"Yeah, you're right, I need to prove myself now.": When Michael Schumacher had a stern response to a reporter who questioned his accolades

Former F1 world champion Michael Schumacher gave a stern response to a reporter questioning his accolades on his return to the sport in 2010. The German is arguably the greatest driver in F1 history, having shown remarkable longevity and achieved several accolades on the track during the 90s and mid-2000s.

The now 56-year-old made a name for himself during the early part of his career as he competed against Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna, and won a couple of races as well. He won the driver's championship with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, before moving to Ferrari and winning five consecutive titles from 2000 to 2004.

The German hung up his gloves at the end of the 2006 season, but returned to the grid with Mercedes in 2010. During the launch of the W01 in 2010, a reporter questioned Michael Schumacher whether he would race 'in the right way' during his comeback, to which he replied:

"91 victories, seven titles, you win only in a bad way. Absolutely. Yeah, you're right, I need to prove myself now."

When the reporter added that he had merely questioned him about how he achieved those titles, Schumacher said:

"Yeah, I know. I did win all this in the manner in which you are trying to ask questions. Let's be sensible and think about the reality, and look forward to what we might all face, learn and enjoy together. That's what I'm looking for."

Michael Schumacher was sometimes criticized for his hard racing on the track, which resulted in some controversial moments. One of those was at Jerez in 1997, where he was disqualified from the standings for his crash with Jacques Villeneuve.

F1 team boss compares Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton

Williams F1 team principal James Vowles believes that Lewis Hamilton is more "skillful" behind the wheel than Michael Schumacher. Vowles closely witnessed the two seven-time world champions during his Mercedes days, from the period of 2010 to 2022.

While appearing on the High Performance podcast earlier this month, the Brit reflected:

"Michael wasn't the most skilful in the car. I've already said that was Lewis. But he knew how to extract every millisecond out of himself and every millisecond out of the team.

"Lewis just had these - just as I said - oodles of natural talent. When you go out in FP1, he's like an octopus all over the wheel. He'll change every setting on the wheel, near enough, and explore it. But it's what makes him incredible."

Lewis Hamilton has broken many of Michael Schumacher's records during his dominant period with Mercedes. He is currently tied on seven world chmapionships with the German, having come close to breaking the feat in 2021.