Michael Schumacher ended F1's party culture, claims 7-time world champion's brother Ralf

Michael Schumacher's brother Ralf Schumacher claimed the seven-time world champion ended F1's party culture. Ralf stated that the former Ferrari driver raised the level of fitness needed to be in the sport, eliminating the prospect of frequent partying.

In saying so, Ralf Schumacher questions how long Max Verstappen will stay in the sport, given the extreme sacrifices needed to stay at the top. The Dutchman has already come out and said that he doesn't want to race for another 10 years, perhaps showing signs of early retirement.

As per Ralf, Michael Schumacher changed F1's party culture, streamlining the sport to one that prioritizes fitness over anything else. Ralf also claims that this extreme level of fitness required to stay in the sport, coupled with frequent travel, might discourage champions like Verstappen from staying in F1 for a lot longer.

Ralf told Sport1:

“One thing must not be forgotten: The whole life depends on Formula 1. It starts when you get up and stops when you fall asleep. There is not much family life. Then there is the extreme training. My brother raised the fitness level to a new level. Parties are not in there. That's why Kimi Raikkonen must have been an ultra-mega talent, because he still won the title despite his sometimes easy-going lifestyle. But only once. But that was enough for him. Had Kimi been more disciplined, he would have achieved much more."

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Mastermind behind Michael Schumacher's success has retired from F1

The mastermind behind Michael Schumacher's seven F1 world titles, Ross Brawn, retired from the sport at the end of the 2022 season. The former member of the Ferrari dream team, which included Jean Todt, Rory Byrne, and Schumacher, had been working as the F1 Managing Director.

In his column on the F1 website, Ross Brawn announced his retirement, marking the end of a storied career that spanned 46 years in the sport. He wrote:

"I’ve loved everything I’ve done in the last few years. I’d moved away from wanting to be part of a team – I decided I’d done enough of that! And this was the only thing that could have possibly appealed. I’ve been very fortunate to have been given the opportunity by Liberty and it was a labour of love. Now is the right time for me to retire."

Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn's careers intertwined for most of the driver's time in Formula 1. The success achieved by the German could be attributed to having a great team around him, which was more or less led by Ross Brawn in all seven titles won by Schumacher.

Brawn was the technical director at Benetton when Schumacher picked up his first two titles. It was then the dream team that helped the German clinch five more titles with Ferrari in the early 2000s. The Schumacher-Brawn-Todt combination will go down in the sport's history as one of the best.