Schumacher 'never even sweated' during F1 races

Giancarlo Fisichella shared memories of his good friend and seven-time champion

Stuart Hodge

Wednesday 18 January 2023 18:45 Updated: 20:19

It's the oldest debate in the sport: who is the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time?

Giancarlo Fisichella is unequivocal as to whom he thinks the greatest of them all is – and it's the man whose car he once rode on the back of, returning to the pit lane after he broke down four laps from the end of the 1997 German Grand Prix.

"Michael Schumacher," said Fisichella, when asked the question directly in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, as the three-time GP winner turned 50.

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Schumacher and Fisichella became good friends over their years racing against each other and the Italian was utterly devastated when the seven-time world champion suffered a life-changing brain injury when skiing in the French Alps in December 2013.

"Unfortunately, I've never raced in the same team, it would have been useful to see his telemetry, but we shared so many great moments at races and with the drivers' national team," he told the Italian newspaper.

"Sometimes he would get out of the car or finish a football match and he didn't even seem to have sweated."

The German was known for being an ice-cool figure behind the wheel of an F1 car but that is surely pushing it!

As for Fisichella, he did eventually race for Ferrari on the grid, beginning at his home race in Monza in 2009 as he replaced the injured Felipe Massa for the rest of the campaign for the Scuderia.

Schumacher had been retired for over two years at that point but there were attempts to try and get him clearance to make his return.

But he was forced to call it off to the severity of the neck injury he had received in a motorcycle accident earlier during that the year.

Perhaps in another universe, the stars would have aligned for the two men to pair up but it didn't stop them from building a lasting friendship.

And Fisichella is in no doubt about just how big an impact his 'amico' had at the highest level of motorsport.

Fisichella: Schumacher gave me so much and rewrote history of F1

"He was a great football fan and we regularly kicked a ball together," Fisichella told Rai Italia in a previous interview.

"As a colleague, he was an incredible opponent, and he rewrote the history of Formula 1.

"Having raced with him, he has given me so much, and the few times I came in front made me even more proud because he is a great champion. It is a cruel fate that someone who as a race so often risked his life is badly injured while skiing."