By: On Thursday, the media day for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari held a meeting between three well-known figures from the Scuderia and the Italian media. At Monza, it is 30 years since Michael Schumacher claimed victory in the F310 in 1996. As the Maranello team recalled, that triumph went on to spark—perhaps unknowingly at the time—the mentality within the team that led the Italian marque to five drivers’ world titles and six consecutive constructors’ championships with the German between 2000 and 2004.
A pioneer of the current era
During the meeting, Diego Ioverno (sporting director), Luigi Fraboni (head of PU and electronics operations) and Pietro Timpini (head of ground transport logistics) shared anecdotes and insights into the character traits that set the seven-time German world champion apart from today’s drivers in the late 1990s and 2000s.
All of them described him as a pioneer. A driver who, before getting in the car, was able to understand the mood of the mechanics; who sought every opportunity to bring people together and do what we would now call team building. At a party, before celebrating, he would make sure that every guest was present.
His constant pursuit of perfection would make him unique even today
More than anything, Michael was a perfectionist. That is why he can be described as a timeless driver. Not only did he introduce a working method that was subsequently adopted by almost all modern drivers, but according to Ioverno and Fraboni, if Michael Schumacher were of an age to compete in F1 today, he would not only probably be able to do so at the very highest level, but would also enjoy it greatly.
Jokingly, Ioverno and Fraboni added that their enjoyment would have been inversely proportional to Schumacher’s. In his era, he was always a perfectionist and, in an F1 as complex as today’s, being one would certainly have driven them mad.
Schumacher was, is and will be a timeless driver. A generous and understanding racer who left the Maranello Scuderia with far more than the world championships he won. He gave it a vision, a legacy that is almost impossible to erase or simply adapt.
Photo: X, Michael Schumacher
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