Michael Schumacher(1969 — ?)

In 1991, Michael Schumacher made his Formula 1 debut at the Belgian Grand Prix almost by chance: the regular driver for the Jordan team was in prison, and Schumacher was called in as a last-minute replacement. He impressed by qualifying 7th, and as early as the very next Grand Prix, the top team Benetton poached him.

When Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996, the Italian team had not won a drivers' title since 1979. It took him five years to rebuild the team with his engineers before clinching the championship in 2000, sparking immense jubilation in Italy, where the Tifosi regarded him almost as a national hero.

Schumacher was famed for driving just as well in the rain as in the dry, which earned him the nickname “Regenkönig,” the “Rain King.” At the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix, on a soaking-wet track, he finished nearly 45 seconds ahead of the runner-up at the wheel of a Ferrari that was otherwise far from competitive that season.

His career was also marked by highly controversial moves. In 1994 and again in 1997, he caused collisions with his title rivals; in 1997, the stewards even disqualified him from the final championship standings for deliberately ramming Jacques Villeneuve.

In December 2013, a few months after retiring, Schumacher suffered a serious skiing accident in the French Alps and sustained a severe head injury. Since then, his family has strictly protected his privacy and has released almost no information about his condition.