Motorsport: The two sides of Schumi

Michael Schumacher will retire tomorrow as the most successful Formula One racer the world has ever seen. Yet who he really is, what kind of a man, will generate as much debate in years to come as the arguments about whether he was indeed the greatest champion of all.

Everyone has an opinion about 'Schumi'; but only a few can say they really know him.

When the 37-year-old German finally calls it a day after tomorrow morning's season-ending Brazilian GP (race starts at 6am), possibly with a record 92nd career win, and even an eighth title if Renault's Fernando Alonso fails to score, he will leave plenty of memories, bitter and sweet.

Some will recall his rare skills at the wheel, his brilliance in the wet, the championships won and the records that may never be equalled.

Others will remember the controversies; the collision with Damon Hill in the 1994 title decider, the notorious 1997 attempt to run Jacques Villeneuve off the road and Austria 2002, when he took an undeserved win after Ferrari ordered team-mate Rubens Barrichello to move over.

So too will they remember this year's Monaco GP, where he was branded a cheat after an apparent attempt to block rivals in qualifying by stopping his car at the penultimate corner in the dying seconds.

There is the Michael Schumacher who became a household name, one of the world's highest-paid athletes, thanks to his single-minded dedication and ruthless determination. And there is the intensely private man who shelters his family from the media's prying eyes and reveals little about his innermost thoughts.

The world will see one version of the German at Interlagos this weekend, the future belongs to another.

"I think both sides are part of the real Michael," says spokeswoman and close confidante Sabine Kehm.

"Definitely Michael on the racetrack is different from when you are sitting together with him, when he is very normal and very nice. At the racetrack he is extremely focused, extremely concentrated and totally geared to his goal."

Kehm paints a picture of Schumacher as a driver who has coped with phenomenal pressure, unimaginable to most rivals who have never been in such a position, and who is now completely at ease with himself.

Far from being forced out of the Ferrari team by the arrival next year of Kimi Raikkonen from McLaren, he knew what he wanted when he decided to quit.

"He is totally fine with his decision," says Kehm. "When you see him away from the track, you can see that he is very balanced, He knows exactly what he wants and what he has. He appreciates what he values."

Schumacher, with earnings of an estimated US$50 million (NZ$76 million) a year, has long passed the point where he needs to earn a wage.

If he has continued so long, it is because of a love of winning and also because he has been able to separate so completely his work and private life. His young children are never seen at the racetrack and any requests for glossy magazine lifestyle interviews of the Schumachers at home are routinely rejected.

"He's a very silent guy in a way," says Kehm. "He doesn't talk loudly, he loves... being together with people and friends."

That desire for privacy is unlikely to change, she says.

"I think what he's now looking for is getting away from the pressure and the obligations and the success in a way and trying to enjoy it even more.

"I'd say we won't see much of him next year."

- REUTERS