So, as a newbie myself, I thought I'd use this thread as my personal notepad as I get to know the sport better.

The next race isn't until the middle of next month. So, in the next few weeks, let's meet some of the drivers and learn a little bit about the sport.

First up, in my humble, uneducated, newbie opinion is the biggest name among the current group of drivers (since he was the only one I had ever heard of as a non-follower of the sport): Michael Schumacher.




He is a 43 year old racer from Germany who came out of "retirement" 2 years ago after leaving formula one racing in 2006.

According to the Formula One website, Mike is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen."

A blurb from Wikipedia:

Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. He holds many of the formula's driver records, including most championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and most races won in a single season – 13 in 2004. In 2002 he became the only driver in Formula One history to finish in the top three in every race of a season and then also broke the record for most consecutive podium finishes.

He is currently driving on Team Mercedes:



In the first race (Australian Grand Prix) his car broke down and he didn't finish the race.

In the second race (Malaysian Grand Prix) he finished in 10th position and got 1 point.

Like every great former athlete who comes out of retirement, he isn't expected to be much of a factor.

Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix where he started in 7th place: