Is Michael Schumacher dead? This question surged across social media following news that a 75-year-old author of the same name passed away in December 2024. To be clear: the seven-time Formula 1 world champion is still alive.
However, since his life-altering skiing accident in 2013, the racing legend's health has remained a closely guarded family secret, leaving a void that often fills with speculation and 'death hoaxes'. While the F1 icon remains out of the public eye, a look back at his career reveals a time when he was nearly forced into a very different kind of public spotlight—a criminal courtroom.
When the dust finally settled on the 1997 Formula 1 season at Jerez, the sporting world thought it had seen the worst of the fallout. The image of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari beached in the gravel, while Jacques Villeneuve limped his Williams to a title-clinching third place, had already become an indelible part of racing folklore. But for Schumacher, the ultimate competitor who had spent his career dancing on the razor's edge of sporting ethics, the nightmare was only just beginning.
Beyond the internal shame of a failed gamble and the unprecedented wrath of the FIA, a far more ominous threat was lurking in the legal corridors of his native Germany. In addition to the sporting fallout, the 1997 finale was famous for a bizarre qualifying session where Villeneuve, Schumacher, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen all set the exact same lap time of 1:21.072.
The collision on lap 48 of the European Grand Prix was not merely a 'racing incident'. As Villeneuve dived down the inside of the Dry Sac hairpin, Schumacher's instinctive—and ultimately doomed—reaction was to steer his Ferrari directly into the side of the Williams.
While Villeneuve survived the impact to claim his first and only Drivers' Championship, the governing body was unforgiving. Adjudging the move to be 'deliberate but not premeditated', the FIA took the historic step of stripping Schumacher of his entire points tally for the season.
Though he was allowed to keep his individual race wins and pole positions for the history books, his runner-up spot in the standings was effectively deleted. To further punish the German, the FIA also ordered him to undertake a period of community service, which involved participating in several of the governing body's road safety campaigns throughout 1998.
The Legal Shadow Looming Over Michael Schumacher
Just as the German driver was hoping to pivot toward the 1998 season and rebuild his battered reputation, a bombshell arrived from the state prosecutor's office in Cologne. It is a little-remembered chapter of F1 history, but on 6 January 1998, authorities confirmed they were exploring criminal charges against the two-time champion.
The investigation was triggered by a formal complaint from a private citizen in Frankfurt, who alleged that Schumacher's high-speed manoeuvre amounted to coercion and, staggeringly, attempted murder. The complaint also suggested that Schumacher could be liable for grievous bodily harm and various driving offences under the German Penal Code.
Under German law, prosecutors were technically obliged to examine the conduct of any citizen involved in such a complaint, regardless of whether the event occurred on foreign soil. Chief prosecutor Hans Bernhard Jansen found himself in the surreal position of evaluating whether a tactical foul in a sport defined by danger could be classified as a lethal criminal act.
Jansen, who headed the capital crimes department, noted that because Schumacher was a German citizen, the law required an assessment of his actions, even if they occurred at a race track in Spain. The prospect of a global sporting icon appearing in a criminal dock for a split-second decision at 150mph sent shockwaves through the paddock, raising uncomfortable questions about where sporting autonomy ends and the rule of law begins.
How Michael Schumacher Escaped The Ultimate Blot On His Copybook
Fortunately for the Ferrari talisman, the legal threat evaporated almost as quickly as it had appeared. Within days of the announcement, Jansen and his team quashed the idea of a trial, concluding that an investigation into the driver's behaviour had not revealed any criminal act. The case was dropped, and the 'attempted murder' label was relegated to a footnote of sensationalist headlines.
Schumacher, ever the pragmatist, eventually offered a rare public admission of guilt, stating: 'I am human like everyone else and unfortunately I made a mistake. I don't make many, but I did this time.' Despite the legal reprieve, Schumacher's 1998 season was hampered by the controversy, eventually losing the title to Mika Hakkinen by 14 points at the final round in Suzuka.
The incident was still a big stain on Michael Schumacher's record, especially since it happened only three years after his equally controversial fight with Damon Hill in Adelaide, for which he famously got away with no punishment. Ferrari was allowed to keep their second place in the 1997 Constructors' Championship, but the stain on their lead driver's legacy took years to fade.
The Jerez incident is a strong reminder of Schumacher's early career, when he had a 'win-at-all-costs' attitude. Schumacher would lose the 1998 title to Mika Hakkinen in a tense finale at Suzuka, but the real victory that year was probably that he didn't have to go to court. This allowed him to win five more titles in a row and become a seven-time world champion.
