Game recognizes game—it’s the idea that two players (in this case, drivers) of unequal respect when meeting will recognize and even pay homage to the player (read: driver) of greater respect. While Michael Schumacher might not have been under the impression that Fernando Alonso deserved more respect than he did, the seven-time champion certainly recognized the Spaniard for the threat he was to Schumacher’s glory. 

To be 19 and make your Formula 1 debut might not sound like a big deal these days, but to be a 19-year-old rookie in 2001 was of immense significance. That was the year Minardi placed its hope in the young Fernando Alonso, and in his second season, Schumacher made a prophecy that eventually led to his retirement from F1.

Michael Schumacher saw himself in Fernando Alonso

In 2001, Alonso might not have been in the running for the “Best Rookie of All-time” award, but Renault saw promise in him and made him its reserve driver for 2002, even though he was racing for Minardi. According to James Allen’s book, Michael Schumacher: The Edge of Greatness, when he was discussing the 2005 season, Allen wrote, “Fernando Alonso, the young man [Schumacher] had identified four years earlier as his likely nemesis, is surely faster. Schumacher’s hunch about Alonso has proven correct, and Alonso is now his rival for the championship.”

Allen continued, “The older driver recognizes many of his own qualities in Alonso and also knows that, in many respects, the 24-year-old is superior to him now.” Precision is one word Allen used to describe Schumacher’s driving style, and over the years, Alonso has shown how Schumacher was right to compare Alonso with himself. Although Alonso comfortably out-scored Schumacher in 2005 for the championship, the 2006 season was when their rivalry saw its peak. With Alonso looking to win his second title, Schumacher was desperate to win his eighth in 2006 because he knew that could be his last chance.

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Allen wrote, “[Schumacher] trails Alonso in the world championship by 15 points with a third of the season gone. This is a championship he desperately wants to win because, with Alonso in the ascendant and Kimi Raikkonen already signed up as a Ferrari driver for 2007, Schumacher has already decided that this is going to be his final year in Formula 1.”

Michael Schumacher’s “Devil” Mindset Forced Lewis Hamilton to Choose Another F1 Legend as His Inspiration

That season was indeed Schumacher’s last season in F1 (before his return from 2010 to 2012). It became evident that Schumacher was slightly intimidated by his young rival, and Alonso knew the seven-time champion was doing everything he could to get to the Spaniard. That’s exactly what happened at the 2006 Monaco GP.

Alonso believes Michael Schumacher was out to get him at Monaco in 2006

During qualifying in Monte Carlo that year, Schumacher has provisional pole after his first flying lap, with Alonso right behind him. In his final run, Schumacher started his lap ahead of Alonso and lost control of his car right before the penultimate corner of the circuit. As a result, he stalled his Ferrari at Turn 17, which inadvertently ruined Alonso’s lap and his chances at pole position. While Schumacher claimed it was an accident, Alonso believed it wasn’t.

Allen wrote about this incident in his book from Mark Webber’s perspective, saying, “We got in the car, Michael, Fernando, and I. Fernando was totally pissed off, Michael was happy, putting on this face. The atmosphere was frosty. No one said anything. When we arrived, as Michael sprang out of the car and ran up the stairs, Fernando said to me, ‘He stopped on the track deliberately, you know?'” The FIA agreed with Alonso and demoted Schumacher to the back of the grid. The Spaniard started on pole and won his first Monaco GP.

Can you imagine that Fernando Alonso, to some extent, forced Michael Schumacher into retirement?

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