Official name	City of Abu Dhabi
Continent	Asia
Name	Abu Dhabi|settlement_type City
Native name	أبوظبي ''Abū Dhabi"
Pushpin map	UAE
Pushpin mapsize	280
Pushpin map caption	Location of Abu Dhabi in the UAE
Government type	Constitutional monarchy
Subdivision type1	Country
Subdivision name1	United Arab Emirates
Coordinates display	inline,title
Coordinates type	region:AE-AZ_type:city
Leader title	Sheikh
Leader name	Khalifa bin Zayed
Leader title1	Crown Prince
Leader name1	Mohammed bin Zayed
Area total km2	67.34
Altitude	27
Population as of	2009
Population total	896,751
Population density km2	13317
Utc offset	+4
Timezone	UAE standard time
Website	Abu Dhabi Government Portal
Footnotes	}}

Abu Dhabi ( ''''), literally ''Father of gazelle'', is the capital and the second largest city in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper had an estimated population of 896,751 in 2009.

Abu Dhabi houses important offices of the federal government, and is the seat for the United Arab Emirates Government and the home for the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE from this family. Abu Dhabi has grown to be a cosmopolitan metropolis. Its rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the relatively high average income of its population, has transformed Abu Dhabi to a larger and advanced metropolis. Today the city is the country's center of political, industrial activities, and a major cultural, and commercial centre due to its position as the capital. Abu Dhabi alone generated 56.7% of the GDP of the United Arab Emirates in 2008.

Abu Dhabi is home to important financial institutions such as the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and the corporate headquarters of many companies and numerous multinational corporations. One of the world's largest producers of oil, Abu Dhabi has actively attempted to diversify its economy in recent years through investments in financial services and tourism. Abu Dhabi is the second most expensive city for expatriate employees in the region, and 50th most expensive city in the world. ''Fortune'' & CNN stated that Abu Dhabi is the richest city in the world.

History

Early Civilizations

Abu Dhabi is full of archeological evidence pointing to civilizations having been located there from the 3rd millennium BCE. Settlements were also found further out of the modern city of Abu Dhabi but close to the modern city of Al Ain. There is evidence of civilizations around the mountain of Hafeet (Jebel Hafeet). This location is very strategic because it is the UAE’s second tallest mountain so it would have great visibility and it contains a lot of moisture in the form of springs and lakes today, which means there would have been even more back thousands of years ago.

Origins of the Al Nahyan Family

The Bani Yas Bedouin tribe made their civilization off the coast of the Persian Gulf in the 16th century due to the discovery of fresh water. This tribe was the most significant in the area, having over 20 subsections. The tribe was originally centered in the Liwa Oasis but the Al Bu Falah subsection migrated to modern Abu Dhabi in 1793. One section within this subsection was named the Al Nahyan Family. This family makes up the rulers of Abu Dhabi today.

Pearl Trade

Abu Dhabi worked in the pearl business and traded with others. According to a source about pearling the Persian Gulf was the best location for pearls. Pearl divers dived for one to one-and-a-half minutes, and would have dived up to thirty times per day. There were no oxygen tanks and any other sort of mechanical device was forbidden. The divers had a leather nose clip and leather coverings on their fingers and big toes to protect them while they searched for oysters. The divers were not paid for a day’s work but received a portion of the season’s earnings.

Trucial Coast

In the 19th century, as a result of treaties (known as "truces" which gave the coast its name) entered into between Great Britain and the sheikhs of the Gulf shore, Britain became the predominant influence in the area. The main purpose of British interest was to protect the trade route to India from pirates, hence the earlier name for the area, "the "Pirate Coast". After piracy was suppressed other considerations came into play, such as a strategic need of the British to exclude other powers from the region. Following their withdrawal from India in 1947, the British maintained their influence in Abu Dhabi as interest in the oil potential of the Gulf grew.

First Oil Discoveries

In the 1930s, as the pearl trade declined, interest grew in the oil possibilities of the region. On 5 January 1936, Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd, an associate company of the Iraq Petroleum Company, entered into a concession agreement with the ruler, Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan al Nahyan, to explore for oil. This was followed by a seventy-five-year concession signed in January 1939. However, owing to the desert terrain, inland exploration was fraught with difficulties. In 1953, D'Arcy Exploration Company, the exploration arm of British Petroleum, obtained an offshore concession which was then transferred to a company created to operate the concession: Abu Dhabi Marine Areas (ADMA) was a joint venture between BP and Compagnie Française des Pétroles (later Total). In 1958, using a marine drilling platform, the ADMA Enterprise, oil was struck in the Umm Shaif field at a depth of about 8,755 feet. This was followed in 1959 by PDTC’s onshore discovery well at Murban No.3.

In 1962, the company discovered the Bu Hasa field and ADMA followed in 1965 with the discovery of the Zakum offshore field. Today, in addition to the oil fields mentioned, the main producing fields onshore are Asab, Sahil and Shah, and offshore are al-Bunduq, and Abu al-Bukhoosh.

Geography and climate

The city of Abu Dhabi is geographically located on the north-eastern part of the Persian Gulf in the Arabian Peninsula. It is on an island located less than two-hundred-and-fifty metres from the mainland and is joined to the mainland by the Maqta and Mussafah Bridges. A third, Sheikh Zayed Bridge, designed by Zaha Hadid, was opened in late 2010. Abu Dhabi Island is also connected to Saadiyat Island by a five-lane motorway bridge. Al-Mafraq bridge connects the city to Reem Island and was completed in early 2011. This is a multilayer interchange bridge and it has a total of twenty-seven lanes which allow roughly twenty-five thousand automobiles to move per hour. There are three major bridges of the project, the largest has eight lanes, four leaving Abu Dhabi city and four coming in.

Most of Abu Dhabi is located on the island itself, but it has many suburbs on the mainland for example: Khalifa City A,B and C, Al Raha Beach, Al Bahia City A,B and C, Al Shahama, Al Rahba, Between Two Bridges, Baniyas and Mussafah Residential.

Abu Dhabi has a hot arid climate. Sunny blue skies can be expected throughout the year. The months of June through September are generally hot and humid with maximum temperatures averaging above . During this time, sandstorms also occur intermittently, in some cases reducing visibility down to a few meters.

The weather is cooler from November to March. This period also sees dense fog on some days. The oasis city of Al-Ain, about away, bordering Oman, regularly records the highest summer temperatures in the country; however, the dry desert air and cooler evenings make it a traditional retreat from the intense summer heat and year-round humidity of the capital city.

Governance and politics

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the hereditary ruler of Abu Dhabi (UAE). He is a son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the United Arab Emirates. His half-brother, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and wields considerable influence as Chairman of Abu Dhabi's Executive Council and Deputy Supreme Commander of the armed forces of The United Arab Emirates.

The total number of members of the Executive Council has been slimmed down to 98 since the succession and it now consists largely of prominent members of the ruling family as well as a number of respected politicians.

The emirates maintain their hereditary rulers who, as a group, form the UAE’s Supreme Council of Rulers, headed by the president. Although the presidency is renewable every five years through a vote in the council, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan held the presidency from the formation of the UAE until his death in November 2004, and there is an implicit understanding that Abu Dhabi’s ruler will always be elected president.

At a federal level, laws must be ratified by the Supreme Council. The Council of Ministers forms the executive authority of the state. This 20-member cabinet is headed by the president’s chosen prime minister, a post currently held by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The cabinet also refers to the Federal National Council (FNC), a 40-member consultative body to which each emirate appoints a certain number of members. In the case of Abu Dhabi, this is eight. The procedures for appointment to the FNC have recently been amended so that each emirate must now select its representatives through an electoral body. The size of each electoral authority must be 100 times greater than the number of representatives it appoints. Half the members of each electoral body will be selected by the ruler of the emirate while the other half will be directly elected by residents of the emirate. These amendments are considered to be the first step in a wider electoral reform program which will see greater representation at a federal level.

The Abu Dhabi Information & Service Gateway www.abudhabi.ae

frame|alt=Logo of the Abu Dhabi Information and Service Gateway|Abu Dhabi Gateway Logo|right|400pxThe Abu Dhabi e-Government Gateway, abudhabi.ae, is the official website of Abu Dhabi Government providing citizens, residents, tourists and businesses comprehensive information and services around Abu Dhabi. The Gateway is a one-stop-shop for information about the ruling system, environment, sightseeing, events, labour law, jobs and contact details of over 90 departments in Abu Dhabi.

The website is designed as a service oriented portal with the objective of hosting government online services, delivering up-to-date information and providing a platform for interaction between the government and society. More than 50 interactive and transactional services are currently provided through the Abu Dhabi e-Government Gateway. The information & service gateway is also empowered by a multi-layered geographic map of Abu Dhabi, which allows the user to view the map based on his area of interest. The search and directory services on the portal cover a large diversity of information including schools, medical facilities, hotels, restaurants, events, trade names among others. Transactional services such as paying traffic fines, applying for fishing licence or requesting Property Certificates require secure authentication via Emirates ID (EIDA-card) and PIN.

Cityscape

Neighborhoods

Al Mushrif

Al Khubeirah

Al Ras Al Akhdar

Al Bateen

Hideriyyat

Marina Village

Lulu Island

Al Meena

Al Markaziyah

Al Dhafrah

Al Manhal

Qasr El Bahr

Al Nahyan

Al Rowdaj

Qasr El Shatie

Al Qubesat

Al Aman

Al Moroor

Al Zahraa

Al Rehhan

Al Muzoon

Al Madina

Al Maqtaa

{[aL Maqtaa}]

Architecture

The density of Abu Dhabi varies, with high employment density in the central area, high residential densities in central downtown and lower densities in the suburbs. In the dense areas, most of the concentration is achieved with medium- and high-rise buildings. Abu Dhabi's skyscrapers such as the notable Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Tower, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi headquarters, the Hilton Hotel Tower and the Etisalat headquarters are usually found in the financial districts of Abu Dhabi. Other notable modern buildings include the Emirates Palace with its design inspired by Arab heritage, and the www.visitabudhabi.com

The development of tall buildings has been encouraged in the Abu Dhabi Plan 2030, which will lead to the construction of many new skyscrapers over the next decade, particularly in the expansion of Abu Dhabi's central business district such as the new developments on Al Sowwah Island and Al Reem Island. Abu Dhabi already has a number of supertall skyscrapers under construction throughout the city. Some of the tallest buildings on the skyline include the Central Market Residential Tower, the The Landmark (Abu Dhabi) and the 74-storey, Sky Tower. Also many other skyscrapers over (500 ft) are either proposed or approved and could transform the city's skyline. As of July 2008, there were 62 high-rise buildings under construction, approved for construction, or proposed for construction.

One of the most important architectural landmarks is the majestic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, located in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This masterpiece is arguably one of the most important architectural treasures of contemporary UAE society - and one of the most beautiful in the world. It was initiated by the late President of the United Arab Emirates, HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, fondly thought of as the father of the UAE.

Its design and construction 'unites the world', using artisans and materials from many countries including Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, Turkey, Iran, China, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greece and of course the United Arab Emirates. More than 3,000 workers and 38 renowned contracting companies took part in the construction of the Mosque! Natural materials were chosen for much of its design and construction due to their long-lasting qualities, including marble, stone, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals and ceramics. Construction began on November 5, 1996. The maximum capacity is approximately 41,000 people and the overall structure is 22,412 square metres and although still under completion, the internal prayer halls were initially opened in December 2007.

As one of the most visited buildings in the UAE, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center was established to manage the day to day operations, as a place of worship and Friday gathering and also a centre of learning and discovery through its education and visitor programs. Persons planning a visit the mosque can go to www.szgmc.ae for all the information they require.

Parks and gardens

Abu Dhabi has over 2000 well-maintained parks and gardens and more than 400 km of coastline, of which 10 km are public beaches.

Economy

The UAE’s large hydrocarbon wealth gives it one of the highest GDP per capita in the world and Abu Dhabi owns the majority of these resources – 95% of the oil and 6% of gas. Abu Dhabi thus holds 9% of the world’s proven oil reserves (98.2bn barrels) and almost 5% of the world’s natural gas (5.8 trillion cu metres). Oil production in the UAE was in the region of 2.3m barrels per day (bpd) in 2010, and projects are in progress to boost production to 3m bpd. In recent years the focus has turned to gas as increasing domestic consumption for power, desalination and reinjection of gas into oil fields increases demand. Gas extraction is not without its difficulties, however, as demonstrated by the sour gas project at Shah where the gas is rich in hydrogen sulphide content and is expensive to develop and process.

Recently the government has been diversifying their economic plans. Served by high oil prices, the country’s non oil and gas GDP has outstripped that attributable to the energy sector. Remarkably, non oil and gas GDP now constitutes 64% of the UAE’s total GDP. This trend is reflected in Abu Dhabi with substantial new investment in industry, real estate, tourism and retail. As Abu Dhabi is the largest oil producer of the UAE, it has reaped the most benefits from this trend. It has taken on an active diversification and liberalisation programme to reduce the UAE’s reliance on the hydrocarbon sector. This is evident in the emphasis on industrial diversification with the completion of an industrial free zone, Industrial City of Abu Dhabi, and the construction of another, ICAD II, in the pipeline. There has also been a drive to promote the tourism and real estate sectors with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and the Tourism and Development Investment Company undertaking several large-scale development projects. These projects will be served by an improved transport infrastructure with a new port, an expanded airport and a proposed rail link between Abu Dhabi and Dubai all in the development stages.

Abu Dhabi is the wealthiest emirate of the UAE in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and per capita income. More than $1 trillion is invested worldwide in this city alone. The GDP per capita also reached $63,000, which is far above the average income of the United Arab Emirates and which ranks third in the world after Luxembourg and Norway. Abu Dhabi is also planning many future projects sharing with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and taking 29% of all the GCC future plannings. The United Arab Emirates is a fast-growing economy: in 2006 the per capita income grew by 9%, providing a GDP per capita of $49,700 and ranking third in the world at purchasing power parity. Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), currently estimated at US$ 875 billion, is the world's wealthiest sovereign fund in terms of total asset value. Etihad Airways maintains its headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi's government is looking to expand revenue from oil and gas production to tourism and other sorts of features which would attract different types of people. This goal is seen in the amount of attention Abu Dhabi is giving to its International Airport. The airport, in 2009, experienced a 30%+ growth in passenger usage. This idea of diversification of the economy is also seen in the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 planned by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. In this plan Abu Dhabi's economy will be sustainable and not be dependent on any one facet or source of revenue. More specifically the non-oil portion of income is planned to be increased from about 40% to about 60%.

Utility services

The water supply in Abu Dhabi is managed by the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company. As of 2006, it supplied 560.2 MiGD (million imperial gallons per day) of water, while the water demand for 2005–06 was estimated to be 511 MiGD. The Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) states that groundwater is the most significant source of water, as well as desalinated potable water, and treated sewage effluent. At 40.6 MiGD, the Umm Al Nar storage is the largest water source for Abu Dhabi, followed by the rivers Shuweihat and Taweelah. With falling groundwater level and rising population density, Abu Dhabi faces a severely acute water shortage. On average each Abu Dhabi resident uses of water per day. Abu Dhabi daily produces 1,532 tonnes of solid wastes which is dumped at three landfill sites by Abu Dhabi Municipality. The daily domestic waste water production is 330 MiGD and industrial waste water is 40 MiGD. A large portion of the sewerage flows as waste into streams, and separation plants.

The city's per capita electricity consumption is about 41,000 kWh and the total supplied is 8,367 MW as of 2007. The distribution of electricity is carried out by companies run by SCIPCO Power and APC Energy. The Abu Dhabi Fire Service runs 13 fire stations that attend about 2,000 fire and rescue calls per year.

State-owned Etisalat and private du communication companies provide telephone and cell phone service to the city. Cellular coverage is extensive, and both GSM and CDMA (from Etisalat and Du) services are available. Etisalat, the government owned telecommunications provider, held a virtual monopoly over telecommunication services in Abu Dhabi prior to the establishment of other, smaller telecommunications companies such as Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC — better known as Du) in 2006. Internet was introduced into Abu Dhabi in 1995. The current network is supported by a bandwidth of 6 GB, with 50,000 dialup and 150,000 broadband ports. Etisalat recently announced implememnting a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in Abu Dhabi during the third quarter of 2009 to make the emirate the world's first city to have such a network.

City planning

The city was planned in the 1970s for an estimated maximum population of 600,000. In accordance with what was considered to be ideal urban planning at the time, the city has wide grid-pattern roads, and high-density tower blocks. On the northerly end of the island, where the population density is highest, the main streets are lined with 20- to 30-story towers. Inside this rectangle of towers is a normal grid pattern of roads with lower density buildings (2-story villas or 6-story low-rise buildings).

Abu Dhabi is a modern city with broad boulevards, tall office and apartment buildings, and busy shops. Principal thoroughfares are the Corniche, Airport Road, Sheikh Zayed Street, Hamdan Street and Khalifa Street. Abu Dhabi is known in the region for its greenery; the former desert strip today includes numerous parks and gardens. The design of the inner city roads and main roads are quite organised. Starting from the Corniche, all horizontal streets are oddly and the vertical ones evenly numbered. Thus, the Corniche is Street #1, Khalifa is Street #3, Hamdan is Street #5, and so on. Conversely, Salam Street is St #8.

Mail is generally delivered to post-office boxes only; however, there is door-to-door delivery for commercial organizations. There are many parks throughout the city. Entrance is usually free for children, however there is often an entrance fee for adults. The Corniche, the city's seaside promenade, is about in length, with gardens, playgrounds, and a BMX/skateboard ring.

In 2007 the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) was established, which is the agency responsible for the future of Abu Dhabi’s urban environments and the expert authority behind the visionary Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 Urban Structure Framework Plan that was published in September 2007. The UPC is also working on similar plans for the regions of Al-Ain and Al-Gharbia.

Because of the rapid development of Abu Dhabi, a number of challenges to the city's urban organization have developed, among them:

Today, the city's population far surpasses the original estimated maximum population when it was designed. This causes traffic congestion, a shortage of car parking spaces, and overcrowding.

Although there is an addressing system for the city, it is not widely used, causing problems in describing building locations. Directions must often be given based on nearby landmarks.

Demographics

According to the Abu Dhabi Department of Planning and Economy, in 2006 the population of the emirate was 1,463,491.

As the emirate covers , nearly 87% of the UAE, the population density is .

Abu Dhabi also ranks as the 26th most expensive city in the world, and the second most in the region behind Dubai.

As of 2001, 25.6% of the population of the emirate was made up of UAE nationals. Approximately 74.4% of the population was expatriates. The median age in the emirate was about 30.1 years. The crude birth rate, as of 2005, was 13.6%, while the crude death rate was about 2%.

Article 7 of the UAE's Provisional Constitution declares Islam the official state religion of the UAE. The government subsidizes almost 95% of mosques and employs all imams.

The majority of the inhabitants of Abu Dhabi are expatriate workers from India, Pakistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines, the United Kingdom and various countries from across the Arab world. Consequently, English, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Somali, Tigrinya, Amharic and Bengali are widely spoken. Apart from Urdu and Hindi spoken by Indians and Pakistanis, many South Asian expatriates also contribute other South Asian languages to the cultural milieu, including Malayalam, the main language spoken in the state of Kerala.

The native-born population are Arabic-speaking Gulf Arabs who are part of a clan-based society. The Al Nahyan family, part of the al-Falah branch of the Bani Yas clan, rules the emirate and has a central place in society.

Transportation

Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) is the city's main aviation hub and the second busiest airport in the UAE, serving 9.02 million passengers in 2008, up 30.2% on 2007. Its terminal spaces are dominated by Etihad Airways which is the UAE's national carrier and the country's second largest airline. A new terminal opened in 2009 with total capacity reaching 12 million passengers per annum by 2011. Development work has also started on a new passenger terminal, to be situated between the two runways and known as the Midfield Terminal. The new mega-midfield terminal complex will be capable of handling an additional 20 million passengers a year initially and then later, as Abu Dhabi develops as a major Middle East transport hub, up to 50 million passengers a year, thus providing a major competition to Dubai International Airport. The terminal will initially include 42 gates, rising to more than 90 gates on completion of the airport.

Public transport systems in Abu Dhabi include the Abu Dhabi public buses, taxis, ferries, and airplanes. White-and-mustard metered taxis traverse most of the city in UAE. Currently newer silver-colored taxis are coming in, while the old mustard-colored ones are being phased out. Abu Dhabi has about 8,000 old bronze/yellow/gold & white taxis, which will be phased out from 2008 to 2010.

The first town bus entered service in about 1969 but this was all part of a very informal service. On 30 June 2008 the Department of Transport began public bus service in Abu Dhabi with four routes. In an attempt to entice people to use the bus system, all routes were zero-fare until the end of 2008. The four routes, which operate between 6 am and midnight every day, run at a frequency of 10 to 20 minutes. Within the first week of service, the bus network had seen high ridership. Some of the buses, which have a maximum capacity of 45 passengers, only had room for standing left. Some bus drivers reported as many as 100 passengers on a bus at one time. Although the new, zero-fare bus service has been a success, many taxi drivers are losing business. Taxi drivers have seen a considerable decrease in the demand for taxis while lines were forming for the buses. The service steadily expanded and by the end of 2008, 230 buses were in service. In 2009, the Department of Transport plans to have 21 bus routes in the city, operated by 820 buses. A total of 1,360 buses are expected to be in operation by 2010.

A massive expansion of public transport is anticipated within the framework of the government's Surface Transport Master Plan 2030. The expansion is expected to see of metro and of tramways and/or bus rapid transit (BRT) routes.

Culture

Abu Dhabi has a diverse and multicultural society. The city's cultural imprint as a small, ethnically homogenous pearling community was changed with the arrival of other ethnic groups and nationals — first by the Iranians in the early 1900s, and later by Indians and Pakistanis in the 1960s. Abu Dhabi has been criticized for perpetuating a class-based society, where migrant workers are in the lower classes. Despite the diversity of the population, only minor and infrequent episodes of ethnic tensions, primarily between expatriates, have been reported in the city. Major holidays in Abu Dhabi include ''Eid al Fitr'', which marks the end of ''Ramadan'', Eid ul-Adha which marks the end of Hajj, and National Day (2 December), which marks the formation of the United Arab Emirates.

This unique socioeconomic development in the Persian Gulf has meant that Abu Dhabi is generally more tolerant than its neighbours. While Islam is the main religion, Emaritis have been known for their tolerance; Christian churches, Hindu temples, and Sikh gurdwaras can be found alongside mosques. The country is home to several communities that have faced persecution elsewhere. The cosmopolitan atmosphere is gradually growing and as a result, there are a variety of Asian and Western schools, cultural centers and themed restaurants.

Abu Dhabi is home to a number of cultural institutions including the Cultural Foundation and the National Theater. The Cultural Foundation, while closed for reconstruction as of spring 2011, is home to the UAE Public Library and Cultural Center. Various cultural societies such as the Abu Dhabi Classical Music Society have a strong and visible following in the city. The recently launched Emirates Foundation offers grants in support of the arts, as well as to advance science and technology, education, environmental protection and social development. The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) will be based in Abu Dhabi. The city also stages hundreds of conferences and exhibitions each year in its state-of-the-art venues, including the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) which is the Persian Gulf's largest exhibition center and welcomes around 1.8 million visitors every year.

The Red Bull Air Race World Series has been a spectacular sporting staple for the city for many years, bringing tens of thousands to the waterfront. Another major event is the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

The diversity of cuisine in Abu Dhabi is a reflection of the cosmopolitan nature of the society. Arab food is very popular and is available everywhere in the city, from the small shawarma to the upscale restaurants in the city's many hotels. Fast food and South Asian cuisine are also very popular and are widely available. The sale and consumption of pork, though not illegal, is regulated and it is sold only to non-Muslims in designated areas. Similarly, the sale of alcoholic beverages is regulated. A liquor permit is required to purchase alcohol; however, alcohol is available in bars and restaurants within four or five star hotels but is not sold as widely as in its liberal neighbour Dubai. ''Shisha'' and ''qahwa'' boutiques are also popular in Abu Dhabi.

Poetry in Abu Dhabi and the UAE is highly regarded and often is centric around the themes of satire, religion, family, chivalry and love. According to an article from an Abu Dhabi tourism page, sheikhs, teachers, sailors and princes make a large bulk of the poets within the UAE. A unique form of poetry to the UAE was formed in the 8th century by Al Khalil bin Ahmed and it was written in 16 meters. The first known poet from the UAE, Ibn Majid, was born sometime between 1432 and 1437 in Ras Al Khaimah. According to the tourism page Majid came from a family of sailors and 40 of his works have survived. Another Emeriti poet, Ibn Daher is from the 17th century. Daher is important because he used Nabati poetry (AKA Bedouin poetry), poetry written in the vernacular instead of the classical/religious Arabic. Other important poets from the UAE are Mubarak Al Oqaili (1880–1954), Salem bin Ali al Owais (1887–1959) and Ahmed bin Sulayem (1905–1976). These poets made headway in the field of Classical Arabic poetry as opposed to the Nabati poetry of the 17th century.

One of Ibn Masjid’s most prominent works is a book called, Kitab al-Fawa’id fi Usul ‘Ilm al-Bahr wa ’l-Qawa’id (Book of Useful Information on the Principles and Rules of Navigation), and it was written in 1490. This book is effectually an encyclopedia about navigation and sailing in and around the Indian Ocean. Masjid also goes into detail about the intricacies and technologies of the Arab sailing techniques. An excerpt from his book is as follows:

Today in Abu Dhabi there is a group called the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation that works to preserve the art and culture of the city. According to an article from the English Pen Atlas Al jawaher wal la'li was the first manuscript to come out of the UAE. According to another article this book was written in the 1990s and was banned in the city for some time for making accusations about the ruling family.

Education

Abu Dhabi is home to several international and local private schools and universities, including government-sponsored United Arab Emirates University in Al-Ain, Higher Colleges of Technology and New York Film Academy, Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi University in Abu Dhabi. These boast several languages that make up the population of the city. A large number of schools target the expatriate population by following the same syllabi as in their native countries. For e.g.: The Abu Dhabi Indian School follows the CBSE Indian syllabus. INSEAD, the prestigious international business school, has established a campus in February 2010, offering an Executive MBA and executive education courses. New York University opened a government-sponsored satellite campus in Abu Dhabi in September 2010.

Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) maintains a comprehensive after-school program for interested and talented Jiu-Jitsu students. The Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Schools Program began in 2008 under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, who is a keen Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor. The program launched in 14 schools for pupils in grades 6 and 7, and has since expanded to 42 government schools, with 81 Brazilian coaches brought in as instructors.

The students aged from 9 to 13 years old are taught Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as part of the curriculum. The plan is for up to 500 schools to be participating in the School-Jitsu program by 2015. The project was set up by special request of HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the head coach of the Emirates Jiu-jitsu team Carlos Santos, now also the managing director of the School-Jitsu Project.

Abu Dhabi provides a free scholarship program to students through The Petroleum Institute.www.pi.ac.ae. It is considered one of the best engineering colleges in UAE. It is being launched by ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) and offers degrees in Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, Petroleum, Reservoir and other engineering sectors. A notable aspect of the Petroleum Institute is that after graduation, they trained their students on their petroleum rigs provided them jobs in oil companies. The Petroleum Institute is one of the few higher education Institutions to offer students such job security. Every year in the season of admissions an exhibition is launched in Abu Dhabi Exhibition Center under the supervision of the government.Universities from every corner of the world exhibit their career programs and scholarship programs for globally bright students.This seems to be a well defined platform for the students of all nationalities.Univrsity of Heriot Watt,University of Bolton,Cambridge university,Oxford university,The Petroluem institute,Khalifa University and Abu dhabi University.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Abu Dhabi is twinned with:

	Bethlehem, Palestinian National Authority>Palestinian Authority	* Madrid, Spain ''(2007)''	* Houston, Texas, United States ''(2002)''		Brisbane, Australia ''(since 2009)''	* Islamabad, Pakistan	* Minsk, Belarus ''(since 2007)''		* Nicosia, Cyprus ''(since 2004)''	* Iquique, Chile	* Roskilde, Denmark ''(since 2011)''

See also

Abu Dhabi International Airport

Al-Ain

Aldar headquarters

Department of Municipal Affairs, Abu Dhabi Department of Municipal Affairs.

Dubai

Dubai-Abu Dhabi Highway

Marawah

Postage stamps and postal history of Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Zayed Mosque

National Center for Documentation and Research

References

External links

Municipality of Abu Dhabi City

Abu Dhabi information portal, abudhabi.ae

Department of Municipal Affairs Portal, abudhabi.ae

Abu Dhabi City Bus Route, wikitravel.org

2030 transport master plan, dot.abudhabi.ae

Category:Capitals in Asia Category:Metropolitan areas of the United Arab Emirates Category:Populated coastal places in the United Arab Emirates Category:Populated places in the United Arab Emirates

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Post	Premier
Body	theState Council of thePeople's Republic of China
Insignia	National Emblem of the People's Republic of China.svg
Insigniacaption	Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Incumbent	Wen Jiabao
Incumbentsince	16 March 2003
Residence	Zhongnanhai
Nominator	the President of the People's Republic of China
Appointer	the National People's Congress
Termlength	five years, renewableonce consecutively
Formation	27 September 1954()
Inaugural	Zhou Enlai
Website	State Council }}

The Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China (), sometimes also referred to as the "Prime Minister" informally, is the Leader of the State Council of the People's Republic of China (the "Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China" after 1954), who is the head of government and holds the highest-ranking (Level 1) of the Civil service of the People's Republic of China. This position was originally known as Premier of the Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government () and changed to its current name in 1954. The Premier is formally approved by the National People's Congress upon the apparent nomination of the President. In practice, the candidate is recommended by the Politburo of the Communist Party of China. Both the President and the Premier are selected once every five years. The Premier has always been a member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Powers and duties

The Premier is the highest administrative position in the Government of the People's Republic of China. The Premier is responsible for organizing and administering the Chinese civil bureaucracy. This includes overseeing the various ministries, departments, commissions and statutory agencies and announcing their candidacies to the National People's Congress for Vice-Premiers, State Councillors and ministry offices. Apparently, the Premier does not have authority over the People's Liberation Army, but the Premier is the Head of the National Defence Mobilization Committee of China which is a department of armed forces redeployment. In recent years, there has been a division of responsibilities between the Premier and the General Secretary of CPC wherein the Premier is responsible for the technical details of implementing government policy while the General Secretary gathers the political support necessary for government policy.

In 1989, then Premier Li Peng, in cooperation with the then Chairman of the Central Military Commission Deng Xiaoping, was able to use the office of the Premier to declare martial law in Beijing and order the military crackdown of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

The Premier has been supported by four Vice-Premiers since Deng Xiaoping's reform in 1983.

List of premiers

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1949 till:01/01/2014 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1949

Colors = id:pres value:rgb(1,0,0) id:vac value:rgb(0,1,0)

BarData = barset:PM

PlotData= width:8 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:PM

from: 01/10/1949 till: 08/01/1976 color:pres text:"Zhou" fontsize:10 from: 08/01/1976 till: 04/02/1976 color:vac text:"vacant" fontsize:10 from: 04/02/1976 till: 10/09/1980 color:pres text:"Hua" fontsize:10 from: 10/09/1980 till: 24/11/1987 color:pres text:"Zhao" fontsize:10 from: 24/11/1987 till: 17/03/1998 color:pres text:"Li" fontsize:10 from: 17/03/1998 till: 16/03/2003 color:pres text:"Zhu" fontsize:10 from: 16/03/2003 till: 16/03/2013 color:pres text:"Wen" fontsize:10

Living former premiers

See also

List of premiers of China

Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China

President of the People's Republic of China

List of Chinese leaders

Paramount Leader

Political position ranking of PRC

External links

Official PRC Government Website

Category:Politics of the People's Republic of China Category:Government of the People's Republic of China

de:Liste der Ministerpräsidenten der Volksrepublik China es:Primer Ministro del Consejo de Estado de la República Popular China fi:Kiinan kansantasavallan pääministeri fr:Premier ministre de la République populaire de Chine ko:중화인민공화국의 총리 id:Perdana Menteri Republik Rakyat Cina mk:Премиер на Народна Република Кина mr:चीनच्या जनता-प्रजासत्ताकाचे पंतप्रधान ja:国務院総理 pl:Premierzy Chińskiej Republiki Ludowej th:นายกรัฐมนตรีจีน vi:Thủ tướng Quốc vụ viện Trung Quốc zh:中华人民共和国国务院总理

name	Michael Schumacher
nationality	German
birth date	January 03, 1969
2011 car number	7
2011 team	Mercedes GP
races	281 (280 starts)
championships	7 (, , , , , , )
wins	91
podiums	154
poles	68
fastest laps	76
first race	1991 Belgian Grand Prix
first win	1992 Belgian Grand Prix
last win	2006 Chinese Grand Prix
last race
last season	2010
last position	9th (72 pts)
points	1,483 }}

Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. He holds many of the formula's driver records, including most championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and most races won in a single season – 13 in 2004. In 2002 he became the only driver in Formula One history to finish in the top three in every race of a season and then also broke the record for most consecutive podium finishes.

After beginning with karting, Schumacher won German drivers' championships in Formula König and Formula Three before joining Mercedes in the World Sportscar Championship. After one Mercedes-funded race for the Jordan Formula One team Schumacher signed as a driver for the Benetton Formula One team in 1991. After winning consecutive championships with Benetton in 1994/5, Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996 and won another five consecutive drivers' titles with them from 2000–2004. Schumacher retired from Formula One driving in 2006 staying with Ferrari as an advisor. Schumacher agreed to return for Ferrari part-way through 2009, as cover for the badly injured Felipe Massa, but was prevented by a neck injury. He later signed a 3-year contract to drive for the new Mercedes GP team starting in .

His career has not been without controversy, including being twice involved in collisions in the final race of a season that determined the outcome of the world championship, with Damon Hill in 1994 in Adelaide, and with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 in Jerez.

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 and donated tens of millions of dollars to charity. Michael and his younger brother Ralf Schumacher are the only brothers to win races in Formula One, and they were the first brothers to finish 1st and 2nd in the same race, in Montreal in 2001, and there again (in switched order) in 2003.

Early years

Schumacher was born in Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, to Rolf Schumacher, a bricklayer, and his wife Elisabeth. When Schumacher was four, his father modified his pedal kart by adding a small motorcycle engine. When Schumacher crashed it into a lamp post in Kerpen, his parents took him to the karting track at Kerpen-Horrem, where he became the youngest member of the karting club. His father soon built him a kart from discarded parts and at the age of six Schumacher won his first club championship. To support his son's racing, Rolf Schumacher took on a second job renting and repairing karts, while his wife worked at the track's canteen. Nevertheless, when Schumacher needed a new engine costing 800 DM, his parents were unable to afford it; Michael was able to continue racing with support from local businessmen.

Regulations in Germany require a driver to be at least 14 years old to obtain a kart license. To get around this, Schumacher obtained a license in Luxembourg at the age of 12.

In 1983, he obtained his German license, a year after he won the German Junior Kart Championship. From 1984 on, Schumacher won many German and European kart championships. He joined Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert in 1985 and by 1987 he was the German and European kart champion, then he quit school and began working as a mechanic. In 1988 he made his first step into single-seat car racing by participating in the German Formula Ford and Formula König series, winning the latter.

In 1989, Schumacher signed with Willi Weber's WTS Formula Three team. Funded by Weber, he competed in the German Formula 3 series, winning the title in 1990. At the end of 1990, along with his Formula 3 rivals Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger, he joined the Mercedes junior racing programme in the World Sports-Prototype Championship. This was unusual for a young driver: most of Schumacher's contemporaries would compete in Formula 3000 on the way to Formula One. However, Weber advised Schumacher that being exposed to professional press conferences and driving powerful cars in long distance races would help his career. In the 1990 World Sportscar Championship season, Schumacher won the season finale at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in a Sauber–Mercedes C11, and finished fifth in the drivers' championship despite only driving in 3 of the 9 races. He continued with the team in the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season, winning again at the final race of the season at Autopolis in Japan with a Sauber–Mercedes-Benz C291, leading to a ninth place finish in the drivers championship. He also competed at Le Mans during that season, finishing 5th in a car shared with Karl Wendlinger and Fritz Kreutzpointner. In 1991, he competed in one race in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship, finishing second.

Formula One career

Overview

Schumacher was noted throughout his career for his ability to produce fast laps at crucial moments in a race, to push his car to the very limit for sustained periods. Motor sport author Christopher Hilton observed in 2003 that "A measure of a driver's capabilities is his performance in wet races, because the most delicate car control and sensitivity are needed", and noted that like other great drivers, Schumacher's record in wet conditions shows very few mistakes: up to the end of the 2003 season, Schumacher won 17 of the 30 races in wet conditions he contested. Some of Schumacher's best performances occurred in such conditions, earning him the nicknames "''Regenkönig''" (rain king) or "''Regenmeister''" (rain master)., even in the non-German language media. He is known as "the Red Baron", because of his red Ferrari and in reference to the German Manfred von Richthofen, the famous flying ace of World War I. Schumacher's nicknames include "Schumi", "Schuey" and "Schu". Schumacher is often credited with popularising Formula One in Germany, where it was formerly considered a fringe sport. When Schumacher retired in 2006, three of the top ten drivers were German, more than any other nationality and more than have ever been present in Formula One history. Younger German drivers, such as Sebastian Vettel, felt Schumacher was key in their becoming Formula One drivers. In the latter part of his Formula One career, and as one of the senior drivers, Schumacher was the president of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. In a 2006 FIA survey, Michael Schumacher was voted the most popular driver of the season among Formula One fans.

Debut

Schumacher made his Formula One debut with the Jordan-Ford team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, driving car number 32 as a replacement for the imprisoned Bertrand Gachot. Schumacher, still a contracted Mercedes driver, was signed by Eddie Jordan after Mercedes paid Jordan $150,000 for his debut. The week before the race, Schumacher impressed Jordan designer Gary Anderson and team manager Trevor Foster during a test drive at Silverstone. His manager Willi Weber assured Jordan that Schumacher knew the challenging Spa track well, although in fact he had only seen it as a spectator. During the race weekend, team-mate Andrea de Cesaris was meant to show Schumacher the circuit but was held up with contract negotiations. Schumacher then learned the track on his own, by cycling around the track on a fold-up bike he had brought with him. He impressed the paddock by qualifying seventh in this race. This matched the team's season-best grid position, and out-qualified 11-year veteran de Cesaris. Motorsport journalist Joe Saward reported that after qualifying "clumps of German journalists were talking about 'the best talent since Stefan Bellof. Schumacher retired on the first lap of the race with clutch problems.

Benetton

After his debut, and despite Jordan's signed agreement in principle with Schumacher's Mercedes management for the remainder of the season, Schumacher was signed by Benetton-Ford for the following race. Jordan applied for an injunction in the UK courts to prevent Schumacher driving for Benetton, but lost the case as they had not yet signed a contract. Schumacher finished the season with four points out of six races. His best finish was fifth in his second race, the , in which he finished ahead of his team-mate and three-time World Champion Nelson Piquet.

At the start of the season the Sauber team, planning their Formula One debut with Mercedes backing for the following year, invoked a clause in Schumacher's contract which stated that if Mercedes entered Formula One, Schumacher would drive for them. It was eventually agreed that Schumacher would stay with Benetton, Peter Sauber said that "[Schumacher] didn't want to drive for us. Why would I have forced him?". The year was dominated by the Williams of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese, featuring powerful Renault engines, semi-automatic gearboxes and active suspension to control the car's ride height. In the "conventional" Benetton B192 Schumacher took his place on the podium for the first time, finishing third in the . He went on to take his first victory at the , in a wet race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which by 2003 he would call "far and away my favourite track". He finished third in the Drivers' Championship in 1992 with 53 points, three points behind runner-up Patrese.

The Williams of Damon Hill and Alain Prost also dominated the season. Benetton introduced their own active suspension and traction control early in the season, last of the frontrunning teams to do so. Schumacher won one race, the where he beat Prost, and had nine podium finishes, but retired in seven of the other 15 races. He finished the season in fourth, with 52 points.

1994–1995: World Championship years

The season was Schumacher's first Drivers' Championship. The season, however, was marred by the deaths of Ayrton Senna (witnessed by Schumacher, who was directly behind in 2nd position) and Roland Ratzenberger during the , and by allegations that several teams, including Schumacher's Benetton team, broke the sport's technical regulations.

Schumacher won six of the first seven races and was leading the , before a gearbox failure left him stuck in fifth gear. Schumacher finished the race in second place. Following the San Marino Grand Prix, the Benetton, Ferrari and McLaren teams were investigated on suspicion of breaking the FIA-imposed ban on electronic aids. Benetton and McLaren initially refused to hand over their source code for investigation. When they did so, the FIA discovered hidden functionality in both teams' software, but no evidence that it had been used in a race. Both teams were fined $100,000 for their initial refusal to cooperate. However, the McLaren software, which was a gearbox program that allowed automatic shifts, was deemed legal. By contrast, the Benetton software was deemed to be a form of "launch control" that would have allowed Schumacher to make perfect starts, which was explicitly outlawed by the regulations. At the , Schumacher was penalised for overtaking on the formation lap. He then ignored the penalty and the subsequent black flag, which indicates that the driver must immediately return to the pits, for which he was disqualified and later given a two-race ban. Benetton blamed the incident on a communication error between the stewards and the team. Schumacher was also disqualified after winning the after his car was found to have illegal wear on its skidblock, a measure used after the accidents at Imola to limit downforce and hence cornering speed. Benetton protested that the skidblock had been damaged when Schumacher spun over a kerb, but the FIA rejected their appeal because of the pattern of wear and damage visible on the block. These incidents helped Damon Hill close the points gap, and Schumacher led by a single point going into the final race in Australia. On lap 36 Schumacher hit the guardrail on the outside of the track while leading. Hill attempted to pass but as Schumacher's car returned to the track there was a collision on the corner causing them both to retire. As a result Schumacher won a very controversial championship, the first German to do so (Jochen Rindt raced under the Austrian flag).

In Schumacher successfully defended his title with Benetton. He now had the same Renault engine as Williams. He accumulated 33 more points than second-placed Damon Hill. With team-mate Johnny Herbert, he took Benetton to its first Constructors' Championship and became the youngest two-time world champion in Formula One history.

The season was marred by several collisions with Hill, in particular an overtaking manoeuvre by Hill took them both out of the on lap 45 and again on lap 23 of the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher won nine of the 17 races, and finished on the podium 11 times. Only once did he qualify worse than fourth; at the , he qualified 16th, but went on to win the race. After Schumacher left Benetton at the end of the year, the team won only one more race before being bought by Renault in 2000.

Ferrari

In , Schumacher joined Ferrari for a salary of $50 million over 2 years, a team which had last won the Drivers' Championship with Jody Scheckter in and which had not won the Constructors' Cup since 1983 with drivers René Arnoux and Patrick Tambay at the wheel. He left Benetton a year before his contract with them expired; he later cited the team's damaging actions in 1994 as his reason for opting out of his deal. A year later, ex-Benetton employees Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn, who had been Technical Director at Benetton since 1991, and who was one of the key members behind Schumacher's title successes with the team in 1994 and 1995, decided to join Schumacher at Ferrari. This increased Schumacher's motivation to build a more experienced and potentially championship-winning team around him.

Ferrari had previously come close to the championship in 1982 and 1990. The team had suffered a disastrous downturn in the early 1990s, partially as their famous V12 engine was no longer competitive against the smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient V10s of their competitors. Various drivers, notably Alain Prost, had given the vehicles labels such as "truck", "pig", and "accident waiting to happen". The poor performance of the Ferrari pit crews was considered a running joke. At the end of 1995, though the team had improved into a solid competitor, it was still considered inferior to front-running teams such as Benetton and Williams. Schumacher declared the Ferrari 412T good enough to win the Championship.

Schumacher, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, and Jean Todt (hired in 1993), have been credited as turning this once struggling team into the most successful team in Formula One history. Three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart believes the transformation of the Ferrari team was Schumacher's greatest feat. Eddie Irvine also joined the team, moving from Jordan.

1996–1999

Schumacher finished third in the Drivers' Championship in 1996, and helped Ferrari to second place in the constructors' championship ahead of his old team Benetton. He won three races, more than the team's total tally for the period from 1991 to 1995. During the initial part of the 1996 season, the car had had reliability trouble and Schumacher did not finish 6 of the 16 races. He took his first win for Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix, where he lapped the entire field up to third place in the wet. In the Schumacher qualified in pole position, but suffered engine failure on the race's formation lap. However at Spa-Francorchamps, Schumacher used well-timed pit-stops to fend off the Williams' Jacques Villeneuve. Following that, at Monza, Schumacher won in front of the tifosi. Schumacher's ability, combined with the improving reliability of Ferrari, enabled him to end the season, putting up a challenge to eventual race and championship winner Damon Hill at Suzuka.

Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve vied for the title in . Villeneuve, driving the superior Williams FW19, led the championship in the early part of the season. However, by mid-season, Schumacher had taken the Championship lead, winning five races, and entered the season's final Grand Prix with a one-point advantage. Towards the end of the race, held at Jerez, Schumacher's Ferrari developed a coolant leak and loss of performance indicating he may not finish the race. As Villeneuve approached to pass his rival, Schumacher attempted to provoke an accident but got the short end of the stick, retiring from the race. Villeneuve went on and scored four points to take the championship. Schumacher was punished for unsportsmanlike conduct for the collision and was disqualified from the Drivers' Championship.

In , Finnish driver Mika Häkkinen became Schumacher's main title competition. Häkkinen won the first two races of the season, gaining a 16 point advantage over Schumacher. Schumacher then won in Argentina and, with the Ferrari improving significantly in the second half of the season, Schumacher took six victories and had five other podium finishes. Ferrari took a 1–2 finish at the , the first Ferrari 1–2 finish since 1990, and the , which tied Schumacher with Häkkinen for the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 80 points, but Häkkinen won the Championship by winning the final two races. There were two controversies; at the Schumacher was leading on the last lap when he turned into the pit lane, crossed the start finish line and stopped for a ten second stop go penalty. There was some doubt whether this counted as serving the penalty, but, because he had crossed the finish line when he came into the pit lane, the win was valid. At Spa, Schumacher was leading the race by 40 seconds in heavy spray, but collided with David Coulthard's McLaren when the Scot, a lap down, slowed in very poor visibility to let Schumacher past. After both cars returned to the pits, Schumacher leaped out of his car and headed to McLaren's garage in an infuriated manner and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him.

Rumours circulated that Coulthard may be replaced by Schumacher for the 1999 season and beyond and, in a previous edition of the F1 Racing magazine, Ron Dennis revealed that he had approached Schumacher to sign a deal with McLaren. However, peripheral financial issues that tied Schumacher with Ferrari, such as sponsorship agreements and payment, could not be rectified in a move to the rival team and so, no deal came to fruition.

Schumacher's efforts helped Ferrari win the Constructors title in . He lost his chance to win the Drivers' Championship at the at the high-speed ''Stowe Corner'', his car's rear brake failed, sending him off the track and resulting in a broken leg. During his 98 day absence, he was replaced by Finnish driver Mika Salo. After missing six races, he made his return at the inaugural , qualifying in the pole position by almost a second. He then assumed the role of second driver, assisting team mate Eddie Irvine's bid to win the Drivers' Championship for Ferrari. In the last race of the season, the , Häkkinen won his second consecutive title. Schumacher would later say that Häkkinen was the opponent he respected the most.

2000–2004: World Championship years

During this period Schumacher won more races and championships than any other driver in the history of the sport. Schumacher won his third World Championship in after a year-long battle with Häkkinen. Schumacher won the first three races of the season and five of the first eight. Mid-way through the year, Schumacher's chances suffered with three consecutive non-finishes, allowing Häkkinen to close the gap in the standings. Häkkinen then took another two victories, before Schumacher won at the . At the post race press conference, after equalling the number of wins (41) won by his idol, Ayrton Senna, Schumacher broke into tears. The championship fight would come down to the penultimate race of the season, the . Starting from pole position, Schumacher lost the lead to Häkkinen at the start. After his second pit-stop, however, Schumacher came out ahead of Häkkinen and went on to win the race and the championship.

In , Schumacher took his fourth drivers' title. Four other drivers won races, but none sustained a season-long challenge for the championship. Schumacher scored a record-tying nine wins and clinched the world championship with four races yet to run. He finished the championship with 123 points, 58 ahead of runner-up Coulthard. Season highlights included the , where Schumacher finished 2nd to his brother Ralf, thus scoring the first ever 1–2 finish by brothers in Formula One; and the Belgian Grand Prix in which Schumacher scored his 52nd career win, breaking Alain Prost's record for most career wins.

In , Schumacher used the Ferrari F2002 to retain his Drivers' Championship. There was again some controversy, however, at the , where his teammate, Rubens Barrichello was leading but in the final metres of the race, under orders, slowed to allow Schumacher to win the race. The crowd broke into outraged boos at the result and Schumacher tried to make amends by placing Barrichello at the top step of the podium. At the later that year, Schumacher dominated the race and was set for a close finish with Barrichello. At the end he slowed down to create a formation finish with Barrichello, but slowed too much allowing Barrichello to take the victory. In winning the Drivers' Championship he equalled the record set by Juan Manuel Fangio of five world championships. Ferrari won 15 out of 17 races, and Schumacher won the title with six races remaining in the season. Schumacher broke his own record, shared with Nigel Mansell, of nine race wins in a season, by winning eleven times and finishing every race on the podium. He finished with 144 points, a record-breaking 67 points ahead of the runner-up, his teammate Rubens Barrichello. This pair finished 9 of the 17 races in the first two places.

Schumacher broke Juan Manuel Fangio's record of five World Drivers' Championships by winning the drivers' title for the sixth time in , a closely contested season. The biggest competition came once again from the McLaren Mercedes and Williams BMW teams. In the first race, Schumacher ran off track, and in the following two, was involved in collisions. He fell 16 points behind Kimi Räikkönen. Schumacher won the and the next two races, and closed within two points of Räikkönen. Aside from Schumacher's victory in Canada, and Barrichello's victory in Britain, the mid-season was dominated by Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, who each claimed two victories. After the , Michael Schumacher led Montoya and Kimi Räikkönen by only one and two points, respectively. Ahead of the next race, the FIA announced changes to the way tyre widths were to be measured: this forced Michelin, supplier to Williams and McLaren among others, to rapidly redesign their tyres before the . Schumacher, running on Bridgestone tyres, won the next two races. After Montoya was penalised in the , only Schumacher and Räikkönen remained in contention for the title. At the final round, the , Schumacher needed only one point whilst Räikkönen needed to win. By finishing the race in eighth place, Schumacher took one point and assured his sixth World Drivers' title, ending the season two points ahead of Räikkönen.

In , Schumacher won a record twelve of the first thirteen races of the season, only failing to finish in Monaco after an accident with Juan Pablo Montoya during a safety car period when he briefly locked his car's brakes. He clinched a record seventh drivers' title at the . He finished that season with a record 148 points, 34 points ahead of the runner-up, teammate Rubens Barrichello, and set a new record of 13 race wins out of a possible 18, surpassing his previous best of 11 wins from the season.

2005–2006

Rule changes for the 2005 season required tyres to last an entire race, tipping the overall advantage to teams using Michelins over teams such as Ferrari that relied on Bridgestone tyres. The rule changes were partly in an effort to dent Ferrari's dominance and make the series more interesting. The most notable moment of the early season for Schumacher was his battle with Fernando Alonso in San Marino, where he started 13th and finished only 0.2 seconds behind the Spanish driver. Less than half-way through the season, Schumacher said "I don't think I can count myself in this battle any more. It was like trying to fight with a blunted weapon.... If your weapons are weak you don't have a chance." Schumacher's sole win in 2005 came at the . Prior to that race, the Michelin tyres were found to have significant safety issues. When no compromise between the teams and the FIA could be reached, all but the six drivers using Bridgestone tyres dropped out of the race after the formation lap. Schumacher retired in six of the 19 races. He finished the season in third with 62 points, fewer than half the points of world champion Alonso.

became the last season of Schumacher's Ferrari career. After three races, Schumacher had just 11 points and was already 17 points behind Alonso. He won the following two races. His pole position at San Marino was his 66th, breaking Ayrton Senna's 12 year old record.

Schumacher was stripped of pole position at the and started the race at the back of the grid. This was due to him stopping his car and blocking part of the circuit while Alonso was on his qualifying lap; he still managed to work his way up to 5th place on the notoriously cramped Monaco circuit. By the , the ninth race of the season, Schumacher was 25 points behind Alonso, but he then won the following three races to reduce his disadvantage to 11. His win at Hockenheim was the last home win for a German as of now. After his victories in Italy (in which Alonso had an engine failure) and China, in which Alonso had tyre problems, Schumacher led in the championship standings for the first time during the season. Although he and Alonso had the same point total, Schumacher was in front because he had won more races. The Japanese Grand Prix was led by Schumacher with only 16 laps to go, when, for the first time since the 2000 French Grand Prix, Schumacher's car suffered engine failure. Alonso won the race, which gave him a ten point championship lead. With only one race left in the season, Schumacher could only win the championship if he won the season finale and Alonso scored no points.

Before the , Schumacher conceded the title to Alonso. In pre-race ceremonies, football legend Pelé presented a trophy to Schumacher for his years of dedication to Formula One. During the race's qualifying session, Schumacher had the best time of all drivers through the first two sessions; but a fuel pressure problem prevented him from completing a single lap during the third session, forcing him to start the race in tenth position. Early in the race Schumacher moved up to sixth place. However, in overtaking Alonso's teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, Schumacher experienced a tyre puncture caused by the front wing of Fisichella's car. Schumacher pitted and consequently fell to 19th place, 70 seconds behind teammate and race leader Felipe Massa. Schumacher recovered and overtook both Fisichella and Räikkönen to secure fourth place. His performance was classified in the press as "heroic", an "utterly breath-taking drive", and a "performance that ... sums up his career".

2007–2009 Retirement

thumb|BMW Sauber with "Thanks Michael" messages towards Michael Schumacher on the back of their cars, Schumacher and Peter Sauber worked together in sports cars prior of entering in F1 in 1992.While Schumacher was on the podium after winning the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari issued a press release stating that he would retire from racing at the end of the 2006 season. Schumacher confirmed his retirement. The press release stated that Schumacher would continue working for Ferrari. It was revealed on 29 October 2006 that Ferrari wanted Schumacher to act as assistant to the newly appointed CEO Jean Todt. This would involve selecting the team's future drivers. After Schumacher's announcement, leading Formula One figures such as Niki Lauda and David Coulthard hailed Schumacher as the greatest all-round racing driver in the history of Formula One. The tifosi and the Italian press, who did not always take to Schumacher's relatively cold public persona, displayed an affectionate response after he announced his retirement.

2007: Advisor to Ferrari

During the season Schumacher acted as Ferrari's advisor and Jean Todt's 'super assistant'. He attended several Grands Prix during the season. Schumacher drove the Ferrari F2007 for the first time on 24 October at Ferrari's home track in Fiorano, Italy. He ran no more than five laps and no lap times were recorded. A Ferrari spokesman said the short drive was done for the Fiat board of directors who were holding their meeting in Maranello.

On 13 November 2007 Schumacher, who had not driven a Formula One car since he had retired a year earlier, undertook a formal test session for the first time aboard the F2007. He returned in December 2007 to continue helping Ferrari with their development program at Jerez circuit. He focused on testing electronics and tyres for the 2008 Formula One season.

2008: Car development

In 2007, former Ferrari top manager Ross Brawn said that Schumacher was very likely and also happy to continue testing in 2008. Michael Schumacher later explained his role further saying that he would "deal with the development of the car inside Gestione Sportiva" and as part of that "I'd like to drive, but not too often.".

During 2008 Schumacher also competed in motorcycle racing in the IDM Superbike-series, but stated that he had no intention of a second competitive career in this sport. He was quoted as saying that riding a Ducati was the most exhilarating thing he had done in his life, the second most being sky diving.

2009: Planned substitution for injured Massa

In his capacity as racing advisor to Ferrari, Schumacher was present in Budapest for the when Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was seriously injured after being struck by a suspension spring during qualifying. As it became clear that Massa would be unable to compete in the next race at Valencia Schumacher was chosen as a replacement for the Brazilian driver and on 29 July 2009, Ferrari announced that they planned to draft in Schumacher for the and subsequent Grands Prix until Massa was able to race again. Schumacher tested in a modified F2007 to prepare himself as he had been unable to test the 2009 car due to testing restrictions. Ferrari appealed for special permission for Schumacher to test in a 2009 spec car but Williams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso were against this test. Schumacher was forced to call off his return due to the severity of the neck injury he had received in a motorcycle accident earlier in the year. Massa's place at Ferrari was instead filled by Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Mercedes GP

On 23 December 2009 it was announced Schumacher would be returning to Formula One in the season alongside fellow German driver Nico Rosberg in the new Mercedes GP team. On 16 November Mercedes had taken over the Brawn GP team which was their first majority involvement in an F1 team since 1955. Schumacher stated that his preparations to replace the injured Massa for Ferrari had initiated a renewed interest in F1 which, combined with the opportunity to fulfil a long-held ambition to drive for Mercedes and to be working again with team principal Ross Brawn, led Schumacher to accept the offer once he was passed fit. After a period of intensive training medical tests confirmed that the neck injury that had prevented him driving for Ferrari the year before had fully healed.

Ross Brawn had contacted Schumacher over a potential return to F1 with Mercedes involvement in November 2009, seeking a substitute for the possibly outgoing driver Jenson Button. On 2 November Rubens Barrichello had left Brawn GP followed by Button on 18 November with Rosberg announced by Mercedes as the first replacement driver on 23 November. The possible return of Schumacher began being reported in the German press on 13 December and, ten days later, Mercedes confirmed Schumacher's return completing their line-up. Schumacher signed a three year contract, reportedly worth £20m, with Mercedes who were thought to want 22-year-old German driver Sebastian Vettel as a long term replacement afterwards. In March 2010, The Daily Mail reported that Schumacher's deal was closer to £21m (€24m, $32m) a year.

Schumacher's surprise re-entry to the sport was compared to Niki Lauda's return in 1982 aged 33 and Nigel Mansell's return in 1994 at age 41. Schumacher turned 41 on 3 January 2010 and his prospects with Mercedes were compared with the record set by the oldest F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio who was 46 when he won his fifth championship.

2010: Return to Formula One

Schumacher's first drive of the 2010 Mercedes car – the Mercedes MGP W01 – was at the official test on 2 February 2010 in Valencia. He finished sixth in the first race of the season at the . A fortnight later at the Schumacher, after running as high as third on the opening lap, was caught up in a tangle between Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button at the start and had to pit for a new front wing. He came from the back to finish in the points in tenth position after spending 20 laps behind Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari. In the Schumacher retired early in the race with a faulty wheel nut. Schumacher qualified 9th in the and finished 10th after being passed by several other drivers in the wet conditions towards the end of the race. After the race former driver Stirling Moss suggested that Schumacher, who had finished behind his team-mate in each of the first four qualifying sessions and races, might be "past it." Many other respected former Formula One drivers thought otherwise, including former rival Damon Hill, who warned "you should never write Schumacher off." GrandPrix.com identified the inherent understeer of the Mercedes car, exacerbated by the narrower front tyres introduced for the 2010 season, as contributing to Schumacher's difficulties. Jenson Button shed some more light on Schumacher's car trouble when he confessed that the Mercedes 2010 car was designed for him, and that his driving style is poles apart from Schumacher.

For the first European race of the season, the , Mercedes upgraded their car with revised aerodynamics and a longer wheelbase. Schumacher was ahead of Rosberg in qualifying and the race finishing fourth after defending his position from reigning world champion Jenson Button after the pit stops. At the Schumacher qualified seventh and finished sixth after passing Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on the final corner of the race when the safety car returned to the pits. However he was penalised 20 seconds after the race by the race stewards dropping him to 12th and thus out of the points. The stewards, advised by former world champion Damon Hill, judged the pass to be in breach of rule 40.13 of the sporting code stating that "If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking." Mercedes GP had interpreted "the race control messages 'Safety Car in this lap' and 'Track Clear' and the green flags and lights shown by the marshals after safety car line one" to mean that the race would not finish under the safety car. The FIA subsequently outlined plans to clarify the regulations and Mercedes GP dropped their plans to appeal.

In Turkey, Schumacher had his best qualifying session since his return qualifying fifth ahead of team mate Rosberg in sixth. In the race Schumacher finished fourth which was his best race finish since his return. However 2 races later at the in Valencia, Schumacher finished a lowly 15th – his lowest recorded finish in his career – after being caught up in a controversial safety-car ruling, which also ruined the race of Fernando Alonso. Schumacher was near the front of the field until he was stuck at the end of the pit lane, following the safety car, while the majority of the field passed him. In Hungary, Schumacher finished outside the points in eleventh, but was found guilty of dangerous driving at while unsuccessfully defending tenth position against Rubens Barrichello. As a result he was demoted ten places on the grid for the following race, the Belgian Grand Prix, where he finished seventh, despite starting 21st after his grid penalty.

In the , Schumacher missed out on the top ten in qualifying but managed to finish ninth. A fortnight later at the , Schumacher finished 13th after the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld collided with him on Lap 36, knocking Heidfeld out of the race. At the , Schumacher finished sixth before a fourth and seventh in the next two races in Korea and Brazil. At the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Schumacher was involved in a major accident on the first lap, which occurred after Schumacher was spun around by his teammate Nico Rosberg. As Schumacher was trying to maneuver his car back around, Vitantonio Liuzzi's Force India ploughed into his Mercedes head-on, barely missing his head. Nobody was hurt in the crash, but Schumacher said the crash had been "frightening."

It was the first season since his début season in 1991 that Schumacher finished without a win, pole position, podium or fastest lap.

At the 2011 Wroom meeting in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, Fernando Alonso, the second most successful Formula One driver still racing, said of Schumacher: "He will be always super class; if the car is right, he will be a contender that we will fear most."

2011

After an unsuccessful , where he retired due to puncture damage, Schumacher had an average race in Malaysia, finishing in ninth place to score his team's only points, generally battling it out with the midfield of the pack. A problem with his DRS system resulted in Schumacher qualifying only 14th in China, but he worked his way up to 8th place during the race. He added more points with sixth place in Spain, and at the , Schumacher had arguably his best performance since returning from retirement. He finished in fourth position, but ran as high as second in a race which was almost entirely contested in wet conditions. Schumacher was passed late in the race by both Jenson Button, who went on to win the race, and Mark Webber, by the use of the DRS.

In Valencia, he ploughed into the side of Vitaly Petrov's Renault while exiting the pit lane, breaking his own front wing, meaning he had to pit again the following lap. This incident left him outside of the points, and eventually finished 17th. There was more of the same in Britain when Schumacher locked his front tyres while running behind Kamui Kobayashi, attempted to take avoiding action, and again broke his front wing spinning Kobayashi 180 degrees. As well as pitting to replace the wing, Schumacher served a 10 second stop-go penalty for the incident. Although working his way up to 9th, Schumacher was unhappy with the result and described the Kobayashi incident as his misjudgement.

In an interview with Italian newspaper ''Corriere dello Sport – Stadio'' during the mid-season break, Schumacher admitted that he needed to re-evaluate his position in Formula One.

Helmet

Schumacher, in conjunction with Schuberth, helped develop the first lightweight carbon helmet. In 2004, a prototype was publicly tested by being driven over by a tank; it survived intact. The helmet keeps the driver cool by funneling directed airflow through fifty holes.

Schumacher's original helmet sported the colours of the German flag and his sponsor's decals. On the top was a blue circle with white astroids. When Jos Verstappen was his team-mate, Schumacher added 4 red diagonal strokes over the visor to differentiate his helmet from his team-mate. After Schumacher joined Ferrari a prancing horse was added on the back. From the 2000 Monaco Grand Prix, in order to differentiate his colours from new teammate Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher changed the upper blue colour and some of the white areas to red.

He sported one-off helmet designs three times. For the 1998 Japanese Grand Prix, a title decider with Mika Häkkinen, he replaced the German flag with a chequered flag motif and reflective silver replacing the white areas. At the 2004 Italian Grand Prix the German flag design was replaced with an Italian flag in honour of his team's home race. For Brazilian Grand Prix race of 2006 (at the time intended to be his final Grand Prix), he wore an all-red helmet that included the names of his ninety-one Grand Prix victories. For the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher's 20th anniversary in Formula One, he wore a special gold plated helmet. The helmet, very similar to his current helmet, included the year of his début to the present, and the years of his seven world titles.

Honours

Schumacher has been honoured many times during his career. In April 2002, for his contributions to sport and his contributions in raising awareness of child education, he was named as one of the UNESCO Champions for sport, joining the other eight which include Pelé, Serhiy Bubka and Justine Henin. He won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award twice, in 2002 and 2004 for his performances in the and seasons respectively. He has also received nominations for the 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007 awards. No-one has been nominated more times than Schumacher in the award's seven-year history.

In honour of Schumacher's racing career and his efforts to improve safety and the sport, he was awarded an FIA Gold Medal for Motor Sport in 2006. In 2007, in recognition of his contribution to Formula One racing, the Nürburgring racing track renamed turns 8 and 9 (the Audi and Shell Kurves) as the ''Schumacher S'', and a month later he presented A1 Team Germany with the A1 World Cup at the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport 2007 awards ceremony. He was nominated for the Prince of Asturias Award for Sport for 2007, which he won both for sporting prowess and for his humanitarian record.

In 2008 the Swiss Football Association appointed Schumacher as the Swiss ambassador for the 2008 European football championship.

On 30 April 2010, Schumacher was honored with the Officier of Légion d'honneur title from French prime minister François Fillon.

Controversy

During his long career Schumacher has been involved in several incidents, which have caused considerable controversy.

Championship deciding collisions

Going into the 1994 Australian Grand Prix, the final race of the 1994 season, Schumacher led Damon Hill by a single point in the Drivers' Championship. Schumacher led the race from the beginning, but on lap 35 he went off track and brushed the wall with his right side wheels, returning to the track at reduced speed but still leading the race. At the next corner Hill attempted a pass on the inside while Schumacher was turning into the corner, and Schumacher and Hill collided. Both cars were eliminated from the race and, as neither driver scored, Schumacher took the title. The race stewards judged it a racing accident and took no action against either driver, but public opinion is divided over the incident, and Schumacher was vilified in the British media.

At the 1997 European Grand Prix at Jerez, the last race of the season, Schumacher led Williams' Jacques Villeneuve by one point in the Drivers' Championship. As Villeneuve attempted to pass Schumacher at the Dry Sack Corner on lap 48, Schumacher turned in and the right-front wheel of Schumacher's Ferrari hit the left side pod of Villeneuve's car. Schumacher retired from the race as a result but Villeneuve finished in third place, taking four points and so becoming the World Champion. The race stewards did not award any penalty, but two weeks after the race Schumacher was disqualified from the entire 1997 season after a FIA disciplinary hearing found that his "manoeuvre was an instinctive reaction and although deliberate not made with malice or premeditation. It was a serious error." Schumacher accepted the decision and admitted having made a mistake. Schumacher's actions were widely condemned in British, German, and Italian newspapers. This made Schumacher the only driver in the history of the sport, , to be disqualified from a Driver's World Championship, although the McLaren team was disqualified from the 2007 Constructor’s Championship and fined $100m for illegal possession of Ferrari technical information.

Team orders

Historically, team orders have always been an accepted part of Formula One. However, in the final metres of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, Schumacher's teammate, Rubens Barrichello, slowed his car under orders from Ferrari to allow Schumacher to pass and win the race. Although the switching of positions did not break any actual sporting or technical regulation, it angered fans and it was claimed that the team's actions showed a lack of sportsmanship and respect to the spectators. Many argued that Schumacher did not need to be "given" wins in only the 6th race of the season, particularly given that he had already won 4 of the previous 5 grands prix, and that Barrichello had dominated the race weekend up to that point. At the podium ceremony, Schumacher pushed Barrichello onto the top step, and for this disturbance, the Ferrari team incurred a US $1 million fine. Later in the season at the end of the 2002 United States Grand Prix, Schumacher slowed down within sight of the finishing line, allowing Barrichello to win by 0.011 seconds, the 2nd closest margin in F1 history. Schumacher's explanation varied between it being him "returning the favour" for Austria (now that Schumacher's title was secure), or trying to engineer a dead-heat (a feat derided as near-impossible in a sport where timings are taken to within a thousandth of a second). The FIA subsequently banned "Team orders which interfere with the race result", but the ban was lifted for the 2011 season because the ruling was difficult to enforce.

Dangerous driving

Toward the end of the 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello attempted to pass Schumacher down the inside on the main straight. Schumacher closed the inside line to force Barrichello onto the outside, but Barrichello persisted on the inside at , despite the close proximity of a concrete wall and Schumacher leaving him only inches to spare. Barrichello said ‘It is the most dangerous thing that I have been through’, and ‘There is not a rule for that but between ourselves we should take a line, stick to it and that's it.’ Schumacher said that ‘Obviously there was space enough to go through. We didn't touch, so I guess I just left enough space for him to come through.’ Ross Brawn said ‘at the end of the day he gave him enough space. You can argue that it was marginal, but it was just tough – tough racing.’ A range of ex-drivers and commentators were highly critical of Schumacher. Although there was no accident, the incident was ruled to be dangerous and Schumacher received a 10 place grid penalty for the next race. Schumacher accepted the decision, and apologised.

Other incidents

In 1995, Schumacher and Williams driver David Coulthard were disqualified for fuel irregularities, after a switch to Renault engines and Elf oils. On appeal, both drivers had their results and points reinstated, but both teams lost the points the results would normally have earned in the constructors championship.

The 1998 Canadian Grand Prix saw Schumacher accused of dangerous driving when his exit from the pit-lane forced Heinz-Harald Frentzen off the track and into retirement. Despite receiving a 10 second penalty, Schumacher recovered and won the race. In the press conference, he publicly accused Damon Hill of weaving dangerously as they fought for position, stating "If you want to kill me, find some other way", a statement widely condemned as either hypocritical, or a cynical ploy to divert attention from his actions with Frentzen.

Two laps from the finish of the 1998 British Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher was leading the race when he was issued a stop-and-go penalty for overtaking a lapped car (Alexander Wurz) during the early moments of a Safety Car period. This penalty involves going into the pit lane and stopping for 10 seconds, and the rules state that a driver must serve his penalty within three laps of the penalty being issued. On the third lap after receiving the penalty, Schumacher turned into the pit lane to serve his penalty, but as this was the last lap of the race, and as Ferrari's pit box was located after the start/finish line, Schumacher technically finished the race before serving the penalty. The stewards initially resolved that problem by adding 10 seconds to Schumacher's race time, then later rescinded the penalty completely due to the irregularities in how the penalty had been issued.

In the Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher was involved in a race-ending collision whilst trying to lap David Coulthard in heavy spray. After the race he stormed into the McLaren garage and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him, and McLaren and Ferrari team members had to separate the drivers. Coulthard admitted some 5 years later that the accident had been his fault.

During qualifying for the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix Schumacher set the fastest time, but stopped his car in the Rascasse corner on the racing line, leaving the corner partially blocked, while his main contender for the season title, Fernando Alonso, was on his final qualifying lap. Schumacher stated that he simply locked up the wheels going into the corner and that the car then stalled while he attempted to reverse out. Alonso believed he would have been on pole if the incident had not happened, and Schumacher was stripped of pole position by the race stewards and started the race at the back of the grid. In the same qualifying session, Giancarlo Fisichella was similarly found to have blocked David Coulthard from improving his time, but Fisichella was only demoted five places on the grid.

At the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, the safety car was deployed after an accident, involving Karun Chandhok and Jarno Trulli, and pulled into the pits on the last lap. Schumacher passed Alonso before the finish line. Mercedes held that “the combination of the race control messages ‘Safety Car in this lap’ and ‘Track Clear’ and the green flags and lights shown by the marshals after safety car line one indicated that the race was not finishing under the safety car and all drivers were free to race. This opinion appears to have been shared by the majority of the teams with cars in the top ten positions who also gave their drivers instructions to race to the finish line.” However an FIA investigation found Schumacher guilty of breaching Safety Car regulations and awarded him a 20-seconds penalty, which cost him 6 places.

Family and off-track life

Schumacher's younger brother Ralf was a Formula One driver until the end of 2007. Their stepbrother Sebastian Stahl has also been competing as a race car driver. In August 1995, Michael married Corinna Betsch. They have two children, Gina-Maria (born in 1997) and Mick (born in 1999). He has always been very protective of his private life and is known to dislike the celebrity spotlight, preferring a simple life. The family moved to a house near Gland, Switzerland in 2007, a 650 m² mansion with its own underground garage and petrol station, situated on a private beach on Lake Geneva. The family has two dogs – one stray that Corinna fell in love with in Brazil, and an Australian Shepherd named "Ed" whose entrance to the family made headlines. Schumacher personally drove a taxi through the Bavarian town of Coburg after collecting the dog, enabling the family to catch their return flight to Switzerland. Both Schumacher and the taxi driver were reprimanded by local police.

One of his main hobbies is horse riding, and he plays football for his local team FC Echichens. He has appeared in several football charity games and organised games between Formula One drivers.

On 23 June 2003, Schumacher was appointed as an Ambassador at Large for the Most Serene Republic of San Marino.

In 2004, ''Forbes'' magazine listed him as the 2nd highest paid athlete in the world. In 2005 ''Eurobusiness'' magazine identified Schumacher as the world's first billionaire athlete. His 2004 salary was reported to be around US $80 million. ''Forbes'' magazine ranked him 17th in their "The World's Most Powerful Celebrities" list. A significant share of his income came from advertising. For example, Deutsche Vermögensberatung paid him $8 million over three years from 1999 for wearing a 10 by 8 centimetre advertisement on his post-race cap. The deal was extended until 2010. He donated $10 million for aid after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. His donation surpassed that of any other sports person, most sports leagues, many worldwide corporations and even some countries. Schumacher's bodyguard Burkhard Cramer was killed in the tsunami along with his two sons.

Schumacher is a special ambassador to UNESCO and has donated 1.5 million Euros to the organization. Additionally, he paid for the construction of a school for poor children and for area improvements in Dakar, Senegal. He supports a hospital for child victims of war in Sarajevo, which specialises in caring for amputees. In Lima, Peru he funded the "Palace for the Poor", a centre for helping homeless street children obtain an education, clothing, food, medical attention, and shelter. He stated his interest in these various efforts was piqued both by his love for children and the fact that these causes had received little attention. While an exact figure for the amount of money he has donated throughout his life is unknown, it is known that in his last four years as a driver, he donated at least $50 million. In 2008 it was revealed that he had donated between $5M and $10M to the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park of Bill Clinton.

Since his participation in an FIA European road safety campaign, as part of his punishment after the collision at the 1997 European Grand Prix, Schumacher has continued to support other campaigns, such as Make Roads Safe, which is led by the FIA Foundation and calls on G8 countries and the UN to recognise global road deaths as a major global health issue. In 2008, Schumacher was the figurehead of an advertising campaign by Bacardi to raise awareness about responsible drinking, with a focus on communicating an international message 'drinking and driving don't mix'. He featured in an advertising campaign for television, cinema and online media, supported by consumer engagements, public relations and digital media across the world.

On the eve of the 2002 British Grand Prix, on behalf of Fiat, Schumacher presented a Ferrari 360 Modena to legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar at Silverstone.

On 21 June 2009, Schumacher appeared on the BBC's motoring programme ''Top Gear'' as The Stig. Presenter Jeremy Clarkson hinted later in the programme that Schumacher was not the regular Stig. The BBC has since confirmed that this is the case; Schumacher was there on that occasion because Ferrari would not allow anyone else to drive the one-of-a-kind black Ferrari FXX which was featured in the show. The FXX was presented to Schumacher upon his retirement at Monza in 2006.

When Schumacher appeared on ''Top Gear'' in 2009, he told Jeremy Clarkson during his interview that the road cars that he drives are a Fiat 500 Abarth, and a Fiat Croma which is his family car.

Racing record

Career summary

! Season	! Series	! Team	! Races	! Wins	! Poles	! F/Laps	! Podiums	! Points	! Position
1988			4	1	1	0	3	50
	7	3	0	0	5	124	6th
		10	9	1	1	10	192
1989	align=left		12	2	2	0	7	163
align=left	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
1990	align=left	align=left	3	1	0	1	3	21	=5th
align=left		11	5	6	4	7	148
align=left	1	0	1	1	0	N/A	NC
	1	1	0	0	0	N/A
1991	rowspan=2 align=left	align=left| Team 7UP Jordan	1	0	0	0	0	0
align=left| Camel Benetton Ford	5	0	0	0	0	4
align=left	align=left	8	1	0	2	2	43	9th
	align=left	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
align=left		1	0	0	0	1	6	12th
! 1992	align=left	align=left| Camel Benetton Ford	16	1	0	2	8	53
! 1993	align=left	align=left| Camel Benetton Ford	16	1	0	5	9	52	4th
! 1994	align=left	align=left	14	8	6	8	10	92
! 1995	align=left	align=left	17	9	4	8	11	102
! 1996	align=left	align=left	16	3	4	2	8	59
! 1997	align=left	align=left	17	5	3	3	8	78
! 1998	align=left	align=left	16	6	3	6	11	86
! 1999	align=left	align=left	10	2	3	5	6	44	5th
! 2000	align=left	align=left	17	9	9	2	12	108
! 2001	align=left	align=left	17	9	11	3	14	123
! 2002	align=left	align=left	17	11	7	7	17	144
! 2003	align=left	align=left	16	6	5	5	9	93
! 2004	align=left	align=left	18	13	8	10	15	148
! 2005	align=left	align=left	19	1	1	3	5	62
! 2006	align=left	align=left	18	7	4	7	12	121
! 2007	align=left	align=left
! 2008	align=left	align=left
! 2009	align=left	align=left
! 2010	align=left		19	0	0	0	0	72	9th
! 2011	align=left		12	0	0	0	0	42*	8th*

Season in progress.

Source: Hilton, Christopher (2006). ''Michael Schumacher: The Whole Story.'' Haynes. ISBN 1-84425-008-3.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Year

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! WDC

List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

rowspan="2">

Jordan Grand Prix>Team

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

14th

4

! [[Camel (cigarette)

! [[Benetton Formula

! [[Ford Motor Company

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

[[Camel (cigarette)

! [[Benetton Formula

[[Ford Motor Company

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

! [[Benetton Formula

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

[[Camel (cigarette)

! [[Benetton Formula

[[Ford Motor Company

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

4th

52

! [[Benetton Formula

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

7 Up

! [[Jordan Grand Prix

! [[Ford Motor Company

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

style="color: white;"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

14th

4

! [[Camel (cigarette)

! [[Benetton Formula

! [[Ford Motor Company

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

[[Camel (cigarette)

! [[Benetton Formula

[[Ford Motor Company

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

! [[Benetton Formula

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

[[Camel (cigarette)

! [[Benetton Formula

[[Ford Motor Company

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

4th

52

! [[Benetton Formula

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Benetton Formula>Benetton Ford

!

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#000000" style="color: #ffffff"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#000000" style="color: #ffffff"

ITA">Benetton Formula

! [[Ford Motor Company

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#000000" style="color: #ffffff"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#000000" style="color: #ffffff"

ITA

1994 Portuguese Grand Prix>POR

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

''EUR''1

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Mild Seven Benetton Formula

Benetton Renault

!

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A.">Benetton Formula

! [[Renault F1

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A.

!

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

AUT">Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

AUT

1999 German Grand Prix>GER

HUN

1999 Belgian Grand Prix>BEL

ITA

1999 European Grand Prix>EUR

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

! 5th

! 44

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! rowspan="2"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! rowspan="2"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! rowspan="2"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! rowspan="2"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! rowspan="2"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! rowspan="2"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! [[Mercedes GP">Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! [[Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team

! Mercedes GP

! [[Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#EFCFFF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#CFCFFF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#CFCFFF

bgcolor=#CFCFFF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#CFCFFF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#CFCFFF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#EFCFFF

! 9th

! 72

! [[Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team

! [[Mercedes GP

! [[Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines

bgcolor=#EFCFFF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#CFCFFF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#EFCFFF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#CFCFFF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

bgcolor=#EFCFFF

bgcolor=#DFFFDF

! 8th*

! 42*

Season in progress. Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 WDC due to dangerous driving in the European Grand Prix, where he caused an avoidable accident with Villeneuve. His points tally would have placed him in second place in that year's standings. Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Formula One records

Schumacher holds the following Formula One records:

! Record	! Number
List of Formula One driver records#Total championships>Championship titles	7 (, , , , , , )
! Consecutive titles	5 (–)
List of Grand Prix winners>Race victories	91
List of Formula One driver records#Most consecutive wins>Consecutive wins	7 (, 2004 European Grand Prix
! Wins with one team
! Wins at same GP
! Wins at different GPs	22
Longest Time between first and last wins	14 years, 32 days
! Second places	43
List of Formula One driver records#Total podium finishes>Podiums (Top 3)	154
List of Formula One driver records#Most consecutive podium positions>Consecutive podium finishes	19 (2001 United States Grand Prix
! Most consecutive top two finishes	15 ([[2002 Brazilian Grand Prix
Points finishes	209
! Consecutive points finishes	24 (2001 Hungarian Grand Prix
! Laps leading	4741 (22,155 km)
Pole positions	68
List of Formula One driver records#Total Starts from First Row>Front row starts	115
List of Formula One driver records#Total fastest laps>Fastest laps	76
List of Formula One driver records#Double (pole & win in same race)>Doubles (Pole and win)	40
List of Formula One driver records#Hat Trick (pole, win & fastest lap in same race)>Perfect Score (Pole, fastest lap and win)	22
List of Formula One driver records#Career points>Championship points	1,483
! Most wins in a season for a runner-up	7 ()
Autodromo Nazionale Monza>Monza (Formula One)	5
List of Formula One driver records#Most wins in a season>Wins in a season	13 (72%) ()
List of Formula One driver records#Most fastest laps in a season>Fastest laps in a season	10 ()
List of Formula One driver records#Most podium positions in a season>Podium finishes in a season	17 (100%) ()
! Championship won with most races left	6 ()
! Largest championship-winning margin	67 ()
! Consecutive years with a win	15 (–)
! Most races with 1 team	181 (Ferrari)

Record shared with Alberto Ascari (1952 Belgian GP–1953 Argentine GP). Some sources credit Ascari with nine consecutive wins, disregarding the 1953 Indianapolis 500 race, in which Ascari did not compete. The American race formed part of the world championship, but was not run to the same regulations as the other races and was very rarely attended by world championship drivers.

Record shared with Alain Prost ( and ) and Kimi Räikkönen ().

Record shared with Kimi Räikkönen ( and ).

Books and movies

Schumacher had a voice in the Disney/Pixar movie ''Cars''. His character is himself as a car (Ferrari F430). He also appeared as himself in a French movie ''Asterix and Obelix at the Olympic Games''.

References and notes

All race and championship results (1991–2006) are taken from the Official Formula 1 Website. 1991 Season review onwards. www.formula1.com. Retrieved 23 May 2007

External links

Michael Schumacher's official website

Profile – from Mercedes GP official website

Kartcenter and Museum

Kartteam Kaiser-Schumacher-Muchow

Formula1.com Profile

Career statistics

Michael Schumacher career statistics

News Articles about Michael Schumacher

Karl Wendlinger|after= Tom Kristensen|years=1990}} David Brabham|after= David Coulthard|years=1990}} Alain Prost|after= Damon Hill|years=–}} Mika Häkkinen|after= Fernando Alonso|years=––––}} Heikki KovalainenMarcus Grönholm|after= Incumbent|years= 2007–2010 with:Sebastian Vettel}} Felipe Massa | after = Rubens Barrichello | years = 2007}} Rubens Barrichello | after = Lucas di Grassi | years = 2009}} Damon Hill|title=AutosportInternational Driver of the Year|after= Damon Hill|years=1995}} Mika Häkkinen|title=AutosportInternational Driver of the Year|after= Juan Pablo Montoya|years=2000–2002}} Tiger Woods|title=Laureus World Sportsman of the Year|years=2002|after= Lance Armstrong}} Juan Pablo Montoya|title=Lorenzo Bandini Trophy|years=2003|after= Kimi Räikkönen}} Lance Armstrong|title=Laureus World Sportsman of the Year|years=2004|after= Roger Federer}} Spain national basketball team|title=Prince of Asturias Award for Sports|years=2007|after= Rafael Nadal}} Alain Prost51 wins(1980–1991, 1993)| after = Incumbent | years = 52nd at the 2001 Belgian GP}} }}

Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:People from Hürth Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Category:Ambassadors of San Marino Category:CIK-FIA Karting World Championship drivers Category:Benetton Formula One drivers Category:Ferrari Formula One drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:Formula Ford drivers Category:German expatriates in Monaco Category:German expatriates in Switzerland Category:German Formula One drivers Category:German Formula Three Championship drivers Category:German racecar drivers Category:Japanese Formula 3000 Championship drivers Category:Laureus World Sports Awards winners Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners Category:German Roman Catholics

ace:Michael Schumacher af:Michael Schumacher ar:مايكل شوماخر ast:Michael Schumacher az:Mihael Şumaxer bn:মিশাএল শুমাখার map-bms:Michael Schumacher be:Міхаэль Шумахер be-x-old:Міхаэль Шумахер bi:Michael Schumacher bar:Michael Schumacher bs:Michael Schumacher bg:Михаел Шумахер ca:Michael Schumacher ceb:Michael Schumacher cs:Michael Schumacher cy:Michael Schumacher da:Michael Schumacher de:Michael Schumacher dv:މައިކަލް ޝޫމާކަރ et:Michael Schumacher el:Μίχαελ Σουμάχερ es:Michael Schumacher eo:Michael Schumacher eu:Michael Schumacher fa:میشائل شوماخر fr:Michael Schumacher fy:Michael Schumacher ga:Michael Schumacher gl:Michael Schumacher ko:미하엘 슈마허 hr:Michael Schumacher io:Michael Schumacher id:Michael Schumacher ie:Michael Schumacher zu:Michael Schumacher is:Michael Schumacher it:Michael Schumacher he:מיכאל שומאכר jv:Michael Schumacher kn:ಮೈಕೆಲ್ ಶೂಮಾಕರ್ ka:მიხაელ შუმახერი ht:Michael Schumacher la:Michael Schumacher lv:Mihaels Šūmahers lt:Michael Schumacher hu:Michael Schumacher ml:മൈക്കൾ ഷൂമാക്കർ mr:मिखाएल शुमाखर ms:Michael Schumacher nah:Michael Schumacher nl:Michael Schumacher ja:ミハエル・シューマッハ no:Michael Schumacher nn:Michael Schumacher pl:Michael Schumacher pt:Michael Schumacher ro:Michael Schumacher qu:Michael Schumacher ru:Шумахер, Михаэль sco:Michael Schumacher sq:Michael Schumacher scn:Michael Schumacher simple:Michael Schumacher sk:Michael Schumacher sl:Michael Schumacher sr:Михаел Шумахер sh:Michael Schumacher su:Michael Schumacher fi:Michael Schumacher sv:Michael Schumacher tl:Michael Schumacher ta:மைக்கேல் சூமாக்கர் th:มิคาเอล ชูมัคเกอร์ tg:Михаэл Шумахер tr:Michael Schumacher uk:Міхаель Шумахер vec:Michael Schumacher vi:Michael Schumacher wa:Michael Schumacher yi:מיכאל שומאכער zh:迈克尔·舒马赫