by Russell Atkins

Leading design guru Gary Anderson is one of only a handful of people privileged enough to have been present at Michael Schumacher's debut Formula One test with Jordan back in 1991, and the Irishman says the German's dazzling potential was clear to see right from the moment he first set foot inside the garage.

It could all have turned out so very differently, however. Schumacher's maiden outing in a grand prix machine came about more by luck than judgment, the first in a series of twists of fate that would prove pivotal to the staggering level of success he achieved throughout his career in the top flight.

“It's a strange old story,” Anderson explained to Crash.net. “We were testing at Monza with Andrea de Cesaris and were waiting for Bertrand Gachot to come along and do the second day, but he was otherwise engaged I suppose you might say – locked up in prison. Eddie (Jordan) called me and said the case had gone the wrong way and we needed another driver for Spa. He asked me what do you think? There's Damon Hill, Stefan Johansson or this young guy called Michael Schumacher.

“Through luck or whatever you want to call it I had watched something on TV a couple of nights beforehand and there was Michael Schumacher in a Formula 3 race in Germany. He had done a really good job and I thought 'this guy is good'. I said to Eddie, with all the best will in the world Stefan is past his sell-by-date, Damon didn't really make my heart go throb, but I felt this guy Schumacher had something special. He called me back a few hours later and said Michael was coming into the workshop on Monday for a chat.”

The rest, as they say, is history, and seven world titles and an incredible 91 victories later Schumacher would finally announce his decision to hang up his helmet after winning the Italian Grand Prix in front of his adoring tifosi earlier this year. Anderson, though, kept a close eye on the man from Hürth-Hermülheim near Cologne throughout his Formula One career, after recognising a talent like no other on that August day at Silverstone more than 15 years ago.

“The test took place on the south circuit,” the 54-year-old said, “and it was just a few laps for him to acclimatise himself with both the car and the team. He did an absolutely fantastic job to be honest. On his fourth lap we had to call him back into the pits and say just take it easy – this is the car you will be driving at Spa so we don't want any damage doing to it. His reaction was 'I'm not pushing, it's all under control'.

“He had so much confidence, even before he got in the car. He sat on the bench in the workshop with me and talked about the car's good points and bad. I've always looked at his career and thought one of the biggest advantages was he drove the car he was given and didn't try to make it into something else. The 191 was a good, comfortable little car to drive. It wasn't the fastest in the world but it gave him confidence and he used that. Watching him around Silverstone was quite incredible.

“It's always difficult to look at somebody at that point in their career and say they are going to be a seven-time world champion and win more races than anybody else, but he had that hunger about him. I would classify it as being like a successful businessman. Formula One is a business and he approached it as such. It wasn't just that he enjoyed motor racing, that he was driving a racing car and that was his big thing in life – it was his life.

“All the drivers are physically fit people – they have to be for the job – but Michael was more than that. He was mentally fit and alert too. He had seen the big picture and had taken it all in. He wasn't just going out for a bit of fun on a Sunday afternoon and to get out of the car at the end with a big smile on his face. He knew why he was there on the grid at 2pm. He knew what he was there to do and that was to win races. He was there to be successful and right from the first day you could see that.”