Benetton-Renault B195 1995

Michael Schumacher, winner of back-to-back Formula One world driving championships in 1994 and 1995, and then again in 2000 and 2001, was the youngest two-time champion in F1 history. Schumacher burst onto the F1 scene at Spa-Francorchamps in 1991, where he qualified 7th for the Belgium GP in his first start for Jordan Grand Prix. He moved on just one race later to Team Benetton, where his career exploded, making him the winningest current driver and without a serious rival — despite the 1998-99 resurgence of McLaren led by now-retired Mika Hakkinen — since the death of Aryton Senna in May 1994.

In a metaphor for the astronomical popularity — and cash — generated by the Formula One series, Schumacher joined Ferrari for the 1996 season and signed the largest single season contract in racing, or perhaps sports, worldwide: $27 million per year. (Schumacher now lives, naturally, in tax-free Monaco.) Yet, the move paid off for the prancing horse team, with Schumacher claiming four poles and three wins, including the Italian GP at Monza, giving Ferrari its best season in years.

In 1997, "Schumi" came within one race of taking his third F1 crown, but in a much-debated move shunted into eventual world champion Villeneuve in the final GP while attempting a daring (and later deemed unlawful) overtaking maneuver at Jerez. He kept his season points, but was stripped of his 2nd place in the World Championship by the FIA, and subsequently apologized for a lack of sportsmanship. The next season witnessed a thrilling, come-from-behind battle with Mika Hakkinen that, once again, went down to the last race, where Schumacher uncharacteristically stalled on the grid, after taking pole, and decisively lost the championship when a rear tire exploded in mid-race. In 1999 Schumacher made another unforced error, this time at Silverstone in the British GP, sliding off under full wheel lock into a tire barrier, a shunt that broke his leg and ended the German's championship hopes for the season. Still, Schumacher rules the Scuderia Ferrari with an iron will and determination — he is frequently lauded as the most talented drives among the crop of today's F1 pilots — and in the 2000 season at long last brought Maranello its first World Championship since Jody Schechter in 1979.

Repeating again in a dominant 2001 season with Ferrai, in which he passed Alain Prost with 53 career GP victories, Shumacher elicits strong emotions, both love and hatred, from Formula One fans. Grand Prix impresario Bernie Ecclestone has said, "Michael Schumacher is a racer and it's a pity we've not got more like him. Like guys such as Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell, he's prepared to take a few risks. F1 doesn't need drivers who pussyfoot around; we want them racing." The action photo of Schumacher above in the B195 is from the 1995 Monaco GP, a race the German won handily on the way to the second of his consecutive World Championship seasons with Benetton.