Italian Grand Prix 2008

The circuit of Monza will again host the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Italy from the 12th until the 14th September 2008. The Italian Grand Prix is one of the most popular races on the F1 calendar worldwide. In 2007 the McLaren team was leading the race. The team took the winner’s podium as well as the runners-up spot. The “Autodromo di Monza” is the ultimate circuit for speed lovers. On the long straight distances the Formula 1 pilots can race high speeds. Overtaking is easy, but also very dangerous. A race on the circuit at Monza forces a lot from both the car and the driver. As a result, spectacular crashes are also known to occur. A race at the “Autodromo di Monza” guarantees annual tension and sensation. This race should not be missed by real race fans!

British Racing Drivers' Club

The story of the British Racing Drivers' Club started way back in the days of the famous Bentley team that so effectively, and romantically, dominated the racing scene - Le Mans in particular - during the late 1920s.

The founder of the BRDC, Dr. J. D. Benjafield, one of the famed 'Bentley Boys' at Le Mans, was keen to organise dinner parties after races for his friends and drivers. It was these dinner parties which were the seeds from which grew the highly prestigious and much respected British Racing Drivers' Club that we know today.

The Club was inaugurated early in 1928, with twenty-five members and a clear set of objectives. These were to promote the interests of motor sport generally; to celebrate any specific performance in motor sport; to extend hospitality to racing drivers from overseas; and to further the interests of British drivers competing abroad.

At that time, membership was restricted to racing drivers of proven success and experience, and quickly grew following the decision of the BRDC to move into race organisation. The first Club-organised event, the BRDC 500-Mile Race, took place at Brooklands in October 1929 and the BRDC badge quickly established itself as a regular feature on overalls worn by the Club pioneer drivers.

After the Second World War, the BRDC became a major force in international motor racing, taking over the lease of Silverstone from the RAC in 1952 and subsequently purchasing the site's freehold from the Ministry of Defence in 1971. The Club through its wholly-owned subsidiary company, Silverstone Circuits Limited(formed in 1966 to develop the commercial aspects of the property), then set in motion a major redevelopment of what had been a wartime bomber training base producing one of the foremost motor racing facilities in the world. A Masterplan for the development of Silverstone is currently being implemented, with the long term security of the British Grand Prix the aim for both the BRDC and Silverstone Circuits Limited.

The entry criteria to the Club remains very strict with Full membership offered only to those ladies and gentlemen who have attained international success over a number of seasons. Associate membership is offered to those persons who have made a significant contribution to the sport and Honorary membership is bestowed upon only a special few, including F1 World Champions who by dint of nationality do not otherwise qualify. Every British or Commonwealth World Champion is, or has been in their lifetime, a Full Member of the Club.

Silverstone Circuits Limited promote a number of major international race meetings at Silverstone, including the British Grand Prix, plus rounds of the rounds of the FIA GT Championships, The British Touring Car Championship, Le Mans Series, British SuperBikes, British F3-GT and the Walter Hayes Trophy to name a few.

As a Club, the BRDC has grown to become the most prestigious motor racing club in the world and today, membership totals over 850.

Niki Lauda

Andreas Nikolaus Lauda was born to a well-to-do Vienna family on February 22, 1949. His family's social status proved both nuisance and good fortune. Although he was later to become successful in business on his own, it was obvious early on that he was not cut to fit the conventional Lauda mold, much to his family's consternation. He did, however, find the family connections to be useful when it later became necessary for him to borrow to support his racing.

Lauda became interested in motor racing not from attendance at events or boyhood idolization of racing heroes, but rather from an innate interest in automobiles dating to a young age. When he was twelve, visiting relatives were letting him park their cars. He got hold of, in his early teens, a 1949 Volkswagen Beetle convertible in which he would ride roughshod over a relative's estate. He entered his first race, a hill climb, in a Cooper in 1968 taking second in class. Thereafter, despite his father's insistence that he stay away from racing, he competed in hill climbs and later Formula Vee. He did his stint hauling a Formula 3 car on a trailer to races around Europe. In the course of this he scared himself into a certain amount of sanity, and, in 1971, abandoned the wildness of Formula 3 to take the plunge on his own in Formula 2.

By virtue of his family's business reputation he was able to secure loans that would not otherwise have been available. He used these to buy an F2 seat at March for '71 partnering Ronnie Peterson (who was getting paid for his driving), and the next season an F1/F2 combination. When March fizzled he persuaded Louis Stanley at BRM to sell him a seat. In the course of all this he ran up debts that would have balked a small banana republic. Due dates on notes had an unfortunate tendency not to coincide with the availability of starting money from touring car races. But his abilities got him noticed. In true fairy tail fashion first Stanley began paying him, then the call from Ferrari's Luca Montezemolo came before the financial house of cards collapsed (his devil-may-care approach didn't seem to worry him at the time, although in his mature years he would say that it had been crazy). He squirmed out of his contract with Stanley, and was off on an often-rocky ride with Ferrari to two world championships.

In 1974, his first year with Prancing Horse, Lauda scored the first of his 26 F1 victories. He, as well as teammate Clay Regazzoni, with good cars under them, challenged for the championship. Lauda took it in his second year with the team in a car that was technically far superior to any of the competition. He had 5 wins and a huge margin over second place. He called 1975 "the unbelievable year."

The championship that Lauda may wind up being most remembered for was one that he did not win. It is a curious fact about top level sporting endeavor that something needs to go wrong before there is a contest - before there is real competition. Baseball with nothing but ever-flawless hitting and perfect pitching would be boring not to mention impossible. Likewise soccer with constant errorless goal keeping or shots that never miss. Things must go wrong in motor races as well. But racing involves powerful machines carrying extraordinary levels of kinetic energy. So when something does go wrong, people can get badly hurt or killed. Niki Lauda suffered severe injuries in the 1976 German Grand Prix at the old Nurburgring, in the process setting up what may have been the most dramatic championship that F1 has yet seen.

Lauda had taken a significant early lead in the points despite having cracked ribs as a result of rolling a tractor while mowing his Salzburg property. F1's reigning playboy, James Hunt, had nonetheless adopted a never-say-die attitude, and kept his McLaren barely in touch even though he had a win at the British GP taken away over an alleged technical violation. By the German Grand Prix he was more than 20 down to the Austrian. After an early stop to change from wets to slicks, just past Bergwerk, Lauda's Ferrari unexplainably swerved off to the right, impacted an embankment, bounced back across the track, was collected by Brett Lunger and caught fire. Several drivers including Lunger, Guy Edwards and a fearless Arturo Merzario managed to extract Lauda from the burning wreck. Although he was able to stand after the accident, it soon became evident that his injuries were grave. Hot, toxic gases had damaged the inside of his lungs and his blood. His helmet had come partially adrift and he had suffered severe burns to his head. He lapsed into a coma. For a period of time his life was despaired of. However, he rallied and, in a show of courage that is difficult to overstate, was back in a Ferrari cockpit at speed six weeks after the accident (he later revealed that at the time he was virtually petrified with fear).

This six weeks covered 2 races and saw Hunt draw close. The Brands Hatch win was given back to him on appeal, and he won at Zandvoort. Lauda's return to competition at Monza produced an amazing 4th place and 3 points. Hunt scored wins in both North American races, while Lauda had to settle for no points at Canada by virtue of suspension problems, and a third at Watkins Glen. This impressive run pulled Hunt to within 3 points of Lauda with only Fuji left on the calendar. The race started in a monumental downpour, and after 2 laps Lauda abandoned saying it was crazy to drive in such conditions. He was probably correct, but he was probably also still affected by his Nurburgring accident. In the event, the rain soon slacked, and Hunt finished third despite a late tire change, collecting 4 points to take the title.

Hunt by no means backed into his championship. He won 8 races to Lauda's 4 (in 1976 wins were worth 9 points; with wins now worth 10 points we may not see a championship season like 1976 again), and 6 of the last 9. When he suffered setbacks he always bounced back. When opportunity presented itself he rose, in true championship fashion, fully to the occasion. He would be have been the last to admit it (he seemed to be proud of his uninhibited life style), but he displayed the better qualities of the British competitive spirit - a consistent tenacity and persistence in the face of difficult odds. Lauda had placed himself in an awkward and stressful situation: still leading the championship while suffering the physical and mental effects of a very bad accident. He could easily have (and perhaps should have) sat out the balance of the season. But he faced up squarely to his handicaps in clinging to his lead, and displayed admirable sanity under enormous pressure at Fuji.

In 1977 Lauda cruised to his second championship despite winning only 3 races, then promptly dropped Ferrari at Canada. The parting was not amicable, although Lauda was later to recant much of his criticism of the team (and eventually serve it as a sort of minister without portfolio). He was apparently an example of that rare individual who was not over-awed by Enzo Ferrari. He claims to have regularly simply shown himself into The Drake's inner sanctum when he wanted a word with him. And he was not cowed when those words became heated as tended to be the case following Fuji.

For 1978 Lauda took up with Bernie Ecclestone and Gordon Murray at Brabham. It was not the success that might have been expected from the trio. The Alfa 12-cylinder was not up to the task. Ecclestone was busy running the money end of F1. The only real accomplishment of note during Lauda's 2 seasons with Brabham was the infamous Fan Car. Lotus was starting to make great strides with ground effects, the aim of which was to reduce the air pressure under the car thereby increasing tire grip and cornering speed. In an exercise in loophole exploitation that probably made Colin Chapman green with envy, Brabham repositioned the radiators at the rear of the car and cooled them with a big fan instead of with rammed air as was normal with side-mounted radiators. Of course, they contrived to see to it that the fan just happened to also suck air out from under the car increasing its downforce. Lauda and John Watson employed all of the sandbagging skills they could muster in an effort to hide the fact that the car was unbeatable. It won once, in 1978 at Anderstorp with Lauda at the wheel. It never won again because it never competed again, having been promptly banned as being contrary to some rule or other.
At Canada in 1979, exactly 2 years after kissing off Ferrari, Lauda suddenly decided in the middle of practice that he no longer wanted to race, and promptly retired then and there from F1. For 2 seasons he devoted himself to his airline business and to TV commentary.

Lauda returned to F1 in 1982 for, by his own admission, financial reasons. The fledgling airline that he had started (he loved flying so why not an airline; to Niki Lauda it made perfect sense) had fallen on hard times. He signed up with Ron Dennis and McLaren to partner John Watson for plenty of money (albeit, on only a 4 race contract to start with) and the promise of a competitive ride.

Lauda's comeback got tangled up in the great FISA - FOCA war. One of the more prominent skirmishes in this ugly affair occurred at the 1982 South African GP. Lauda wound up in the middle of a labor fracas before he had even turned a Goodyear in anger. The so-called Super License for F1 drivers had been introduced by FISA in an effort to keep marginal talents out of the cockpit. Owner members of FOCA (with the apparent connivance of FISA), however, had taken advantage of the licensing process to try and bind drivers to their teams. Most drivers, including Lauda with his shrewd eye for all matters fiscal, saw through this ruse and refused to sign. At South Africa they were threatened by FISA with being banned from the race for lack of licenses. Lauda and Didier Pironi, head of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, organized a resistance movement, and got most of the drivers to lock themselves together in a hotel meeting room over night while Pironi negotiated with FISA major-domo Jean-Marie Balestre. Balestre made concessions prior to the weekend having to be completely written off, and Lauda went on to place 4th in his first race back.

And it didn't take long for him to reacquaint himself with winning. At Long Beach he won in only his third race since returning. He also won at Brands Hatch that season. '83 was a no win year while the TAG Turbo was shaken down, but '84 ended with Lauda back at the top of F1. Although he won the '84 championship by a mere 1/2 pt., he seemed to have the measure of his usually faster rival and new teammate, Alain Prost, for most of the season. As quick as Prost was and as good a politician as he was, he met his match in the imposing personalities of Lauda and later Ayrton Senna. Lauda was seldom faster than the best of his rivals. He disliked risks that he considered unnecessary. He was not noted for redoubling his efforts when things weren't going well. He was not one for making selfless sacrifices for the good of the team (though he would do so for the good of Lauda). He did often have good cars, but he also often had talented teammates who had the same cars - Regazzoni, Reutemann and Prost. One might wonder how it was that he was so successful. Lauda had the sort of self-confidence usually reserved for megalomaniacs, minus the psychosis. All three of his championships probably came about as much because he willed them into existence as for any other reason.

An important part of his successful mental approach to competition apparently was for him to be as unsparingly honest and straight with himself as he was with others. In the late '70s a PR visit between the then World Champion driver and Muhammad Ali was arranged. Lauda came away from it scratching his head, not because of the hype the boxer surrounded himself with (which Lauda understood to sometimes be part of a super star's marketing) but because Ali appeared to believe it. This was not a delusion under which Lauda would ever fall.

Another part was sheer smarts. Lauda, though a poor student as a youngster, is obviously possessed of superior intelligence in a branch of sport where that is saying a great deal indeed.

This served him well off the track as well as on. He and collaborators have produced 4 very informative books on racing and his career (which, by the way, thoroughly dispel the notion that he was nothing but a cold-hearted machine). He mastered English quickly (and, per force, Italian while he was with Ferrari), and thus had a language other than German in which to deliver the patented Lauda interviews. These were dispensed with a combination of succinctness, authority and deadly aim that rivaled the Almighty handing down the Ten Commandments on Sinai.

A good example occurred after he had retired from racing for the second time. One of his Lauda Air 767s suffered an uncommanded thrust reverser deployment after departing Bangkok and plunged into the jungle snuffing out a couple of hundred or so lives. Lauda rushed from Austria to the crash site buried deep in the Thai rain forest. The story has it that, plowing around through aircraft pieces, bodies and undergrowth, he single-handedly discovered the mechanical evidence pointing to the faulty reversers. Whether this is actually true or not, he was certainly instrumental in turning up information useful in determining the cause of the accident. He went straight to England where he could test the theory in a 767 simulator, then immediately held a press conference at which, with typical Lauda clarity and economy of words, he stated (not "suggested" or "inferred") that he knew the cause of the crash, and that it was not Lauda Air's fault, but rather a problem with the Boeing aircraft type. The official investigation culminating a year or so later arrived at the same conclusion. This ruthless straightforwardness had served him well in innumerable interviews during his racing career. While Hakkinen shows that he brooks no stupid questions by hemming and hawing, looking at the floor and replaying answers over and over, Lauda showed the same thing by simply providing a (emphasis here) few quick, clever, perfect words.

Lauda did not hang around long after taking his third championship. His second and final departure from F1, at Adelaide in 1985, was typical of his whole approach to racing and to life - quick, with no frills and no glance over the shoulder. One moment he was flying his McLaren down the long straight. The next his front brakes had failed him and he was skittering into the runoff area and up against the wall. The next after that he was out of his car disappearing behind the barrier without a look back and with the next flight out on his mind.

Many of Lauda's actions may appear to have been somewhat precipitous. But he likely is not so much impulsive as pathologically decisive. His extreme dislike of wishy-washiness probably explains such things as his abrupt abandonment of Ferrari in '77, his equally abrupt retirement from Brabham and F1 in '79, and his thumbing his nose at monopolistic Austrian Airlines by founding his own airline. He is unsympathetic to lack of punctuality. By his own admission those around him, including his family, often had to arrange their lives to suit his needs. He was vigilant and not the least bit sentimental when it came to making money from racing, to the point of insisting on handsome payment for autograph sessions. These and other personal traits chafed some egos along the way. In his Ferrari days Lauda, the very antithesis of the Italian persona, never captured the love of the tifosi the way that Gilles Villeneuve, or even Mansell did. Yet he became a bona fide legend in his own time. Certainly part of this was due to his Nurburgring accident. But primarily it was a result of the unique impact that his personality and skills had on the sport. There may have been a few better than him, but there have never been any like him.

Jarno Trulli

Jarno Trulli has been a Panasonic Toyota Racing driver since October 2004, bringing not only speed and race craft, but also the benefit of his vast experience of Formula 1, and life itself.
Motorsport is his passion, but that only tells half of the Jarno Trulli story. As well as racing, he produces his own wine, now a flourishing international business, while also building his own karts and - not to forget - enjoying a happy family life with wife Barbara and their two sons, Enzo and Marco.

He says: "I think I just see life in a different way. We all have different personalities and now I have a family I understand a bit more about certain things."Family is important for Jarno, so it was natural that when he looked for an opportunity away from motorsport, he chose to produce wine, a family tradition from his grandfather's time.
And success comes naturally to the quiet Italian so, after buying the vineyard in the Podere Castorani region in 2000, he has rapidly expanded from around 18,000 bottles a year, to an impressive 600,000 now.

"The year 2000 vintage was our first season and it was a really good season," Jarno says. "It was strange for me to drink a bottle of my own wine but I was happy because it was produced from my land and my passion.

"It is a really good feeling, especially when people appreciate my wine. It is great because when I travel around the world to Australia or to Canada and many other places I find my wine!"
Jarno, who has scored three podiums and one pole position for the team, has made 181 Grands Prix starts since his debut as a 22-year-old, following an impressive career in junior racing, including the 1995 world kart championship and the German Formula 3 title a year later.

In that first season, he started with Minardi but caught the eye of former world champion Alain Prost, who signed him as a temporary replacement for the injured Olivier Panis. That proved a good decision and Jarno scored a fine fourth place at the Nürburgring before sensationally leading in Austria.

After such impressive performances, Prost signed Jarno permanently for 1998 and 1999. Times were not always easy at his new team, but in the torrential rain at the Nürburgring, his hard work paid off with second place. Jordan was Jarno's home for the next two seasons and he continued to catch the eye, his reputation as one of the fastest drivers over one lap blossoming thanks to front row starts at Monaco and Spa-Francorchamps - both famed as the ultimate test for drivers - in 2000 and four more in 2001. Bad luck kept him from the podium, with fourth his best result at Jordan before a change of scenery for 2002 with a move to Renault. He outshone his team-mate but fourth was again his best result. Matters improved in 2003 and Jarno was third in Hockenheim, twice starting from the front row.

The 2004 season saw the greatest day so far in Jarno's career, when he won from pole position at Monaco. But, despite another pole at Spa, he left Renault before the season's end, joining Toyota for the last two races.

After achieving a personal milestone with his Monaco win, in 2005 he delivered more for his new team, taking Toyota's first Formula 1 podiums with second places in Malaysia and Bahrain, and third in Spain, as well as the team's maiden pole position, at Indianapolis.

Seventh place in the World Championship was his reward while Toyota's best season yet saw the team finish fourth in the Constructors' Championship.

Points were harder to come by in 2006, but a battling fourth place at Indianapolis delivered some return on his usual impressive qualifying pace, which included third on the grid at the final race in Brazil.

Jarno showed his speed again in 2007 by qualifying in the top 10 on 14 occasions, with a best result of sixth.

Role : Race Driver, Car Number 11
Nationality : Italian
Born : 13 July 1974 - Pescara, Italy
Marital Status : married to Barbara, 2 sons (Enzo and Marco)
Height : 1.73m
Weight : 60kg
Hobbies : Music, karting and fitness
Favourite food : Italian
Favourite drink : Cola
Favourite music : Jazz, pop, rock, lots of variety
Favourite circuit : Spa-Francorchamps
Favourite holiday : Maldives
Person most admired : The Pope
Bad habits : Arriving early
Drives : Lexus RX400, Harley Davidson
Favourite F1 driver : Niki Lauda
Best F1 moment : Winning Monaco 2004

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Carl Hamilton is a British Formula One racing driver from England. He will drive for the McLaren team in the 2007 Formula One season.

As early as 1994, Lewis had introduced himself to McLaren team boss Ron Dennis, at that Year's Autosport Awards, asking if he could drive for the team in the future.

In 1998 he was signed to the McLaren Driver Development Support programme. The contract included a future option on an F1 seat making Lewis, 13 at the time, the youngest driver ever to have an F1 contract.

His 2006 GP2 championship coincided with a vacancy at McLaren following the departure of Juan Pablo Montoya to NASCAR and Kimi Räikkönen to Ferrari.

After a long period of speculation of whether he, Pedro de la Rosa, Gary Paffett, or even Mika Häkkinen would drive for McLaren alongside World Champion Fernando Alonso for the 2007 Formula One season, Lewis was confirmed as the team's second driver. He was told of McLaren’s decision on September 30th, but the news was not made public until November 24th, for fear that it would be overshadowed by Michael Schumacher’s retirement announcement.

Lewis will be the first black driver with prominent African or Caribbean ancestry to compete in Formula One, since Willy T. Ribbs tested a Formula One car over 20 years ago.

Nationality : British
Date of Birth : 07/01/85
Place of Birth : Stevenage , UK
Height : 1.74m
Weight : 68kg
Resident : UK
Favourite Music : R & B, Reggae, Hip-Hop, and funky house
Hobbies : Playing the guitar, music, training

Formula 1 Statistics(after 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix)
Grand Prix Debut : 2007 Australian GP
Grand Prix Starts : 17
Grand Prix Points : 109
Grand Prix Wins : 4
Pole Positions : 6
Fastest Laps : 2
Number of Finishes : 16
Number of Podiums : 12
Number of finishes in Points : 15
Number of Doubles(pole position & win) : 4
Number of Trebles(pole position, win & fastest lap) : 1

FORMULA 1
2007 : Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: Driver

2007 AWARDS
SQUARE MILE SPORT AWARDS 2007 : Sports Person of the Year
ITALIAN CONFARTIGIANATO MOTORI : Racing Driver of the Year
PRIDE OF BRITAIN : Most Inspiring Public Figure Award
GQ UK : Sportsman of the Year
GQ GERMANY : Man of the Year
BILD AM SONNTAG : Golden Steering Wheel Award for Outstanding Achievement
AUTOCAR AWARD : Motorsport Award
WALPOLE AWARDS FOR BRITISH EXCELLENCE 2007 : British Sporting Excellence
F1 RACING MAGAZINE’S MAN OF THE YEAR AWARDS : Driver of the Year, Man of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Qualifier of the Year, Personality of the Year

AUTOSPORT AWARDS : Best British Competition Driver, Best International Racing Driver, Rookie of the Year
BRDC ANNUAL AWARDS2007 : Gold Star Winner
BBC EAST SPORTS AWARDS : Sports Personality of the Year

COMPETITION HISTORY
2006
GP2 Series: Champion with ART Grand Prix; five wins; six fastest laps; first double win at the Nürburgring; pole position and winner of Monaco GP2 race; second double win at Silverstone in home race; seven 2 nd place and two 3 rd place podiums
2005
F3 Euroseries: Champion with ASM F3 Dallara-Mercedes; 15 wins; 10 fastest laps; 13 pole positions; secured championship with four races remaining; winner of F3 Masters at Zandvoort including pole position and lap record; winner of the Monaco F3 Grand Prix including two pole positions and two race wins and one fastest lap; winner of Pau F3 Grand Prix in France; two pole positions, two race wins and two fastest laps
2004
F3 Euroseries: fifth; one win and third place at the Norisring and the Nürburgring; winner of Bahrain F3 Superprix
2003
British Formula Renault: Champion; 10 wins; nine fastest laps and 11 pole positions; Champion before final two rounds
2002
British Formula Renault: third; three wins; three fastest laps; three pole positions; Formula Renault EuroCup Championship fifth; one win three podiums; competed in four out of nine rounds
2001
British Formula Renault Winter Series; fifth overall.
2000
Formula A: European Champion; winner of all four rounds; World Cup Champion; awarded Karting World Number 1; winner of Masters at Bercy; Founder member of BRDC ‘Rising Star' membership
1999
Intercontinental A (ICA): Italian "Industrials" Champion, Junior ICA (JICA): Vice European Champion; winner Trophy de Pomposa, 4th Italian Open Championship
1998
Junior ICA (JICA): second in McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future series; fourth in Italian Open Championship; signed by McLaren and Mercedes-Benz to Young Driver Support Programme
1997
Junior Yamaha: Super One British Champion; winner of McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future series
1996
Cadet Class: winner of McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future series; Sky TV Kart Masters Champion; Five Nations Champion
1995
Cadet Class: Super One British Champion; STP Champion

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher (pronounced /ˈmɪçaʔeːl ˈʃuːmaχɐ /, born January 3, 1969, in Hürth Hermülheim, Germany) is a former Formula One driver, and seven-time world champion. According to the official Formula One website, he is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen". He is the first German to win the Formula One World championship and is credited with popularising Formula One in Germany. In a 2006 FIA survey, Michael Schumacher was voted the most popular driver among Formula One fans.
After winning two championships with Benetton, Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996 and won five consecutive drivers' titles with them. Schumacher holds many records in Formula One, including most drivers' championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and most races won in a single season. Schumacher is the first and only Formula One driver to have an entire season of podium finishes (2002). His driving sometimes created controversy: he was twice involved in collisions that determined the outcome of the world championship, most notably his disqualification from the 1997 championship for causing a collision with Jacques Villeneuve. On September 10, 2006, Schumacher announced his retirement as a driver.Schumacher is currently assisting Scuderia Ferrari CEO Jean Todt for the 2007 Formula One Season.
Off the track, Schumacher is an ambassador for UNESCO and a spokesman for driver safety. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts throughout his life. He is the elder brother of current Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher.

Johny Herbert

Johnny Herbert's racing career began in 1974 at the tender age of 10. His parents, Bob and Jane, supported him from the start and spent all of their weekends at the kart races in the early days. Johnny's obvious speed and ability in a kart were evident right from the start to anyone who saw him race.
In his July 1998 column for F1 Racing magazine, Johnny looked back on his early years in karts with fond memories:
"Karting brings you out of yourself. I was very shy as a kid, and it brought me out of my shell. And you learn about racing and the behaviour necessary for a professional career at a much earlier age. It's essential experience.

"When I first went to Buckmore [Park (an outdoor kart circuit in Kent)], I went as a boy scout, because of course it's a scouting venue as well. I'd got hooked on karting on holiday and pestered Dad until we got one, then I started running at Tilbury and Buckmore. I remember when it was just a speedbowl, not the sophisticated set-up it is now. I was about nine at the time! Scouts would turn up with funny, self-built karts, and I'd bring along my racing kart, a Sprint, and thrash them.
"Then I started driving a thing called a Tarantella, and through that I got to meet a guy called Bill Sisley, because he was selling spares. Dad and I met him at Surbiton and he started helping us out. Bits and bobs to begin with, then maybe an engine or two. I started driving one of his Kestrel karts.
"Bill has built up Buckmore, and he's one of those people I always recall fondly. He did so much to further my career. He helped me to win British Championships and to compete in the junior World Championship in Luxembourg, and he gave me the opportunities that helped me to leap up two or three performance levels. I ran sixth that time, until the chain came off with two laps to go.
"And, I suppose, Bill helped me to grow up, because as soon as I left school I went to work for him in Swanley. I used to cycle 30 miles there and 30 back each day, from home in Romford. It was quite funny; as this shy kid, I used to sell kart parts to people such as Andrea de Cesaris and Eddie Cheever, who'd often drop in. Eventually, I'd drive the van, build the fun karts Bill was producing, and, of course, race. It was Bill who got me my first Formula Ford drive too, in a Royale RP26 via Terry Gray's dad, Vic."

In 1978, wider recognition of Johnny's talent followed when he became British junior karting champion. Progressing through the ranks, he was British senior 135cc karting champion in 1979 and 1982. Johnny was also classified 18th in the World Championships at Kalmar, Sweden, in 1982.
Johnny moved up to Formula Ford at the end of 1983, and he crowned two full years in the highly competitive series with a triumphant display at the 1985 Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, marking him out as one of Britain's fastest rising stars.

"And so, after starting his heat the day before from the back of the grid with a 10sec penalty, 20-year-old Johnny Herbert crossed the line to wild cheers. It was no more than [his team] deserved. Never the ones to make excuses, always sporting and down to earth, the small team had taken on the Van Diemen hordes and beaten them.
"It was an emotional moment and every one of the appreciative crowd knew it. Once more the Formula Ford Festival and World Cup had produced superb entertainment. Brands Hatch last Sunday was all about Quest Racing and Johnny Herbert."
After one victory during a season of FF2000 in 1986, Johnny then graduated to Formula 3.