Michael Schumacher
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corner, partially blocking the circuit, while his main contender for the season title, Fernando Alonso, was on his qualifying lap. Schumacher stated that he simply locked up the wheels going into the corner and that the car then stalled while he attempted to reverse out. Alonso believed he would have been on pole if the incident had not happened. Schumacher was later stripped of pole position by the race stewards and started the race at the back of the grid.
Four years later, in the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, Schumacher and Alonso were again involved in an incident at the Rascasse corner. The safety car was deployed after an accident, involving Karun Chandhok and Jarno Trulli, and pulled into the pits on the last lap when Schumacher passed Alonso. The FIA launched an investigation and found Schumacher guilty of breaching Safety Car regulations and
awarded him a 20-seconds penalty.
Family and off-track life
Schumacher's younger brother Ralf was a Formula One driver until the end of 2007. Their stepbrother Sebastian Stahl has also been competing as a race car driver. In August 1995, Michael married Corinna Betsch. They have two children, Gina-Maria (born in 1997) and Mick (born in 1999). He has always been very protective of his private life and is known to dislike the celebrity spotlight, preferring a simple life. The family currently lives near Gland, Switzerland. Their home is a 650 m² mansion with its own underground garage and petrol station, situated on a private beach on Lake Geneva. The family has two dogs – one stray that Corinna fell in love with in Brazil, and an Australian Shepherd named "Ed" whose entrance to the family made headlines. Schumacher personally drove a taxi through the Bavarian town of Coburg after collecting the dog, enabling the family to catch their return flight to Switzerland. Both Schumacher and the taxi driver were reprimanded by local police.
One of his main hobbies is horse riding, and he plays football for his local team FC Echichens and is also a keen follower of the English Premier League where he has a strong affection for Newcastle United. Schumacher once said of his support for Newcastle, "I tuned into English TV one day and saw Newcastle beat
Schumacher driving the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro F2002 at the 2002 French Grand Prix, the race at which he clinched the 2002 Drivers' Championship, setting the record for the fewest races in locking up the title.