Michael Schumacher once branded the Indy 500 as a “step down” from Formula 1 when asked if he’d ever compete in the famous race.
Speaking in 2002, the year he won his then-equalling fifth world drivers’ championship and was one of the highest paid and most famous athletes in the world, Schumacher issued a typically blunt response to CBS News’ 60 Minutes about America’s most famous motor race.
“First of all, it’s a step down from Formula 1, and second, it is too dangerous,” Schumacher observed.
“The speed you do that close to the walls, if you have an accident, there is no way a chassis can survive a certain way of having a crash.
“That means your legs can be heavily damaged or even further.
“And I don’t see any point in that. I have nothing to prove there.
“People who usually cannot survive in Formula 1, they go to Indy. People who come from Indy hardly survive in Formula 1.”
At the time Schumacher was speaking, the last death to occur at IMS was in 1996 when pole-sitter for the 500 Scott Brayton was killed in practice after a crash at Turn 2.
Since his words, only Tony Renna in a 2003 test has been killed in a car accident at the 2.5-mile oval.
Although Michael never competed in the Indy 500, he did win five of the seven F1 races he competed in at IMS between 2000 and 2006, including the infamous 2005 six-car race.
His son, Mick, will be competing in the 2026 Indy 500; however, qualifying in 27th place for his first taste of the 500 miles for his Rahal Lanigan Letterman Racing squad – boasting two-time winner Takuma Sato on its books.
