Formula One stands proud today - thanks to the force that was Michael Schumacher

Just try spell checking next time. It is not spelled Fprmula One....

Great article indeed and I agree with it! Today F1 is a lot more professional than it was 15-20 years ago. It's called natural progress and it is there in every sports. The new generations always learn from the previous ones and the more clever and skillful ones of these new generation build in their skillset what they have seen. About 15-20 years ago many drivers were in F1 to have fun. They didn't think much of physical training, testing and all that. It was Michael Schumacher who has taken it to a new level and when teams realized it works they have bred their new drivers on the example of Schumacher. They have started driver training programmes (Alonso, Hamilton etc. have all gone through such programmes instructed by their teams) and today even the worst driver at the smallest team does hard physical training and tests as much as he can. I think this new level of work-ethics is coming from Schumacher's example and in a way he made F1 a professional sport, he was a pioneer of it. Of course, let's not forget Lauda, Prost and Senna who have started it, but IMO Michael took it on a professional level. He didn't just take example of the Senna generation, but of other sports as well. How do people train in other sports? One of his Benetton people told a story of him from 1993 that when professional golf players stayed in the same hotel as him, he went up to them to inquire what do they do for their fitness. He simply took every opportunity, every bit of information to make himself fitter and better. Now it's all organized by the teams for their drivers and it is part of F1. But they needed a Michael Schumacher first to pioneer this. I don't think it's just the number of titles or race wins that makes a driver an all time great. It's whether he managed to set new standards. Michael is one of the few who did.