HE WON SO MANY Formula 1 races. Often they were with such crushing performances that there ended up being a discussion about how he acted during the regular airings of his team’s national anthem.
Back in the early 2000s, Michael Schumacher’s regular ‘conducting’ of the Ferrari mechanics joyously belting out Il Canto degli Italiani drew criticism from former Italian prime minister and president Francesco Cossiga. In 2023, there were countless skits and memes acknowledging that the Dutch/Austrian national anthem combination ringing out after every Max Verstappen/Red Bull walkover is now as familiar to the close of a grand prix as the thumping Brian Tyler-composed refrain is to the introduction.
There are plenty of Schumacher/Verstappen comparisons, and what ties them together nicely is the familial bond between the two camps – Verstappen once referred to Schumacher as an “uncle”, and became a racing contemporary of his son, Mick.
The elder Schumacher is an F1 legend. And although Verstappen’s career is surely nowhere near its conclusion, with three world titles he has already established his own similar status. Both drivers have amassed huge followings for their success, and the manner in which they have achieved it.
With the benefit of hindsight, we can reflect on how the seemingly never-ending march of Schumacher/Ferrari race and title victories in the early 2000s came to an end in 2005. In 2023, we might consider this a hypothetical mid-point in Verstappen’s era of domination. Schumacher’s run was ended by the combination of Ferrari and Bridgestone messing up the 2005 tyre rules against rising star Fernando Alonso at Renault, and we can’t predict when Verstappen’s current streak will conclude. All eras end but, given how 2023 has just played out, Verstappen is on course to be a five-time champion
