How an archive interview shaped a film about Schumacher’s first title

Director Christin Freitag says an archived interview in which Michael Schumacher discussed his fears after Imola became the centre of her documentary about his first world title. She says the recording showed her a more sensitive side of Schumacher than the fearless, ruthless figure she had expected to find.

In the English-language interview, Schumacher spoke about struggling to sleep after Ayrton Senna’s death at Imola and fearing for his own life even away from the circuit. Freitag says she had grown up knowing Schumacher as an established legend of the 2000s. Corinna, his girlfriend in 1994, did not know about those fears at the time, Freitag says.

Freitag says many of the other people she interviewed reinforced the familiar image of Schumacher as fearless and straightforward. Willi Weber, Schumacher’s manager and someone close to him, was the exception: he told her Schumacher was different after Imola and that the weekend changed him.

Released on Netflix on October 2, the documentary follows the 25-year-old Schumacher from his opening victory in Brazil to Adelaide. He and Damon Hill arrived there separated by one point; their collision ended both races, and Schumacher claimed his first World Championship. For Freitag, that title marks the beginning of Schumacher’s legend—the point toward which the film traces his story.