Mark Horsburgh/Reuters
- A new Netflix documentary on Michael Schumacher has shown his ruthless nature when it came to competition.
- The Formula One legend was once asked if he had ever been wrong and he said "not that I remember."
- In another incident, he hit another driver, but was utterly convinced the driver had turned into him.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
A new Netflix documentary documenting the life of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher has shed light on how ruthless a winner the seven-time world champion was during his career.
One incident highlighted in the documentary was a time when Schumacher was asked by a fellow racing driver if he had ever been wrong in his life.
The German driver answered "not that I remember."
At the Belgian Grand Prix in 1998, Schumacher was behind Mika Häkkinen in the drivers standings and needed to make up points, but wet conditions made it a tricky task.
Following a crash by McLaren driver David Coulthard, the race restarted with Häkkinen leading. The Finnish driver spun early, allowing Schumacher to build a commanding lead.
After half the race, Schumacher was a lap ahead of most of the field, and was approaching Coulthard to lap him.
As he did so, however, the German driver smashed into the back of Coulthard's car and ripped the front right wheel off of his Ferrari.
Schumacher was enraged and charged to the McLaren garage to confront Coulthard but was held back by team members. Afterwards, the two drivers were summoned to bury the hatchet, but Schumacher was in no mood to do so.
Speaking in the documentary, Coulthard said: "We met up on Bernie Ecclestone's bus to try and clear the air. I said to him 'I accept my part in the crash but you need to take some responsibility as well' and he went: 'No I don't see it like that.'
"I said: 'Well Michael, in fairness you crashed into the back of me. I didn't reverse into you,' and it led to a conversation where I said: 'Surely you must be wrong sometimes. He thought about it for a while and he went: 'Not that I remember.'"
Screenshot/Netflix
In another incident, Schumacher led the 1997 championship by a single point ahead of Jacques Villeneuve before the European Grand Prix. However, with Villeneuve about to overtake Schumacher, the German driver turned in on his rival and was forced to retire.
Ross Brawn, who was technical director of Ferrari, said that Schumacher was convinced it was Villeneuve who had turned in on him.
"In his mind, Jacques Villeneuve had hit him.
"He wasn't putting on an act. In his head, that's what happened.
"So in that fraction of a second, what happened with him? Who knows?
"It wasn't a premeditated act. It was something which happened and he came back and was convinced and he wasn't trying to convince others that he'd not done wrong.
"Michael came back to the pits convinced that Jacques had hit him and then when we showed him the video, he realized that that wasn't the case.
"It was one of those moments that Michael had two or three times in his career, where his commitment, his competitiveness, his dedication just went that one step too far."
"Schumacher," is available to watch on Netflix now.