FIA president Jean Todt has revealed Michael Schumacher often doubted his ability during his championship-winning years.
The Frenchman was at the helm of Ferrari when the German clinched his five straight Formula 1 titles between 2000-04, making him the most successful driver in history with seven in total.
However, while few questioned if Schumacher was good enough to continue achieving success, Todt admits Michael’s harshest critic was himself.
“Michael has always been with his feet on the ground, which probably helped him to be so successful over the years because Michael always was full of doubt about his capability of winning with a Formula 1 car,” he said on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.
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“Every year before the season he would ask me to have a private session in Fiorano to make sure he was still a good driver. Every year.
“He had always been anxious and it’s something we have been sharing; anxiety to be good enough and that was what made him so good because he was able to put himself into question.”
Eventually, when his period of dominance was broken by Fernando Alonso and Renault in 2005, 2006, Schumacher would call time on his career at Ferrari, which had seen him and Todt drag the Italian team back to the top after years in the doldrums.
Of course, now it is Sebastian Vettel trying to do the same at the Scuderia, who are without any championship since 2008.
However, there is now another Schumacher making his way through the ranks as Michael’s son Mick currently races in F2 having joined the Ferrari Academy at the start of this year.