Michael Schumacher—the most ‘legendary’ speedster in Formula 1’s history—had crossed the chequered flag of his career with a ton of ‘record-breaking’ achievements at the time of his retirement. And then came along the ‘legend killers’ Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who broke many of the German Maestro’s records and shared them among themselves.
However, Michael Schumacher still possesses a record in the history books of Formula 1 that is yet to be broken.
Michael Schumacher’s F1 record that nobody has beaten yet
Formula 1’s legendary Michael Schumacher, a former Ferrari and Mercedes man, is often regarded as the greatest racer in the history of motorsports. His racing career of almost two decades saw him drive for top teams like Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes in Formula 1.
During his active years in racing, Schumacher broke and wrote countless records in F1 history books and even managed to retire with the record for owning the ‘highest number of records held by a F1 racer.’
However, fast forward to the present day, and most of his records are already broken or shared with other younger guns like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. But, Schumacher still holds one F1 record that no driver has been able to break yet: the ‘Most races left in a season before a Championship win.’
Michael Schumacher grabbed this ‘yet-to-be-broken’ record in the 11th round of the 2002 F1 season, with 6 GP races still left in the 17-race calendar.
In 2023, Max Verstappen also won the championship, with 6 GP races still remaining. But, noting that he won it right after scoring in the sprint race of the Qatar GP, the record still remains unbroken and is held by Michael Schumacher.
From what it looks like and the way Max Verstappen has started the 2024 season, he can meet up with Michael Schumacher’s record and even break it this season.
Did Max Verstappen ever meet Michael Schumacher?
Max Verstappen, son of Jos Verstappen, has not only broken and shared records with Michael Schumacher but also met up with the legendary F1 driver back in his childhood and teenage days. This is courtesy of the close friendship between his father, a former Formula 1 racer, and Schumacher.
One of the most highlighted clips of these two shows a young Max Verstappen being kissed by Schumacher, while they both were present at a race paddock.
Verstappen, who referred to Michael Schumacher as Uncle Schumacher, once revealed his fond memories of the man in an interview. Touching up on the memories with his uncle, he quoted, “We used to go on holidays when we were little.”
“The two families. The memories will always stay with me,” he added.
“I was three or four years old at the time. I just knew that was Uncle Michael, who was very nice, and who was an extremely big family man. But, I never saw him as a record World Champion, I didn’t know that,” he concluded.
Another famous clip highlights Schumacher visiting Verstappen at a kart-racing track in Genk, Belgium.
Will Michael Schumacher’s record be broken by Verstappen this season? Or will Verstappen fall short in doing so? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
