5. Formula One debut in 1991
On August 25, 1991, Michael Schumacher made his Formula One race debut at the wheel of a Jordan 191. It was short-lived – less than a lap – but instantly hinted at what the future might hold. We look back on a remarkable weekend, and how it marked the start of Schumacher’s special relationship with Spa-Francorchamps.
Schumacher wasn’t really on Formula One’s radar in ’91. He had won the German Formula Three title with relative ease the previous year, before switching to Mercedes’ works sportscar squad, where there seemed little to mark him out from fellow Silver Arrows proteges Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger, both of whom would subsequently reach F1 following the trail blazed by Schumacher.
But Mercedes, who had no direct Formula One involvement at the time, had recognised Schumacher’s potential and it was their management – and money – that helped manoeuvre their driver into an F1 seat when an unlikely and unexpected opportunity arose.
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