Lewis Hamilton touched down here in Sochi newly named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. Lewis Hamilton arrived in Sochi named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. Schumacher, of course, is revered across the world and was much loved by his team-mates at Ferrari’s one-horse town of Maranello especially, but also at Benetton, where he won the first two of his seven titles, and then at Mercedes on his ill-fated return from his first retirement. He won the first of his World Championships in 1994 by punting into Damon Hill’s Williams during the closing race in Adelaide. ‘Michael and Lewis could not be more different as personalities and in their approach to racing,’ Damon Hill told me. Schumacher won the first of his World Championships in 1994 by punting into Damon Hill. ‘But with Michael, you would be wary of him, more so than with Lewis. In contrast, Schumacher was worn out by 2006, when Ferrari, unable to get a quick and unequivocal answer as to whether he wanted to sign a new deal, paid the earth to Kimi Raikkonen instead and announced their greatest champion’s departure on the day he celebrated the penultimate of his 91 glories, at Monza.

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