Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have paid tribute to Michael Schumacher ahead of this weekend’s Formula 1 return to the Nurburgring.
While of course the track is iconic in its own right, the German legend’s success in the 1990s was really what revived the circuit as an F1 venue when it joined Hockenheim on the calendar and held races under various names such as the European, Luxembourg and then the German Grand Prix until its last event back in 2013.
This year, the global Covid-19 pandemic has presented an unexpected one-off opportunity to once again see the fastest racing cars in the world back at the ‘Ring for what’s been called the Eifel GP.
And for Vettel, who won the last F1 race at the Nurburgring seven years ago, the return does bring back a lot of Schumacher memories.
“I met Michael at the Formula 1 supporting program,” he told RTL recounting his first interaction with the seven-time world champion.
“We BMW juniors were also allowed to enter the Formula 1 paddock and because of my connections to the Kerpen karting track and therefore also to Michael, I was lucky enough to get into the Ferrari pits.
“I was 16 or 17 years old and was totally fascinated when I saw all those people dressed in red running around. Just great.
“The passion that Michael sparked in Germany later paved the way for my generation,” he claimed.
“This year we returned to the Nürburgring due to very exceptional circumstances but what the heck, I am very happy about it.”
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This weekend’s race also presents Lewis Hamilton with his second chance to match Schumacher’s record of 91 F1 wins.
But in the conversation of which is the better driver, Alonso sees one thing in Schumi’s favour.
“It’s difficult. These are different eras and cars with different performance,” he told Sport Bild.
“But I remember Michael as a driver who is hard to beat, one with the greatest talent. He had that extra something.
“Lewis is very good and the best of his generation but he did not win the World Championship with McLaren when he was Jenson Button’s teammate.
“Nico Rosberg also won the World Championship at Mercedes. Michael never had such things. He always won. For me, Michael has the edge.”