Michael Schumacher was born on the third of January 1969 to Rolf and Elisabeth Schumacher. The family move to the town of Kerpin-Manheim, a working class town near Cologne, Germany. It was there that the family became involved with karting. Michael, only four at the time was given a kart powered by an old lawn-mower engine by his father. From so humble a beginning was a World Champion's career launched. Karting became a family obsession fed by the resourcefulness of the elder Schumacher and the spirit of young Michael. Rolf Schumacher's mechanical ability led him to work part-time repairing other go-karts at the local track. In 1980 he traveled to Nivelles, Belgium for the World Karting Championship and saw a driver that impressed him deeply, that driver was Ayrton Senna. Michael was soon making a name for himself and in 1984 he won the German Junior Championship. The European championship came his way in 1987.
The path to car racing started with Formula Ford or Formula Koenig as it was known in Germany. To compete at this level Schumacher would need sponsors and lucky for him several sponsors including Jurgen Dik had noticed the young German. His first full year competing in the series saw him win nine out of ten rounds. Willie Weber, his future manager, was running his own Formula Three team and gave Michael a test in one of his cars. After seven or eight laps he was setting times 1 1/2 seconds faster than Webber's regular driver. Schumacher's first year in Formula Three saw him competing against future Formula 1 drivers, Karl Wendlinger and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Wendlinger eventually nosed out his compatriots for the title. The next year was all Schumacher. Instead of graduating to Formula 3000 Webber placed his young prot间?in the Mercedes junior team driving a sports car for Sauber along with his former Formula Three rivals. Under the watchful eyes of Jochen Neerspasch and Jochen Mass he was schooled in the art of race car driving. During this period Schumacher learned much of what would later become his trademark smooth style.
Opportunity arrived when Jordan's Formula One drive Bertrand Gachot found himself in jail and Schumacher was given a test with the Irish team. His times were a revelation and he was quickly signed or so it was thought. Jordan wanted to sign the young driver to a three year contract but Schumacher's advisors urged caution. Eventually a temporary deal was done and the rest as the saying goes is history. He made a brilliant debut at Spa in Belgium in a Jordan, where he qualified 7th ahead of his more experienced teammate. After some legal wrangling that was only recently resolved he finished the year at Benetton. The next year he won his first race at Spa. Showing signs of brilliance his time would come in the black year of 1994 when he became World Champion. In 1995 after a hard and sometimes controversial battle with Damon Hill he became the youngest double champion. 1996 saw him move to Ferrari and marked the start of his biggest challenge.
Due to the tragic death of Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher stands preeminent in Formula 1. The apparent lack of any real challengers to his supremacy should not be held against this very talented driver. Is Michael Schumacher one of the very best? Only time will tell just as assuredly there will arise a contender to his throne. How he reacts to this will define his career.
参考资料：
http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/shu_bio.htm 回答者：lovedeutsch - 秀才 二级 9-24 13:58
来自维基百度.
Michael Schumacher (pronounced /mɪçaeːl ʃumaxɐ (help·info)/, (nicknamed Schumi / Schu in German) born January 3, 1969, in Hürth Hermülheim, near Cologne) is a German Formula One driver and seven-time Formula One world champion. Statistically, he is the most successful Formula One driver ever, holding many Formula One records, including those for most drivers' championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, and most races won in a single season. Schumacher is the only German to have won the drivers' championship. According to EuroBusiness magazine [[1]], he is the world's first billionaire athlete, tens of millions of which he has donated to humanitarian causes. He announced his retirement as a driver on September 10, 2006, and will be replaced at Ferrari by Kimi Räikkönen for the 2007 season.[1]
Schumacher has attracted not only accolades, but also controversy during his long career. Some of his rivals have accused him of being excessively ruthless and unsportsmanlike on the track. These accusations have rarely been supported by the FIA, and some people just consider them little more than sour grapes in a sport that has become more and more competitive. However, he was in fact stripped of his second place in the 1997 championship after he was judged to have deliberately driven into title rival Jacques Villeneuve at the final race of the season.
He has been noted throughout his career for his ability to produce fast laps at crucial moments in a race and for his abilities on wet racetracks, earning him the title "Regenkönig" (rain king) or "Regenmeister" (rain master)[2]. As the senior driver in the Formula One world championship, Schumacher has continued to win races up to and including the 2006 season, having won at least one race every season since his first victory in 1992.
Michael Schumacher has also become a committed spokesman for road safety, most recently in support of the Make Roads Safe campaign. At the end of 2006, Ferrari will define Schumacher's new position within the reorganised Ferrari team, following his retirement as a race driver.
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http://www.mschumacher.com/biography.html