"The death of Ayrton Senna brought Formula One into the spotlight more than ever, and I found myself watching it, intrigued that the death of one man could rock the world in such a way. Having been only superficially aware of the sport for many years and choosing to ignore it, I now found myself being drawn in with rising interest in the man they were saying was the successor to Senna.

"I found Michael Schumacher to be something other than what I expected  -  a man with a reputation such as his ought to be arrogant, dismissive, with a 'superiority complex'   -  yet on the contrary, here was a fresh, intelligent and confident young man who was quietly and efficiently beating the hell out of all his opposition.  The more I saw and learned of him, the more I found that he wasn't what everyone said he was  -  he was not arrogant, no, but he was something often confused with that  -  supremely confident.  And this was because he was good at what he did, and none but one man could be on the same level as him or better, and now that one man, Senna, was gone...  This heralded the start of a glittering career for the new rising force in Formula One  -  Michael Schumacher won the next two driver's world championships (1994 and 1995) before undertaking the immense challenge of bringing Ferrari back to the fore.

"I don't have any aspirations whatsoever to be some kind of competitive racing driver  -  no, that's not how Schumacher inspires.  It is his strength of character and solid mental approach that I find admirable about the man.  An attitude to succeed and become the best he can be is something to emulate for any sports person, and is something I can relate to.

"For me, Schumacher is Formula One  -  I wouldn't watch it otherwise.  This is because the sport is very much a duel of characters as much as it is a duel of cars.  And Michael has that strong, inspirational character, that driving force (no pun intended), that keeps me watching and always wanting to know and see more  -  sadly, this is lacking in just about every other Formula One driver (to say that they are all boring would be an understatement).  The technological side of the sport, though fascinating, is not the sole reason millions of people around the world tune in to watch it every fortnight or so.  No...   The real reason is the clash of the personalities behind the wheels  -  the rivalry between the main protagonists, the battle of the minds, the never-ending struggle to be the best amongst a world elite.  

"And Michael Schumacher is exactly that.  Acknowledged as the best driver in the world for some years now, he has had little fruit from his labours in terms of world championship titles.  But he keeps winning the races, sometimes against great odds as he did in his first, horrendous year at Ferrari.  Some would think of him as a cold, efficient, ruthless machine  -  as he can at times appear to be on the track itself: I call this the great misconception of Michael.  The media covers what it wants and portrays people how it wants, so the human side of Michael is something rarely seen.  He is human, he does make mistakes, and he is driven by instinct and emotion..."