Touching reflections from his family and home movie footage make for an intimate biography of the F1 star, if one that leaves his flaws unexamined
‘I miss him every day, but Michael is here,” says Corinna Schumacher at the end of this Netflix documentary, blinking back tears as she talks about life with her husband since he suffered a devastating brain injury while skiing in 2013. That accident is awkwardly and glaringly unmentioned for most of this nearly two-hour film about his life, though of course you’re watching it all – the green-eyed boy wonder of Formula One, his successes, the rivalries and close shaves – in a brace position, waiting for the tragedy to come. Then, in the final 10 minutes, Corinna and the couple’s children, Gina and Mick (a F1 driver like his dad), speak about their loss.
The film is a collaboration with the Schumachers and massively benefits from their archive of photos and home movies. The downside is that it has the blandness of authorised biography. Schumacher grew up around motor sport. As a kid, his dad Rolf managed a go-karting track; there’s a photo of little Michael aged four or five driving a pedal kart fitted with a moped engine. A who’s who of motor racing honchos politely walk through Schumacher’s career: Eddie Irvine, David Coulthard, Bernie Ecclestone, Mika Häkkinen and Damon Hill. But his aggressive streak and unsportsmanlike behaviour on the track remain unanalysed and underexplained. Unlike Asif Kapadia’s Senna, this doesn’t feel like a film for non-believers in Formula One; it helps if you really know your stuff and care about the sport.