F1 News
Schumacher ignored children: "Didn't think it was possible."
- GPblog.com
Michael Schumacher was not known as the most warm personality during his Formula 1 career. Something Felipe Massa also found out when he became his teammate. Partly due to his experience with another champion, he managed to teach Schumacher a wise lesson.
"When I was young, Ayrton Senna unfortunately refused me an autograph," Massa says in an interview with Motorsport-Total.com. "That was a big disappointment for me and I carried it with me for the rest of my life. Because of that moment I've never been able to refuse an autograph to children".
The closed Schumacher
He maintained this mentality when he became a Ferrari driver alongside Michael Schumacher in 2006. In that year he learned a lot from the German, but Massa was also able to teach the seven-time world champion something. Schumi had no problems at all in his career ignoring children.
"He was very closed off", Massa says, and has an example of a little boy who kept pounding on the windows of their car for an autograph. "That kid drove me crazy. I didn't think it was possible he [Schumacher] wouldn't open the window."
When it turned out Schumacher was perfectly capable of that, Massa gave him a push: "Michael, for God's sake, do it for that little boy, please." He was able to convince Schumacher and later he told about his experience with Senna and the impact it had on him. Schumacher's reaction: "Yes, you're right."