Todt tells the other Schumacher
Those who have witnessed from the outside the epic of Michael Schumacher at Ferrari may have perceived the German as a driver solely dedicated to the track, gruff and taciturn. However, these are only some superficial aspects of the Kaiser‘s character: those who knew him in Maranello speak of a well-rounded leader, capable of inspiring the team by example and simple gestures.
The former general manager Jean Todt, who worked with the German for over a decade, explained very well Schumacher’s professionalism but also his more hidden side, a shyness masked by arrogance.
Todt’s words
“Michael is quite a fragile person. He doesn’t have that typical authoritative voice of someone who thinks they are superior to others,” these are Todt’s words on the High Performance podcast. “For example, after becoming world champion and before starting the new season, he asked me if I could give him half a day at Fiorano to do some testing and make sure he was still in shape. I think not being sure you are good enough is a great strength. We all were always afraid of not being good enough. It was perhaps a bit painful, because we didn’t enjoy the results as we should have, in fact we easily forgot them, because we thought about how to improve for the next race. I believe this was a shared vision within the team.”
“Anyone who thinks Michael is arrogant is totally wrong,” he continued. “Michael is a rather shy and generous guy. But he hides his shyness by pretending to be arrogant. After 1997 he understood he was protected and loved, and the relationship developed in both directions: little by little we went from a professional relationship to one of friendship and family. And he never complained about a team mistake.”
