Schumacher – Netflix documentary
The much anticipated documentary on F1 legend Michael Schumacher was finally released on September 15 by Netflix. I knew it as an F1 fan that I have to watch it. I didn’t waste much time and watched it the very first day of release.
Schumacher and Hakkinen
I started watching F1 around 1998-99 when the rivalry between Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen was at it’s peak. That legendary overtake of Mika at Spa, bypassing the backmarker Zonda and leading Michael is still seared in my mind. The subsequent years were all about absolute domination by Michael, the red-Ferrari winning almost all the race, which was kind of a bummer. So I was never a huge fan of Schumacher but always admired his talent, hardwork and the winning mentality.
The Schumacher documentary has the blessing of the family and that is the most important aspect of this film. We got a glimpse of Michael as a family man. He came from a very humble background, picking up used go-kart tires and running races on them. He absolutely loved his wife and that love was well reciprocated. Michael enjoyed spending time with his two kids, doing outdoor activities like skiing and even skydiving.
Schumacher, Senna, Prost and Mansell
Most of us remember the dominant Michael in a Ferrari but this documentary is more about the origins. We are reminded that Michael started his F1 career when the greats of the 80’s and early 90’s were still very much there – Alain Prost, Mansell and the legendary Aryton Senna. Michael was a rising star at a time when the paddock was already full of stars. At times he rubbed off Senna in a wrong way but it never wore him down. Michael focused on his racecraft and kept on improving. In many ways Senna crashed and died while trying to chase Michael and match his speed. We then see the human and vulnerable side of Michael, wondering about the former great Senna and mulling his own death in a race car.
We then move on to the fierce competitions he had with Damon Hill and later with Mika Hakkinen. For all his talent and hard work, Michael sure had severe lapses of judgement at times and this documentary does not shy away from exploring this topic. From crashing into Damon at Adelaide to trying to crash into Villeneuve in 1997, Michael was all over the spectrum. However the documentary didn’t cover his intentional stalling at Monaco where he was subsequently disqualified.
Schumacher – the family person
The documentary then quickly moves through this Ferrari domination years and barely covered his return from retirement in 2010. It is something that they could have covered in more detail but then the 2hr time limit made things difficult. They could have done a 5 part webs-series or something but instead went for a single 2hr documentary.
The ending was really emotional – listening to his wife Corinna, then Sebastian Vettel and his son Mick who is currently racing in F1 for the HAAS team. It is an immense tragedy that we do not have Michael available due to Coma after the skiing incident. I am sure this brought tears to all F1 fans.
Whether you are a Formula 1 fan or not this documentary is certainly worth watching. It is about talent, hard work, love, family, the ultimate triumph and the ultimate tragedy.