A letter to Michael Schumacher

If I had a chance to write a letter to Michael Schumacher, who was seriously injured in a skiing accident on December 29, I would write something like this:

"Dear Michael,

You have no idea who I am but I know very well who You are. I´ve been a passionate Formula 1 fan for 20 years now. Actually it was You, who made me fall in love with Formula 1 in the first place! Quite ironically it was the Imola GP in 1994, which was the very first Formula 1 race that I watched. I couldn´t have picked any more dramatic and tragic race to start watching F1! But You were my idol and hero right from the beginning. I was 16 years old back then and You have no idea what an influence You had in this teenager´s life!

I´ve so many wonderful memories of those years! I went to secondary high school when my Formula 1 passion started and I remember writing foolish essays about You for my English class ;) But I guess being a passionate fan of a celebrity or a sportsman is kind of a very normal thing in a teenager´s life and I was getting straight A´s for those essays (though I guess it was more because of my correct grammar than my Formula 1 related fantasy stories, hahaha!)

One of my dearest memories is my birthday when I turned 17 in 1994. My sister gave me the most perfect birthday present I could ever have hoped for: the photo of You where You´ve written "Happy birthday" and Your autograph. You´ve written something else on the photo as well but I´ve never been able to read Your hand writing, hahaha! This photo means the world to me. At that time I had absolutely no idea that there were 7 world championship titles to come later!

 

 

This photo I got for my 17th birthday!

The summer 1995 was absolutely awesome. I got a scholarship from school due to success in my German studies and I went on a 3-week language course in Kassel, Germany. Luckily my host family happened to be interested in Formula 1 as well and they took me to Kerpen and the karting circuit, which was owned by Your father at that time. That was just unbelievable, I still remember the overwhelming emotions when I got to drive a go-kart on that circuit, wow! In 1995 I also had a chance to watch the Silverstone GP live! I was hoping for You to win naturally but unfortunately Your race was ruined by a collision with Damon Hill and You got a DNF. This far this is the only GP I´ve ever witnessed live.

The photo is from the karting circuit in Kerpen, Germany.

When I started dating my husband back in 1997 we shared the passion for Formula 1 but we didn´t happen to support the same driver! That´s why it was only natural that when we got married in August 1999 we had two Formula 1 cars made of sugar on top of our wedding cake: Your Ferrari and the McLaren of Your arch enemy Häkkinen! The Formula 1 decoration was highly admired at the wedding. I guess many of the guests considered us a bit nuts, I mean not many might consider it very romantic to have Formula 1 cars on top of your wedding cake, haha! But our wedding couldn´t possibly have been celebrated in any more perfect way!

Schumi´s Ferrari & Häkkinen´s McLaren made of sugar.

For me it was absolutely heartbreaking to hear about Your skiing accident at the end of December. It seems unreal to think that You´ve been lying in a coma in hospital for over a week. I wish from the bottom of my heart that You´ll fully recover from Your injuries! It´s scary to think that sometimes great champions have tragic destinies but I refuse to think of anything like that in Your case. Although Formula 1 wise my heart beats for different drivers at the moment You´ll always have a very special place in my heart. You´ll always be my inspiration! And I know that hundreds of thousands of fans share my thoughts. You never know about life: life is nothing but a thin line drawn in water: so fragile, so unpredictable. Everything can be taken away from you in a heart beat. However, I have a very strong feeling that it´s not Your time to go yet. You still have so much to give! I keep my fingers crossed down to my elbows that You´ll make it. Keep fighting, You´re in my thoughts every day!

Yours sincerely,
Iina"