Inside Motor Sports

Continental Divide  

Michael Schumacher is filthy rich -- and good -- but the appeal of his sport is still largely foreign to Americans

By Mark Bechtel

On his way to qualifying for the U.S. Grand Prix, the world's highest-paid athlete weaved through the garage not in a Ferrari but on a motorized scooter, stopping only to good-naturedly kick his younger brother, Ralf, in the seat of his pants. Then he went out and kicked the butts of the other 20 F/1 drivers, putting his car on the pole for Sunday's race, which he would dominate before letting his teammate, Rubens Barrichello, pass him on the final turn to win the race. (Afterward Schumacher slyly insisted, "There was no plan," despite the fact that Barrichello had, under Ferrari team orders, done the same for him at the Austrian Grand Prix in May.)

At Indy, Schumacher was the sleekest man on two wheels, if not the fastest on four. Robert Beck

The 33-year-old German can afford to be so generous. He has already won 10 times in 16 F/1 races this year, and he clinched his fifth world driving title -- and his third straight -- two months ago. If he hasn't already established that he's the greatest racer ever, he's building a pretty fair case for himself.

Yet for all his wizardry on the track and the outrageous fortune he's earned as a result ($40 million in salary alone this year), Schumacher appears unlikely to achieve anything close to the level of megastardom Stateside that he enjoys in Europe. The estimated crowd of 125,000 (some 50,000 fewer than last year) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway suggested that the sport has already peaked in the U.S.

That's just fine with Schumacher, who reveled in his semianonymity during F/1's sole U.S. stop. "I love this country, being able to walk around freely and watch people," he says. "They always watch me in other countries, but I like to watch them as well."

Schumacher stopped in California to visit friends for a few days before heading to Indy. While on the West Coast he was amazed that the only people who made a fuss over him were Europeans. ("Mostly cooks," he says.) When he got to Indianapolis, which had been overrun by F/1 fans, that wasn't the case. Three nights before the race, as he sat in the posh Canterbury hotel -- outside of which gawkers had gathered -- he said, "I would be happy not to become as famous in the States [as I am in Europe]." And with that he took his leave and asked a hotel employee in a tuxedo to show him out the back door.

Issue date: October 7, 2002

For more Inside Motor Sports see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, October 2. Click here to subscribe to SI.

 

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