SIR LEWIS HAMILTON VS. MICHAEL SCHUMACHER | STATS | FORMULA 1

 

Two different eras, but the same incredible number at the top: 7 world titles each. 🏆🏆

Michael Schumacher set the standard for dominance in the 1990s and 2000s, winning 91 races and setting records that stood for years.

Lewis Hamilton spent the following two decades chasing those numbers and eventually matching Schumacher’s seven championships, while going on to surpass him in wins, poles and podiums.

Their careers even briefly crossed in 2007, when rookie Hamilton raced against Schumacher during his comeback. What looked like a simple meeting of two generations would eventually become one of F1’s greatest statistical battles.

Different eras, different rules, different points systems. But the same level of greatness. 👑

#F1 #Formula1 #HamiltonVsSchumacher #Ferrari

- Tiara Pane 

SEBASTIAN VETTEL TO MAKE FERRARI F1 RETURN IN MICHAEL SCHUMACHER MONZA CELEBRATION

The four-time champion will return to the Formula 1 track this weekend in Ferrari colours.

Vettel in conversation with Ferrari drivers Hamilton and Leclerc

Sebastian Vettel is set to return to the track this weekend as Ferrari celebrates Michael Schumacher's legacy at the Italian Grand Prix. 

Four-time champion Vettel has taken to the track in historic machinery on a number of occasions since retiring from Formula 1, most notably driving Nigel Mansell's 1992 Williams at Silverstone and Ayrton Senna's 1993 McLaren at the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

He will add to this experience on Sunday ahead of the 53-lap Monza race, when he gets behind the wheel of seven-time champion Schumacher's dominant Ferrari F2002. 

The F2002 is one of Ferrari's most iconic F1 cars

Across that season, the legendary German finished outside the top two just once, a third-place result in Malaysia, and scored 11 wins from 17 races. Of the races not won by Schumacher, four were scored by team-mate Rubens Barrichello, with Williams and McLaren each achieving success once. 

Schumacher's lasting impact on F1 is being honoured at Monza this weekend, with Ferrari revealing special race suits late last week, and a special livery based on the 1996 Ferrari that 91-time grands prix winner took to victory on Ferrari's home soil. 

Vettel, who has always held Schumacher up as his idol, will complete a single lap in the 900bhp Ferrari V10, which is capable of screaming to 19,000rpm.

On his previous demonstration laps, Vettel has used sustainable fuels, and this will be no different. The demonstration will be run via Ferrari's F1 Clienti department, and the manufacturer has confirmed the F2002 will use an “advanced sustainable fuel developed specifically by Shell, drawing on the know-how acquired this season to create the fuel being used in 2026.”

Fans only attending on Saturday will also get a chance to hear the now 24-year-old car scream through the park, with Barrichello getting reacquainted with the F2002 ahead of qualifying.

As well as the 2002 car, Schumacher's first and last Ferrari F1 cars will be on display - these are the 1996 F310 and the 2006 248.

- Sam Hall

COST OF PUTTING A LOGO ON MICHAEL SCHUMACHER'S CAR IN 2006 | F1 FERRARI

 

Ever wondered how much it costed to put a logo on Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari in 2006? 💰🏎️ 

The sponsorship game has fundamentally changed. Looking back 20 years, Ferrari’s financial engine was a different world: 

The “Whale” Era (2006): One logo—Marlboro (Philipp Morris) —bankrolled nearly half the team with a staggering $180M deal. Along with Vodafone and Shell, just three brands carried almost the entire team. One year before the legendary Barcode Branding. 

Total Sponsorship back then already~$320M. Big money Business! 💰

 #f1 #branding #ferrari #schumacher

- Historic F1

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RED BULL NOW 'FEAR' ONE MAX VERSTAPPEN OUTCOME THAT WILL BE 'TERRIBLE' FOR THE F1 TEAM'S IMAGE

Photo by Pablo Morano/Anadolu via Getty Images

Max Verstappen hurt his own hopes of becoming a five-time Formula 1 champion in 2025 by receiving a penalty for driving into George Russell in the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Red Bull star has a chance to match only Michael Schumacher by winning the F1 drivers’ championship in five successive seasons this term. Yet Verstappen left 11 points on the table at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday, which let Oscar Piastri build his lead to 49.

Verstappen also now trails Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris by 39 points, having sat only 22 and nine points shy two rounds earlier when the Dutchman won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. He was even just 25 and 22 points shy after sealing P4 in the Monaco Grand Prix.

But Piastri now boasts nearly two Grand Prix wins in hand over the 27-year-old after the first nine rounds, following Verstappen’s 10-second penalty for driving into Russell in the Spanish GP. His penalty demoted the Red Bull racer from at worst P4 in Montmelo to just 10th place.

Red Bull ‘fear’ Max Verstappen getting a race ban for the 2025 F1 Austrian Grand Prix

The four-time reigning champion’s emotions got the better of him when Red Bull incorrectly told Verstappen to yield P4 to Russell in Spain. But possibly worse than the points he threw away were the three penalty points that the FIA’s race stewards also awarded for the crash.

Verstappen is now just one penalty point from an automatic one-race ban, with the Red Bull racer on 11/12 allowed in a rolling 12-month period. So, he must avoid an incident across the Canadian Grand Prix weekend (June 13-15) and also the Austrian Grand Prix (June 27-29).

Thousands of Dutch fans flock to the Red Bull Ring to support Verstappen, and Red Bull feel it can harm their image if their lead driver were absent. It would also harm their position in the constructors’ championship with Red Bull now just fourth and 218 points from McLaren.

So, ‘everyone’ at Red Bull hopes their ‘fear’ that Verstappen might miss the Austrian GP due to a race ban remains just that and never a reality. Yet their fear of a race ban will persist, as Verstappen will not lose any more of his penalty points after June 30 until October 27 (two).

How many penalty points does Max Verstappen have after his Spanish GP crash with George Russell?

While Motorsport.com reports that Red Bull ‘fear’ Verstappen receiving a race ban for their home race, the Austrian GP, with a penalty at the Canadian GP, the team will also dread the Dutchman getting a penalty in Spielberg which would rule him out of the British Grand Prix.

Silverstone is also a home event for Red Bull, whose factory is in Milton Keynes, and will be a great chance for Verstappen to take points out of Piastri and Norris. Their RB21 will suit the high-speed layout of the British GP venue potentially even more so than McLaren’s MCL39.

Fears might also persist in Milton Keynes even if Verstappen gets through the Canadian and Austrian Grand Prix events without a penalty. He will not drop any more penalty points until after the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix, which leaves nine rounds after the Red Bull Ring race.

Verstappen will start to lose most of the 11 penalty points the Red Bull driver now has after crashing into Russell in Spain across the tail end of the 2025 season. He will lose two points on October 27 and then one on November 2, one on December 1 and two on December 8.

- Kyle Archer

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MICHAEL SCHUMACHER'S £12M BLACKMAILER JAILED FOR MEDICAL PICS 'BETRAYAL' IN HEALTH BATTLE

Michael Schumacher's blackmailer has been jailed(Image: Bongarts/Getty Images)

A nightclub bouncer behind the £12million plot to blackmail F1 legend Michael Schumacher with private medical pictures in a scheme involving his former bodyguard has been jailed

A nightclub bouncer has been sentenced to three years in jail after being convicted of trying to blackmail Formula One legend Michael Schumacher for £12million.

Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, and two other men, including the sporting icon's former bodyguard Markus Fritsche, were arrested after hard drives containing private pictures, medical records and videos of the seven-time F1 world champion were stolen.

Schumacher's health status has been a closely guarded secret since his devastating skiing accident in 2013, which left him spending his days in a home-based hospital facility receiving constant care supervised by his wife Corinna, who has battled to keep details about his condition confidential.

Tozturkan and his 30-year-old son Daniel Lins were accused of demanding £12million from the Schumacher family. The two denied blackmail, insisting they were offering the Schumacher family a “business deal”.

As reported by the Daily Mail, the trial heard more than 1,500 images, videos and confidential medical records were downloaded from a computer and given to Fritsche, who passed them to Tozturkan, who said he would then “upload them on to the dark web” unless money was paid.

Prosecutors in the German city of Wuppertal called for Tozturkan, who is currently behind bars for an unrelated crime, to be given three years, while the Schumacher family had been asking for five years for what they saw as the “ultimate betrayal”.

Lins was given a six-month suspended sentence. While 53-year-old Fritsche was also on trial for the shocking plot – he received two years, also suspended.

As reported by BILD, Schumacher’s lawyer, Thilo Damm, revealed he might consider an appeal on some of the sentences.

Saying: "We do not agree with all of the court's statements, in particular that Mr. F. is only accused of aiding and abetting and not of complicity. You can rest assured that we will exhaust all legal remedies at our disposal."

Markus Fritsche was part of a three-man gang(Image: Facebook/markus.fritsche)

The Schumacher family also expressed fear that one hard drive containing sensitive material had not been recovered despite searches of the defendants’ properties. A nurse, who was sacked by the family, is also suspected of involvement in the case but failed to testify, claiming she was ill.

Schumacher’s manager for more than 25 years, Sabine Kehm, had told the court she fired the nurse because she was inadequate at her job. Sabine then added she suspected Fritsche and her of working together as they were “often together talking” and had “access to Schumacher’s record.”

Before the verdict was announced, Tozturkan told the court: “I'm very sorry and ashamed for what I have done. It was a very disgusting thing. I take full responsibility.”

- Cameron Winstanley

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LEWIS HAMILTON VS. MICHAEL SCHUMACHER 🔥

MCLAREN BOSS STELLA INSISTS FOCUS ON CONSTRUCTORS' TITLE

Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

McLaren have said their priority is to win the Formula 1 constructors' title after Lando Norris's challenge for the drivers' crown was all but ended in Brazil at the weekend.

"The constructors' championship was always our priority, so this doesn't change anything," team boss Andrea Stella said after Norris started on the pole and finished sixth, while Max Verstappen won from 17th on the grid.

The Red Bull driver is now 62 points clear of the Briton, his closest rival, with three rounds and 86 points still to fight for.

That means Verstappen could clinch a fourth successive title in Las Vegas later this month.

McLaren increased their lead over Ferrari to 36 points, however.

Verstappen's race was acclaimed as one of the great drives in the sport's history, even by those who had criticised his style previously, although Norris suggested there was an element of luck involved.

"He drove well, he got a bit lucky," Norris told Sky Sports.

Verstappen did not feel that way after the second phase of qualifying when he was caught out by a red flag that left him 12th with an additional five place drop for an engine change.

The Dutch driver had been fastest in the first phase of qualifying, while Norris just squeaked through in 15th position with his final effort, and admitted later he had felt like tearing up the garage.

In the race, Verstappen was helped by a red flag that gave him a free tyre change after Norris had pitted. But that came after he had overtaken six cars on the first lap and got himself into a position to take full advantage.

Norris, meanwhile, made a couple of mistakes, running off track and losing positions. The wet conditions also meant there was no advantage from drag reduction.

Stella blamed the car rather than the driver, pointing to brake problems.

McLaren.com

"When we lock the tyres with a car like we have today, I am not looking at the driver. I am looking at why the car keeps locking the front tyres in conditions like this. I don't think pressure was a significant factor at all," Stella said.

"We have struggled with the lockups all weekend in wet conditions with both drivers, and I think from a car point of view this is also something that we need to look into."

Only five of the 1,121 previous championship races had been won from 17th or lower and Verstappen's victory, his eighth of the season, ended a 10-race run without success for the Dutch driver.

He also beat Michael Schumacher's record of 896 consecutive days leading the championship.

- Reuters 

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