Schumacher's wild 'once a year' party antics revealed

Ex-Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert has provided insight into the party antics of former teammate Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher is considered to be one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport, winning seven World Championships during his career.

His maiden titles came in 1994 and 1995 with Bennetton and it was during that period when the German driver was partnered alongside Herbert.

While Herbert highlighted that Schumacher was completely focused on finding F1 success, he gave an insight into his personality away from the track.

“It was the fun side,” Herbert told BettingSites.co.uk when asked for an anecdote to sum up Schumacher.

“We all know there was the massively serious side to him totally driven by getting the best out of himself.

“But there was that end-of-season downtime, the relaxed moment we always had after Adelaide. He would enjoy the alcohol treats that were available and we all did. We could only do it once a year.

“He would go around the room and his party piece was to rip off everybody’s shirts. Trousers too.

“But it was mainly buttoned shirts which he would love to rip off. That was the fun side of him.

“Those are the memories most people didn’t see, but they are the lovely memories I have of him. He had a great sense of humour and hopefully something we will see again.”

Schumacher's family

Schumacher departed F1 in 2006 before making a three-year comeback with Mercedes in 2010.

After hanging up his helmet at the end of 2012, he was unfortunately involved in a serious skiing accident in 2013, with his condition being kept private by his family ever since.

His son Mick managed to reach F1 in 2021 and spent two years with the Haas squad before taking on a role with Mercedes as a reserve driver.

While Schumacher is known to be an unrelenting opponent on the track, Herbert asserted that he has an extremely family-focused personality.

“There was Michael’s selfish heart. His big heart was what you saw with his family.

“He was a very family-oriented man and with the kids the stuff they did together. Horses were a big passion for him and his wife.

“There was life outside the bubble of F1 and fortunately he was able to switch off from his racing mode and found it quite easy to switch to the family mode.”