Farewell, rain meister

For a driver who won more Formula One world titles and racesthan any other, it is hardly a fitting farewell.  Michael Schumacher, the seven-time championwho dominated the sport for the best part of a decade, announced his retirementnot with a garland around his neck, but in the knowledge he'd been replaced bya younger man. The 43-year-old German revealed his decision at Suzuka, scene ofone of his greatest triumphs, just days after being told he was being ousted byMercedes in favour of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Schumacher has a record 91 wins and is one of only two mento reach 300 grands prix. But he admitted his battery was "in the redzone" two years into his comeback, after initially retiring in 2006."I have had my doubts for quite a while whether I had energy to (carryon). I said in 2006 my battery was empty and now I am in the red zone," heconfided. "I don't know if there is time to recharge them -- but I amlooking forward to my freedom."

Schumacher won his 91 races between 1991 and 2006, includingtwo world titles with Benetton in 1994 -- the year of Ayrton Senna's death --and 1995, and an incredible five in a row with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004. Andit was at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2000 that Schumacher sealed Ferrari'sfirst championship in 21 years with victory in the penultimate race of theseason.

Schumacher was born in January 1969 near Cologne, Germany,the son of a bricklayer who also ran the local go-kart track, where his motherworked in the canteen. His younger brother, Ralf, also became a Formula Onedriver. The four-year-old Michael enjoyed playing with a pedal go-kart but whenhis father fitted it with a small motorcycle engine, he crashed it into alamppost.

But by 1987, Schumacher was the German and European go-kartchampion and had left school to work as an apprentice mechanic, although he wassoon racing professionally. In 1990 he won the German F3 championship and washired by Mercedes to drive sports cars. Just a year later he burst onto theFormula One scene, qualifying seventh for Jordan in his debut race at Belgium.

The young German was immediately snapped up by Benetton,where he won his first Formula One grand prix in 1992, again at Belgium's toughSpa-Francorchamps circuit.’ After joining Ferrari in 1996, Schumacher achievedinfamy by trying to ram Williams driver Villeneuve off the road at Jerez in thelast race of 1997, and was disqualified from the championship as punishment. In1998 he finished second, and his 1999 season was interrupted by a broken leg.But in 2000 he won nine times on his way to the drivers' title, Ferrari's firstsince 1979, and he proved unstoppable for the next four seasons. In 2003, hebroke Juan Manuel Fangio's record by claiming his sixth world title, and in2004 he won 13 races, his best season.

Accolades flowed for a man who set new standards in fitness,mechanical awareness and meticulous preparation -- allied with a win-at-allcosts mentality that drew as many detractors as admirers. However, the familyman and father of three could not resist the lure of the track and in 2010 hesigned a three-year deal with Mercedes. But with slower reflexes and a lesscompetitive car, Schumacher could not reproduce his former glories and insteadhis last two seasons have been marked by crashes, mishaps and disappointment,with just one finish in the top three. It has been a less than stellar return,but Schumacher departs as the sport's most decorated champion, a record whichis under no immediate threat.