. This sent opposing teams into chaos as many would explore the possibility of signing the young prospect for as early as the next race. For the smaller team of Jordan, retaining Michael Schumacher even for the rest of the season would bring financial gain as German sponsors would’ve invested heavily in them and it would’ve incurred a big fee for one of the big boys to snap him up, this could’ve meant survival for the team …
However, Benetton realised this as well. Flavio Briatore, boss of the Benetton Formula 1 team, had a good relationship with Bernie Ecclestone, head of F1, who at the time had the final say of driver transfers. And he wanted the move to Benetton to go ahead by the next race as well as Briatore. Owing millions and facing collapse, Jordan took Benetton to the high court. An embodiment of the talent teams thought Schumacher possessed. They would go onto lose the battle in court as a result of significantly less financial backing but have a strong foothold in F1 until 2005.
On the other hand, Benetton had their man. The man who would go onto to win two world championships with them. The team hadn’t won a title before him and never went on to win one without him in their 15-year history.
Why was he the best you might ask. Well, because on track he could extract everything possible out of the machinery he was in and perform better than most in the wet conditions as well. Off the track, he had a drive for physical fitness, rigorous testing and a relentless work ethic. Raw speed made Schumacher a champion. Relentless preparation made him unbeatable.
Schumacher was the hottest prospect in the driver market in 1995 having won in 1994 and looking set for his second successive triumph in that year, and he had the luxury of choosing any constructer in the world, so how did he come to the decision of Ferrari?
Why Schumacher Chose Ferrari
Contract negotiations in the modern day can take upwards of months for the paperwork to be signed, however, the story of Michael Schumacher signing for Ferrari is a completely different story. Similar to joining Benetton over the course of a week.
Jean Todt, former boss at Ferrari, revealed that he managed to secure the services of Michael Schumacher in just a single day in 1995.
Ferrari were in a rebuilding period, although you could argue that was going on for over ten years. But they saw 1996 as the year that they could start challenging at the top again. However, Todt recalled internal politics on The High Performance Podcast and a common belief amongst the workforce that they didn’t have “good drivers”. So, what better to do than approach the best driver on the planet to put those murmurings to bed.
Then came a day early in the 95’ season at Monte Carlo. In attendance was a Ferrari lawyer, Jean Todt, Michael and his manager. That evening, the contract was signed.
Lauda once pointed out that a driver doesn’t just sell his services to Ferrari, he sells his soul. Following in the footsteps of legends of eras gone by must’ve played a part for Schumacher as well. The $25 million annual salary may have been a contributing factor!
The teams history may have been an enticing factor for Schumacher to opt for Ferrari, but the conditions of the deal made it a no-brainer. Todt was to bring onboard Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne as technical director and chief designer respectively. These two men worked with Michael at Benetton and had a proven track record of success. On top of this, Michael was naturally going to be the number one driver in all circumstances.
Todt even suggested Michael thought driving for Ferrari would “be different” as he “liked a challenge” (2). He could be the driving force for lifting a sleeping giant out of disarray rather than collecting easy wins. But the team, as well as Michael’s brilliance, meant it didn’t come as much of a challenge at the turn of the century with new and improved regulations.
‘Essere Ferrari’ demands the renunciation of personal gain in favour of the common cause, and all the frustrations, sacrifices and humiliations that may bring. This phrase has been used in Ferrari marketing for years. And in this case, it essentially means that Ferrari were committing to Schumacher being the common cause, where other drivers would have to sacrifice for him.
A world championship win at Ferrari would mean more than at anywhere else. So, even though it wasn’t the guarantee of success, Schumacher wanted to chase the possibility of immortality. One was the sport's greatest driver. The other was its greatest institution. Neither had reached its full potential.
Building the Dynasty
The foundations of the success between Ferrari and Schumacher was the element of trust. Ferrari trusted Schumacher to bring a new culture and deliver results, Schumacher trusted Todt with team decisions, Todt trusted Brawn and Brawn trust Byrne. It was a recipe for success.
This was apparent in the first years of these men working together. Between 1996 and 1999 Ferrari were able to give Schumacher a car that could fight for victories. This was never more apparent than in the 1997 season where Schumacher was fighting Jacques Villeneuve for the title.
He had the machinery at his disposal. But, in the showdown at the European Grand Prix, on lap 48 of the race at the Dry Sack corner, Villeneuve dived down the inside to pass Schumacher for the lead. Schumacher turned his Ferrari into the side of the Williams, bouncing himself into the gravel trap and out of the race, and as a result was disqualified from the season. Such acts, and refusing to admit when he made mistakes, did show that Schumacher was still human and in need of being nurtured to secure a world championship. It wouldn’t just come easily.
He would lose the 1998 title on the final day at Suzuka to Mika Hakkinen, and even looked a certainty for the crown in 1999 but a crash at Silverstone breaking his leg would rule him out of the driver’s title fight. But as you can tell, they were building, Ferrari were getting closer and closer to immortality.
However, every defeat became information. Every missed opportunity became motivation. Then came the year 2000. This victory season gave Ferrari and the Tifosi a new energy. It gave them their mojo back. It allowed them to overcome the pressure of the first drivers title since 1979. Here came the dynasty (3).
From that year until the final year of their dominance in 2004, the combination of Schumacher, Ferrari and the team were unmatched. Ferrari was not only beating teams in one area, but they were outclassing the opposition across the board. The car was strong. The strategy was sharp. The pit stops were disciplined. The driver was relentless. And the team culture had catapulted.
One could argue that the team and driver were too intermitted. The start of the 2002 season was a formality, Schumacher won four of the first five races, with three of those being by dominant margins of at least 17 seconds. No contests. The season looked over before it had even got going. Then came round six in Austria, where to the delight of motor racing fans, Rubens Barichello qualified on pole with Schumacher third to give fans a taste of competitive racing. Off the line, Schumacher overtook his brother in P2 for the Ferraris to drive off into the distance and take control of the race. Barichello was still ahead of Schumacher with a few laps to go, and 40 seconds in front of the rest of the field. But in this era, Ferrari’s golden boy being behind their number-two driver was a problem. The arguing began. One year ago to the day, Barichello had to give up P2 for Schumacher, but was promised that would never be asked of him again. Perhaps because they thought that scenario wouldn’t happen again. However, history repeated itself. They told him to give up the lead. However, Barichello refused. Having just signed a two-year deal, Barichello was reported to have said “Get my lawyer on the phone” (4), even though he did confess in the pre-race strategy that he would move aside in this scenario if it were to happen.
Then, driving round the final corner of the track, Barichello is seen to be easing his car round to the finish, letting Schumacher win in the end, preventing him from his second ever career victory, to the shock of fans and commentators. John Watson on F1 TV would call the move ‘a disgrace’. The grandstand booed as the drivers took to the podium.
What could Barichello had done? He was contracted to literally obey orders to the benefit of the team, linking to above when mentioned you have to put the team and the greater good before yourself, unless you’re Michael Schumacher. Ferrari had broken no rules but the FIA deemed it sufficient enough to fine the team $1 million.
This race proved so controversial that Ferrari then banned team orders for eight years until they tried to get Felipe Massa out of the way for Fernando Alonso by code in 2010.
Such a story embodies the trust and lengths both parties would go to in order to commit to the promises from 1995. It was ruthless, but it was rewarding by end result. Michael Schumacher finished his Ferrari career as a record seven time champion of the world.
Who Needed Who More? Verdict
This begs the question, were Ferrari in need of Schumacher, or did Schumacher need to make the jump to Ferrari to become legendary. Well, there’s two parts to this answer.
Ferrari needed Schumacher first. Ferrari were searching for a leader capable of ending nearly two decades of frustration. They needed a character to lead a shift from passion and politics to putting the highest emphasis on every single decision. Schumacher did this through his work ethic of ensuring that testing was treated as importantly as a race weekend. This shift gave Ferrari the platform, given that they had the right people on board.
But ultimately, Schumacher needed Ferrari to create a legacy that seemed impossible to replicate. As shown, Schumacher still had flaws to his driving in the early years and had the team around him to get through those tough moments. Building on from this, winning titles favours a drivers statistics and Schumacher was always going to go on and win more, however, mere numbers don’t create legends. But, winning five world championships in a row with the most infamous team in racing history and getting them back to the glory days gives you unchartered territory in terms of legacy. Schumacher has become synonymous with the sport’s most iconic team and set the benchmark of what every driver of the team should strive towards. Ferrari gave Schumacher the stage. Schumacher rewrote the script. Championships made Schumacher one of the greatest drivers in history. Ferrari made him immortal.
1:
Essere Ferrari: Why does the Scuderia inspire passion in racing fans like no other team?
(Allievi, 2020).
2:
How Ferrari Poached Michael Schumacher “In One Day” from F1 Champions
(Hall, 2026).
3:
Ferrari was Broken … Then Michael Schumacher Built an Empire
4:
Grid to Glory: 75 Milestone Formula One Moments
Alex Jacques
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