Schumacher September 15 Netflix

What's bothersome for me is that all I hear about on social media and the like are '94 vs Hill, '97 vs Villeneuve and 2006 Monaco. People have branded him as a 'dirty driver' or a driver who 'deploys questionable tactics'. Super-competitive and he did those things. But to ignore his brilliance behind the wheel, intuitive feel for car development and his team-bonding approach to drag Ferrari from the doldrums into the then-most successful period in history is tragic. Actually, I hear both he and Ayrton being dragged through the mud as dirty drivers these days. I guess you can certainly focus on the specific events where they crossed the line and brand their careers, but it certainly ignores how great they were in their times.

Sad ending to a really nice journey for Schu...at least we have a more stark understanding of his condition.

 

I finished watching it around 2245 hours. It's 0056 hours now as i type this. I can't really seem to sleep. The last part of the documentary is extremely sad. I really think Mick was close to tears, and really holding back. The sadness in his face as he spoke how he wished things were normal for them now.

I'm a huge MS fan. Still am, will always be. After seeing this, i really think he should have died on that day, rather than going through this **** now.

 

Good but incomplete overview of his career, more a story of his life, as in they told the story of the early Ferrari years and then finally winning the first title in red, and then really hardly mentioning the rest of the titles. Story tellers and film makers have to make a lot of decisions, so I'd say as an introduction to the Michael Schumacher story SO FAR, it was great. The amount of coverage on Ayrton's death was unexpected, and man just watching that part last night was tough, so I think they did a good job of explaining why it was important to the MS story.

 

A little similar to the Frank Williams documentary. More about the person vs the career, but how do you short change such a defining part of his life?

 

If only it were not for that "we want Alonso: so it's you or Massa" thing.................

 

Just finished watching it. I won't lie, the very opening scene when they are diving was already depressing to me. It was pretty well done, this documentary clearly focused more about the person rather than the driver. The ending is just super sad. I think at this point all we can hope for is medical advancements. Crazier things have happened. It really hurts that he's quit twice to spend more time with his family, and just over a year after he quit for good...this happened. And then Corinna said that they could've flown to Dubai for sky diving instead as the snow wasn't so good. Man. Just a horrible situation for everyone.

I'd just like to add the footage they showed from testing with Ferrari in the dark...that was absolutely beautiful, the glowing brakes and flames from the exhaust! God I wish I was as excited about F1 today as I was then...but that's another topic entirely.

+1 fully agree. The 97 ruling (though ultimately a pointless decision anyways) really pissed me off. Especially knowing what Senna did just a few years before it, with intention.

Agree as well. I think, had they added a few more minutes, they could've shown his clutch going in 1998 Suzuka, Silverstone they could've added some footage about his leg and information on his recovery (plenty available)...and qualifying a second clear of anyone on his comeback in Malaysia! It showed off Michael's personality really well, but a few things that happened in 94, the 95 car...97 performance deficit etc. It's not a lot of time added to it but that could paint an even brighter picture to those that aren't as excited about F1 as us, or to newer F1 fans.

 

Incredibly talented and fiercely competitive was my takeaway. He didn't always win in the best car either like the dominant Seb and Lewis championship streaks.
I would really love to see F1TV do a year by year documentary. Not Drive to Survive style, but more "here are the players, these were the rivals, these were the teams, and here are the spoilers, season to season. I might have to go back and watch all the archive races now...

 

I should add that it really felt like "Schumacher Lite" when the documentary ended. I guess it's difficult to capture the lives of iconic figures like Senna, Schumacher and Frank Williams in a couple of hours, but I was left wanting more. It felt so brief, even thought it was 90+ minutes long.

Most poignant moment of the documentary was the interview with Mika Hakkinen. Hakkinen was brilliant and was being presented as THE driver in the late-90's. Hakkinen, in so many words, said that Schumacher's willingness to throw it all on the line at 300km/hrs to get the win was a little too much for him. When he took his "sabbatical" after the 2001 season (ultimately retired), I'm guessing he had to weigh whether he wanted to continue going head-to-head with a guy who wanted to win that badly.

I think the other thing we're reminded of (that even I forget as a fan) is that Ferrari's 5 year string was not dominant. 2002 they had a good car that could take on all comers and 2004 they had a dominant car. But those other three titles were tightly contested and it usually came down to Suzuka (final race of the season). Schumacher's/Ferrari's win in 2000 was purely down to Michael throwing out everything to get that title from Mika. We forget he was taking a lot of criticism for 'his' failure to deliver a title. It took a big comeback in the second half of the season (and some fortuitous dnf's by Hakkinen) to wrestle away that championship.

 

By the way... Can we talk about Mick's neck for a minute?
This kid has a tree trunk above his shoulders, and he's not a bulky guy.
He's like that big neck mugshot guy.
How does this kid get his HANS on and off?

 

I thought it was really well done to give an insight into him as a person, the last 10 minutes were very hard to watch.

Agree with the post above, there is so much to his story its hard to condense into a documentary, his absolute determination really shines through. I feel very fortunate to have watched many of those 91 wins.

 

Very moving and sad. To see his commitment and caring to his Ferrari mechanics, they must of really loved him. I read after his retirement and before the accident, he gave anonymous to charities. He enjoyed the US. because he was not easily recognized.

 

It was a great watch. I was surprised that the showed the Senna crash..and to this very day it is an upsetting thing to watch. I still do not understand it.

What it did show was how much of an adrenaline junkie he was. Jumping outa airplanes..extreme skiing etc. It showed me it was only a matter of time before something catastrophic would happen...and it did. Mike played with fire..and he unfortunately got burned.

 

I think the documentary really showed this so well. Many people know that Michael was a hard worker and he put in a lot of time, but in words, it didn't really show just how much really was put in. Irvine's words on Michael's dedication showed a lot. As was from the journo Mr Williams, seeing Michael work with a handful of staff well into the early hours to try and get some performance from this car. Before and after Michael this never happened, and especially the Ferrari crew would miss his presence. Of course today it's a lot harder for a driver to stay past curfew as it's simply not allowed...but it's simply unheard of. What Corinna said as well, how Michael made every teammember feel like they belong and are part of the whole Ferrari machine, that their job truly mattered. Simply exceptional.

I don't think it matters what Michael choose to have done with his life, I think he'd be enormously successful whatever it was he did (except probably singing).

Speaking of singing, that footage of Michael and DC singing at a party, really highlights how Michael was able to separate work and life. DC has spoken (pre accident and after) that he and Michael got on well outside of F1.

I'm sure after Michael there are drivers that will be as good he Michael was in the car, hell, a few drivers today can make a good claim to that. But none of them will be the complete picture that Michael was. As a complete driver, Michael really was 1 of 1.

 

I was so taken how much Michael looks like his Dad. I mean….I get it. Son’s look like Fathers a lot of the time but the one picture early in the film showed a young Michael in a kart and his Dad standing behind him.
It looked like Michael with a beard. A few other times also. Spitting image of his father.
I remember exactly where I was when I read on my phone he was in a skiing accident. I was sitting in the same spot on my couch as I watched the documentary. The part that they almost left and went sky diving…..that was tough to hear.

 

From someone who was there:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/luigimazzola_gratitudine-ferrari-f1-activity-6844534237601779712-Zvn8

 

In comparison with Senna's documentary, i found Schumacher's deficient, with several gaps around his racing career as well as i did not like the fact that everyone except his wife and children talked about him in the past time...

 

And yet, unfortunately, the character Michael was is very much past tense.

 

Great find!

 

That's not true. He was not extreme skiing. Report below. He was resort skiing going to help another skier and fell. It was an unfortunate accident.

https://www.france24.com/en/20140103-reconstruction-bild-michael-schumacher-ski-accident-france


I don't think he had a death wish or was an adrenaline junkie. Many myself included do these kinds of sports. We live through all that stuff just fine taking calculated risks based on skill and experience. You can sneak up on limits just fine or you can exceed them and take big risk. People get hurt all the time but 90% of the time those same people now know exactly what went wrong for the next time. MS wasn't doomed to death or injury. He was just unlucky just like having an auto accident or colon cancer.

 

It was a double black ski run he fell on.

{While I can (used to) ski on blacks comfortably, I was never comfortable (and often took my skis off and walked off) on double blacks when I tried.}

 

I think he was also skiing out of bounds if I remember right.

 

ddouble blacks are just as easy as blue if you learn the skills for it. Db is just the next level no big deal to many. Blues are hard for some. Off piste is just backcountry by USA standard and often easier than some patrolled groomed resort skiing. There is more off piste in Europe and some is just not patrolled not in the resort boundary to get to another resort or some beautiful landmark like we would hike to some falls. Off piste is not automatically harder riskier but by definition must be prepared for varied snow conditions and no resort amenities like bathroom. If you can’t ski any snow conditions you don’t ski there. Sometimes you aren’t even skiing and need the cardio and technique to push through long flat section. At a resort you almost never have to push. Resorts are setup for out of shape irregular skiers. Some off piste lead back to the resort. Some take you out to the boondocks. You need to know more off piste. At a resort you always end up at the bottom of the hill with services.

 

I completely agree. MS went for 'normal skiing'. It was said he went to help a friend's daughter who had indeed fell down there just moments before the tragedy.

 

I also found that the Senna documentary painted him as a saint, whereas everyone was against him.

 

I follow him on IG. it's amazing the training these guys go through.