Schumy the Great

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The scene was like a medieval coronation, or a take from a Cecil B. DeMille movie. As the red-clad multitude waved banners decorated with the heraldic device of a prancing horse, a tumult of braying horns hailed the king as he sallied forth. But instead of a bloodstained battlefield the crowd filled a different kind of combat zone, the track at the Hungaroring near Budapest, to celebrate the latest victory of Michael Schumacher, monarch of every race circuit he surveys.

The homage was fitting for the driver who has dominated Formula One racing for the past seven years. Despite occasional reservations about his tactics on the track, Schumacher is recognized as the best there is. His emphatic Aug. 19 win in the Hungarian Grand Prix gave him a fourth Formula One drivers' championship and tied Alain Prost's career record of 51 race victories. Schumacher had a good weekend. He had set the best time in practice, bagged pole position on the grid by more than half a second over his championship rival, McLaren driver David Coulthard, and led the race from start to finish. After the race Coulthard congratulated Schumacher and jokingly recommended "that he take a holiday for the last four Grands Prix."

Persuading Schumacher to take a rest may be the only way the other teams can stop him. For the man to whom winning is everything, 51 victories will surely not be enough. When he climbs into his Ferrari at Spa next Sunday for the Belgian Grand Prix, he is likely to surpass Prost's mark. The next big target will be to eclipse the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio's tally of five drivers' championships, a record that has stood since 1957. "He'll have seven by the time he retires," predicts Schumacher's former Ferrari teammate Eddie Irvine. Says Frank Williams, boss of the Williams team: "Michael is thinking every day, for much of the day, how to make himself better as a racing driver and what he can do to help make Ferrari better."

It is hard to imagine how he could get any better. Schumacher's combination of raw speed, racecraft, tactical awareness and sublime skill in the rain sets him apart from the pack. "It's easy to win one world championship," says two-time Ferrari champion Niki Lauda. "What's impressive about Michael is that he keeps coming back and doing it again." For this year's title and last year's, the Ferrari has been the best, most consistent car on the circuit. But his first two championships, for Benetton in 1994 and 1995, were in a way even more impressive, having been won in a car that was inferior to the then-dominant Williams.

So what is Schumacher's secret, if it's not always having the best car? "I'm probably not a bad racing driver," he said with considerable understatement after the Hungarian race. He goes into every race and qualifying session expecting to win, and he has an aura of super-confidence that gives him an edge in the psychological battle over rivals. In a sport filled with monstrous egos, there are few that can match Schumacher's.

One driver who should know how to handle him is his younger brother Ralf, who drives for Williams. The Williams car has not been consistent enough this season to see many head-to-head battles between the two, but next year could be different. Willi Weber, manager of both Schumachers, looks forward to that prospect. "It's not important if Michael is fighting against [McLaren driver] Mika Hakkinen or his brother," he says. "No one is going to say, please go ahead and pass me."

If anything dented Schumacher's sense of invincibility it was the 1999 British Grand Prix. Then he made a poor start from second on the grid and was overtaken by Coulthard and teammate Irvine. As he tried to force himself back into contention at Stowe corner, his brakes failed and he plowed into a wall at more than 160 km/h. The impact broke the Ferrari's chassis and Schumacher's right leg. An enforced three-month layoff followed. (He was ordered back into the car for the last two races of the season after Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo phoned Schumacher's home and was told by his daughter Gina Maria that Daddy couldn't come to the phone because he was playing football in the back yard.) In any case, the layoff gave him time to think. He later told a motor-sport magazine: "I think my accident gave the team lessons in that if you want to fight for the world championship you have to pace yourself so you don't arrive burnt out at the end. Sometimes I get so heavily into it I don't realize I need to take a break."

Though his talents have won him a vast following, Schumacher's determination not to be beaten has earned him few fans among other drivers. Jos Verstappen of Orange Arrows is said to be his only close friend. Last season Schumacher riled many drivers by using a racing rule that allows one change of direction per lap to dart across the track at the start of races. But those were just mild complaintsin comparison to the nadir his reputation hit after the final race of 1997, the European Grand Prix at Jerez. Then driving for Ferrari and neck-and-neck for the championship with Jacques Villeneuve, Schumacher was surprised by an audacious overtaking move from the Williams driver and tried to hold his line by slamming into Villeneuve's side. He succeeded only in bouncing himself off the track and handing Villeneuve the championship. Today he maintains it was a "mistake." Says Schumacher: "We're all human. We all make mistakes."

Perhaps the man with the biggest cause for complaint is Schumacher's second driver, Rubens Barrichello. Scuderia Ferrari is these days Team Schumacher. In other teams both drivers compete equally, but at Ferrari the second driver is expected to play second fiddle. Barrichello has filled the job faithfully — holding back rivals and, if possible, scoring points for the team — since 1999, when he took it over from Irvine. Barrichello was unhappy, though, to be reminded of his position at this year's Austrian Grand Prix. Ahead of his teammate for a change, Barrichello got repeated instructions from the pit to pull over and let Schumacher pass, which he ostentatiously did at the last corner. But there are compensations, as Williams points out: "It is a top team, a class act and being part of it is very educational for the driver." Says Verstappen: "To be the second driver for Ferrari means you can be on the podium at every race."