F1 pundit Sean Kelly recently spoke about how dominant Michael Schumacher was against his teammates in qualifying.
When the legendary German driver was still young, he was considered one of the best on the grid simply because his teammates couldn't get the better of him.
On The Race F1 podcast, Kelly and other hosts talked about Charles Leclerc's excellence in qualifying pace, during which the former dropped a mind-boggling stat about Schumacher. He informed that between 1991 and 1995, Schumacher was never outqualified by any of his teammates.
"I think we are slightly spoiled in the early 90s, by Michael Schumacher. Schumacher missed a gear in qualifying in Adelaide in 1991 and was outqualified by Piquet. [Since then] he was not outqualified again by a teammate for four years until Spa 1995, when he crashed in final practice. By the time Benneton rebuilt the car it started raining in qualifying," Kelly said.
Although Schumacher did not have the best first season in F1 back in 1991, his performance skyrocketed the next year as he finished third, ahead of the legendary Ayrton Senna.
By 1994, Schumacher was so dominant that he won his first world championship, beating Damon Hill by one point.
Former F1 mechanic on how the Jordan team discovered Michael Schumacher in 1991
Former F1 mechanic and current Aston Martin sporting director Andy Stevenson recently spoke fondly about how he and his former team Jordan tested Michael Schumacher's calibre and instantly knew that the German was destined to be a world champion.
“His level of professionalism was already beyond anything we had experienced with other drivers. From the moment Michael sat in the car, he knew immediately what he wanted. He was totally hands-on, wanted to be involved and help with everything,” Stevenson told BILD.
“After two or three laps [at Silverstone], he was already faster than anything we had achieved before. He was hitting lap times after lap times. I distinctly remember saying to a friend after the test session, ‘We’ve just tested a future world champion.’ It was completely obvious. He made the car dance through the chicanes,” he added.
Stevenson's prediction at the time could not be more correct as Schumacher went on to win seven world titles and is considered one of the best F1 drivers of all time.