On this day: Michael Schumacher’s last F1 win at Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai
- German’s 91st win came at third attempt for Ferrari in Shanghai in 2006 and is soon expected to be matched by Lewis Hamilton
- Health of record world champion in the news again as son Mick prepares to make Formula One debut
Michael Schumacher set a record for the longest gap between first and last wins with what would prove to be his last Formula One victory in Shanghai on October 1, 2006.
That record has since been passed – Kimi Raikkonen did so at the 2014 US Grand Prix, nearly 15 years after his first win in Malaysia in 2003, eclipsing Schumacher’s 14-year gap between Belgium in 1992 and China in 2006. Raikkonen has not won since, by the way.
A more interesting record is that Schumacher’s win in Shanghai was his 91st in Formula One. It is a record that is soon expected to be broken by British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who sits on 90 wins.
It is such a feat that Netflix were with Hamilton at Sochi at the last Grand Prix, where he was given two penalties and finished on the podium instead of being the race winner.
The 35-year-old Briton, whose career began in 2007 after Schumacher first retired, will no doubt match the sport’s greatest driver – he has a better win percentage record from his starts than one of the drivers he most admired, although Schumacher’s 91st win in Shanghai came in his 246th start and Sochi was Hamilton’s 260th.
Hamilton, in the run-up to his chance to equal Schumacher’s record with a win in Sochi, noted the German’s influence, notably his last-ever race in Abu Dhabi in 2012.