rpm.espn.com: Michael Schumacher

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Tuesday, January 22

Michael Schumacher
ESPN.com

Team: Ferrari
Nationality: Germany

Michael Schumacher
Schumacher

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Poles
Podium
Best finish

2001 1 9 11 14 1st, Nine times

Career 53 43 97 1st, 53 times

2001 Recap
The Good: This section should be renamed The Great. Schumacher had his way with the competition for most of the 2002 season and wrapped up his fourth career world title in August at Hungary.

The German collected nine wins and 11 poles. He also set all-time F1 marks for career wins and points. In 17 races, Schumacher finished outside of the top-two just three times.

Season Highlight: Schumacher's victory in Malaysia gave him six consecutive wins (including the 2000 season). He became just the second driver in F1 history to accomplish the feat.

Also, at Hungary, Schumacher's record-tying 51st career win clinched his world title.

The Bad: There wasn't much bad to report for Schumacher in 2002. He did have a downbeat approach to racing at the end of the season, leading many to believe he may follow former champion Mika Hakkinen into retirement. But, Schumacher says motivation is not a problem, and his dour mood was due to the horrible terrorist attacks in America.

Season Lowlight: At San Marino, Schumacher's hope of equalling the F1 mark for consective poles (8) was stopped by David Coulthard. Then, on raceday, the champion retired after just 25 laps. It marked the first race he failed to finish since July of 2000. On the bright side of the day, however, Schumacher enjoyed watching his brother claim his first career F1 victory.

Michael Schumacher
Four-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher had arguably his best year yet in 2001.

Key Stat: In the season finale at Japan, Schumacher earned his 53rd career win, which gave him a record points haul for the season. The victory also made him F1's all-time top scorer, besting four-time champion Alain Prost.

2002 Outlook
What needs to be done: Steady as she goes at Ferrari. The team is built around Schumacher, and will continue to be run as such. Unless championship rivals McLaren and Williams have greatly improved their cars for the upcoming season, they don't have much hope to knock Schumacher from the top spot.

Prediction: Barring injury, Schumacher should win many races and poles as well as claim his fifth world championship, which would match the mark of the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950s. He presents a nearly unbeatable combination of a dominant driver in the series' best car.

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