Jean Todt, a former Ferrari team boss and the current president of the governing FIA, knows Michael Schumacher better than most. In the week which marks the 25th anniversary of the German’s first Formula One race, Todt looks back on his friend’s career.

Q: What do you remember from August 25, 1991?
Todt: At the time, I was working as Director of Peugeot Sport, competing in the World Sports Car Championship, so I don’t have any specific memories linked to that particular Belgian Grand Prix. It wouldn’t be until almost two years later, on July 1 1993, at Magny-Cours, when I took up my role as Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari that I came across Michael as one of our rivals on a Formula One track.

Q: What else do you associate with Michael and Spa?
Todt: The Spa-Francorchamps circuit has legendary and historic status in the world of motor sport. Even as a kid, I would dream of those incredible corners such as Eau Rouge and Stavelot, the latter no longer part of the track, which back then was twice the length it is now. Then there’s the completely unpredictable weather: it could be raining at one point on the track, while the sun shines on another. Spa is a circuit where a driver’s talent can really make a difference and so it’s logical that Michael was particularly brilliant there.
He also regarded it as a special event. It was there that he made his Formula One debut, took his first Formula One win in 1992 and where he secured his seventh and final world championship title in 2004. He also celebrated his 300th Grand Prix start there in 2012. Spa provided the backdrop for five wins, some emotional moments, a few disappointments, but above all it was here that Michael enjoyed doing what he did best — driving a racing car — in the ideal place to do it.

Q: You saw him racing in the sports car championship before he started Formula One — did you expect him to become the most successful driver ever?
Todt: When I was at Peugeot, Michael was driving the Mercedes-powered Sauber and he was definitely the strongest of our rivals. I recall that the first time I spoke to him was in Japan, in October 1991, when we were both at an airport after the race at Autopolis, which Michael had won, partnered with Wendlinger. I congratulated him, as he had driven really well. At the time, he had already started racing in Formula One. Although it was impossible back then to say he would
become the most successful driver in the history of this sport, it was a safe bet that he would go on to be a major player.

Q: What made Michael so special on and off the track?
Michael was always exceptionally professional on track. Despite the fact that fame and success came to him early in life, he always remained humble. I remember he was always scared of failing, which gave him that extra boost which made all the difference. He had the innate quality of being a leader and knew how to pull along with him the teams with which he worked.
Away from the track there are many things that make Michael special, as a man, as a husband, as a father. It’s difficult to come up with a list of points, just as it’s difficult to list all the great moments we shared at and away from the track, as well as the difficult times that we tackled together, which served to bring us even closer to one another. The tragedy that struck on December 29, 2013 changed his life and that of his extraordinary family, to which I always feel especially close.