Michael Schumacher dream was to run his own F1 team

I’ll never forget the electric buzz in the paddock that summer of 2006. Michael Schumacher, fresh off yet another dominant season with Ferrari, was preparing for what we all thought would be his final year in Formula 1. The big question on everyone’s lips: What would the most successful driver in history do next?

Then Eddie Jordan – always good for a juicy rumor – dropped his bombshell. “Don’t count out Michael starting his own team,” he told me with that trademark twinkle in his eye over a coffee in the Monaco paddock. “The man’s got the knowledge, the connections, and let’s be honest – the bank balance to make it happen.”

For a glorious few months, we all got caught up in the fantasy. I remember sketching potential liveries with colleagues in the media center – would it be Ferrari red with German accents? Maybe a bold new color scheme to mark his independence? The possibilities seemed endless.

The timing actually made sense. The FIA was actively looking for new teams, and Schumacher’s name alone would have guaranteed sponsor interest. I can still see the potential press release in my mind: “Schumacher Grand Prix – A New Era Begins.” German manufacturers were reportedly interested, and let’s not forget Michael’s close ties to Ferrari’s technical department.

But here’s what most fans didn’t see behind the scenes. During those final races of 2006, I noticed Michael spending more time than usual in deep conversation with Ferrari’s engineers. There was a quiet intensity to those discussions that went beyond normal driver feedback. In hindsight, he was already laying the groundwork for his advisory role.

When the Mercedes opportunity emerged, it became clear why the team idea never materialized. I spoke with one of Schumacher’s longtime associates who put it bluntly: “Michael is a racer first, always. The idea of sitting in an office negotiating sponsorships when he could still compete? That was never going to win out.”

What fascinates me most is imagining how Schumacher would have approached team ownership. Would he have been hands-on like Niki Lauda? A technical visionary like Colin Chapman? Or perhaps something entirely new? His ability to analyze a car’s behavior was legendary – I once watched him identify a suspension issue just by listening to the engine note during practice.

The paddock would have been different too. Picture Schumacher going head-to-head with Ron Dennis in team principal meetings. Imagine the mind games with Flavio Briatore. The sport lost something special when this possibility faded away.

Now, when I see Toto Wolff and Christian Horner battling it out in the team principals’ press conferences, I can’t help but wonder what might have been. Would Schumacher have brought that same ruthless efficiency to team management that he did to driving? We’ll never know – but it’s one of Formula 1’s most tantalizing unanswered questions.

As someone who covered Schumacher’s entire career, I can tell you this much: the man never did anything halfway. If he had started a team, he would have committed completely. And that’s what makes this particular “what if” so compelling – because with Schumacher, anything less than total domination would have been unacceptable.

The grid eventually got its champion-turned-team-boss when Nico Rosberg started his own outfit. But there’s only one Michael Schumacher. And for a brief, shining moment in F1 history, we almost got to see what that would have looked like from the other side of the pit wall.