How was Michael Schumacher able to unite F1 Teams?

Schumacher will always be remembered as a great of F1. Schumacher has been analysed, books have been written about him and ultimately Schumacher is a true master of the sport!

However what set him apart?

What sets Schumacher apart is not that he’s got one facet that other drivers don’t, but that the sum of his skills and abilities are a powerful combination. What was easy to see on his arrival in F1 was his driving talent and his determination. This determination led him to work harder than anyone else seemed to be doing at the time. This meant that he was testing his cars, reading technical data and working on being the physically fittest driver out there.

But perhaps what sets him apart most of all as a driver, is not his physical attributes, but his emotional control and intelligence. He is able to keep his emotions in check when racing, so his anger and frustrations don’t cause surges in adrenaline that impair performance – through an altered sense of timing or taking greater risks. Yes, there have been some well known gaffes, but I believe these have been a product of his very high levels of passion and desire for competition and winning, rather than cold-hearted calculation.

Schumacher isn’t a machine, selfless and uncaring as he was portrayed over a decade ago. Perhaps he was more like this when he arrived in F1, or just that he was young and learning how to be an F1 driver. He has certainly evolved into a team player. We saw this in how he got the team behind him, working for him and the car’s performance. He is truly able to unite an F1 team, almost more than any other driver in the history of the sport. They see his commitment, hard work and passion and it rubs off on everyone at Ferrari. It is easy to see that this approach works in his favour as it quickens the development of the car.

There is evidence of how he’s a team player time and time again. When he celebrates he does so with passion, energy and hugs his team.

His emotional intelligence and ability to get the team dynamics working for him developed over his career as he matured. Unification of a team is an enormous asset for a young driver to have behind them. Even now you see Massa and his mechanic are good mates. This mateship helps propel success as people want to be there working for you and with you instead of having to be there. That is powerful! It is this unification that set Schumacher apart and above the other drivers of his generation.

Other teams seem to lack the cohesiveness and closeness that Schumacher developed at Ferrari. It is this that helps the whole team pull together and gets results. Other sports are littered with examples of having the best players and skills, but get beaten by other teams who work better as a unit. With Schumacher we saw both – the best driver and the best functioning team pulling for him. With this combination the product was record-setting winning and domination.

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How was Michael Schumacher able to unite F1 Teams?

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