Telegraph
The 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed will celebrate the career of Michael Schumacher, with his famous cars, family, friends, team-mates and former rivals coming together in a unique tribute to Formula 1’s greatest record-breaker. Those rivals will include F1 World Champions Mika Hakkinen and Damon Hill.
This year marks not only Schumacher’s 50th birthday, but also the 25th anniversary of the first of his seven Formula 1 World Championships.
Schumacher’s entire career will be celebrated at the Festival of Speed from July 4-7, with cars from his time in sports and touring cars, the junior categories and, of course, his Formula 1 career, which spanned 21 years and more than 300 races.
The tribute matches perfectly the 2019 Festival of Speed’s theme: “Speed Kings – Motorsport’s Record Breakers”. With 91 Grand Prix victories and seven world titles to his name, it is a perfect year to honour Formula 1’s greatest record-breaker.
Sabine Kehm, spokesperson for the Schumacher family, said: “We are delighted that the Goodwood Festival of Speed has chosen to celebrate Michael’s career, in the year of his 50th birthday, and on the 25th anniversary of his first World Championship. It is especially fitting this year, as the event’s ‘Record Breakers’ theme perfectly encapsulates his incredible achievements, including records, many of which may never be broken.
“We hope the public enjoy the opportunity to see an assortment of his winning cars, and the many friends, rivals and team members, who are coming to Goodwood to support the occasion. We thank the Duke of Richmond and the Goodwood team for making Michael such an important feature of this year’s event.”
Famously, the prolific German has never attended the Festival of Speed, despite numerous attempts by the Duke of Richmond and his team to lure him to the event.
Schumacher started his motorsport career in karts and, after several titles, moved into Formula 3 and then sports cars as part of the famed Mercedes-Benz junior team. His Grand Prix debut came in the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, when he stood in for Jordan’s Bertrand Gachot. His long-time manager Willi Weber was asked by team principal Eddie Jordan whether he had been to Spa, to which the answer was in the affirmative; Weber neglected to say that it was as a spectator.
No matter, Schumacher put his Jordan 191 seventh on the grid, which was the highest starting position the team had achieved thus far, and more than half a second faster than his seasoned team-mate Andrea de Cesaris.
Despite clutch failure on the opening lap, the stage had been set. Schumacher was snapped up by the Benetton team for the rest of the season and, only three years later, he took his first F1 World Championship with that team.
By the time he moved to Ferrari for the 1996 season he was a two-time champion and, with the help of Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, dragged the Italian team back to the front of the grid. In 2000, he became Ferrari’s first Drivers’ Champion since Jody Scheckter 21 years earlier.
The wins, and championships, kept coming and, having won 91 Grands Prix, he retired at the end of the 2006 season. He returned in 2010 for Mercedes, but despite a podium finish in 2012 his impact was minimal.
While his time in F1 was sometimes overshadowed by poor on-track decisions - most notably collisions with rivals Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve when titles were at stake - his thirst for victory and supreme car control were never in doubt. He still holds more than 20 records in the sport, some of which may never be beaten.
In late 2013, Schumacher suffered a severe head injury while skiing, and has been rehabilitating since at his home in Switzerland.
Tickets for the Festival of Speed on July 4-7 are available from Goodwood.com and from the ticket office on 01243 755 055.
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