Every world champion shares one common feature among themselves: their ruthlessness. We are seeing it in Max Verstappen; we saw it in Lewis Hamilton. However, from the accounts of multiple drivers, there was no driver as ruthless as Michael Schumacher. The German legend never left an inch for his opponents. This attitude towards his opponents and the sport is exactly what made him the first seven-time world champion. However, there was a side of him that made him extremely loved as well. A Ferrari veteran gave us some insight into these contradictory character traits of the German.

Ross Brawn was a big part of Schumacher’s career and his success almost throughout his time in Formula 1. This is why Brawn is the best person to tell us exactly how this split personality, the Jekyll and Hyde, if you will, opinion formed around the German. Luckily for us, that is exactly what he did in James Allen’s book, Michael Schumacher: The Edge of Greatness.

“There are [two Michael Schumachers], there’s the one who is fighting against other drivers, who is hard and aggressive, tries not to show any weaknesses and doesn’t give any quarter because that’s what he has to present to the other drivers,” said Brawn. “Then there is the Schumacher who is in the team, who loves working with a group of people, loves the team spirit, the empathy, likes to encourage people and discuss things.”

“And it’s almost a contradiction because when he steps over that mark and gets on to the track and into that environment he cannot give anything away. Then he steps back into the team environment and he’s a really nice guy, a real team player. It’s Jekyll and Hyde because he was determined not to show any soft side to adversaries,” he concluded.

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Now the two different accounts of Schumacher’s personality make sense as the German never really showcased his soft side to his opponents. He had that reserved for his team and the people who took care of him. However, this is also the reason why many opponents dislike him.

The reason why Lewis Hamilton never saw Michael Schumacher as his idol

Schumacher was a perfectionist, and he was always the best at what he did. However, this brought out a side of him that many did not like, and this is exactly how he wanted to portray himself to his opponents as well. This is also the reason many, like Lewis Hamilton, see Ayrton Senna as their idol instead of Michael Schumacher. The author of Schumacher’s book, James Allen, also pointed it out.

“Schumacher had a bit of the devil in him, and many people are unwilling to forgive him for that. Combined with this was a meticulous dedication to his craft, the quest for perfection. The French actress Jeanne Moreau once said that ‘perfection in a man is easy to admire but hard to love,’ and this observation certainly applied to Michael Schumacher, the racing driver. He did not have Senna’s sense of style nor his obvious raw passion. Instead, precision, hard work, and discipline were his hallmarks; qualities which do not win over hearts and minds,” wrote Allen.

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The real question is, 10 or 20 years down the line, will people care more about his conduct or the legacy he has left in the sport? I think we all know the answer to that.