Michael Schumacher: End of an era.

Michael Schumacher's decision to retire at the end of the 2006 season brings down the curtain on the most glorious and controversial career Formula One has ever seen.

But whether the German has been a hero or villain is something fans have been divided on for more than a decade. Crash.net's Russell Atkins examines the evidence to try and find an answer.

Schumacher arrived in the top flight 15 years ago, and his whirlwind debut for Jordan at the Belgian Grand Prix immediately alerted the Formula One community that this was no ordinary talent. Qualifying seventh in an unfancied Jordan-Ford, four places ahead of seasoned team-mate Andrea de Cesaris at the greatest drivers' track of them all, was very much a sign of things to come. As eighties heavyweights Senna, Prost, Mansell and Piquet were beginning to wind their careers down, Schumacher's entrance onto the scene came with a very powerful message: I am the future.

A rapid switch to Benetton-Ford saw the German wunderkind become a points-scorer in only his second grand prix, and he would not start outside of the top ten for the remainder of the season, out-qualifying his three time world champion team-mate Piquet four times to one. A star had been born, and Benetton team chief Flavio Briatore was not slow to react, signing Schumacher up on a contract that would ultimately keep him at the squad for the following four seasons.

Although the Benetton-Ford was far from a match for either the all-conquering Williams-Renault or even the McLaren-Honda throughout 1992 and 1993, Schumacher impressed nonetheless, notching up 17 podiums in two seasons and scoring his maiden grand prix victory exactly a year on from his debut, at Spa-Francorchamps on 30 August. He would end 1992 third in the championship, ahead of Senna no less and having thoroughly dominated his team-mate Martin Brundle, what would become a familiar theme as his career progressed.

Seemingly buoyed by his first victory, Schumacher repeated the feat at Estoril the following season as he sped to fourth in the drivers' standings, and when Benetton really came good in 1994 he stunned the Formula One community by winning the first three races of the season with consummate ease, as pre-season title favourite Senna floundered in the German's wake.

Following the Brazilian's death at Imola the championship seemed Schumacher's for the taking, but then was to surface the controversy that has dogged the German's career for more than a decade. Disqualified from both the British Grand Prix - for ignoring a black flag after he had overtaken title rival Damon Hill on the parade lap - and the Belgian Grand Prix - due to illegal wear on his car's skidblock - Schumacher also received a two-race ban for the earlier misdemeanour, meaning he and Hill entered the final grand prix of the season in Australia in almost a dead-heat for the championship.

Their much-discussed collision while disputing the lead decided the laurels in Schumacher's favour, although there were many who felt it was an unmerited accolade. There were also mutterings season-long that Benetton had been using illegal electronic aids, and though this could never be proved it nevertheless soured the title fight. From being the blue-eyed boy among the Formula One fraternity, the German's halo had slipped, and in many people's minds his standing would never recover.

His reputation suffered a similar blow three years later, in almost identical circumstances. Fighting another Williams pilot for the title, Schumacher's blatant chop across the bows of Jacques Villeneuve earned him the reprobation of the stewards once more, and disqualification from the entire championship. Villeneuve recovered from the contretemps to go on to take third place and the title, while a gravel trap-stricken Schumacher was left to rue his botched attempt to take his rival out of contention.

Ironically, the two years in-between had produced some of his finest races, as Schumacher blitzed the 1995 championship - in so doing becoming the youngest world champion in Formula One history - before moving to Ferrari in 1996 where he would stay until the end of his Formula One career. That first year at Maranello produced three sublime victories - in the wet at Barcelona and in the dry at Spa and in front of the adoring tifosi at Monza, but elsewhere there was little joy as the F310 proved all-too fragile.

It was to take five seasons of blood, sweat and tears before Schumacher would deliver the passionate tifosi a drivers' title - the Scuderia's first since 1979 - but once Ferrari hit their stride they did so in style, and the German would remain unbeaten until 2005.

The Ferrari years, though, have also borne witness to some of the most litigious incidents of Schumacher's career. Aside from the Villeneuve collision, the German also came together with David Coulthard at Spa in heavy rain in 1998, angrily accusing the Scot of trying to kill him. His season then came spectacularly off the rails the following year, with a brake failure-induced crash at the British Grand Prix that removed him from the action for six races.

One of the few chinks in the German's armour is his composure under pressure, particularly when having to battle his way through the pack. His title-deciding collisions in both 1994 and 1997 are also evidence of this, as was his stall on the grid at the championship finale at Suzuka in 1998 that lost him the title to Mika Hakkinen. His duels with Hakkinen, though, were legendary, and Schumacher has frequently referred to the Finn as his toughest and most respected rival over his Formula One career.

His critics - and there are many - have hit out at his Senna-esque refusal ever to accept a team-mate of equal or near-equal status, his complicity in Ferrari's various team orders scandals that saw Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello forced to simply roll over out of his way - most notably in Austria in 2001 and 2002 - and his sheer dominance of the early part of the new millennium that had viewers turning off in their droves.

The bare facts, though, are indisputable. In 2001 Schumacher set a new record of nine race victories in a single season; the following year he broke it as Ferrari won all-but two grands prix; his 2003 triumph beat Argentinian great Juan-Manuel Fangio's total of five world titles; and in 2004 he went better still with a seventh crown courtesy of an incredible 13 wins.

By contrast, 2005 brought extremely slim pickings, with just one win - and a somewhat devalued one at that - in a field of only six cars at the boycotted US Grand Prix, as Ferrari struggled in the face of a resurgent Renault and McLaren.

This year has yielded rather more in the way of success, with six wins from 15 races and, naturally, no shortage of controversy following his 'accident' at the end of the qualifying session at Monaco that prevented any other driver from beating his pole position time. That he is still in contention for the title though, at the age of 37 and after more than a decade-and-a-half of being subjected to the gruelling glare of the media spotlight, speaks volumes for his professionalism and sheer talent as a racing driver.

From his famed podium leaps to the despair of defeat, Schumacher has always lived Formula One's highs very high and the lows very low. His records - 90 race wins, seven world championships, 153 podium finishes, 68 pole positions and 75 fastest laps to name but a few - will probably never be beaten.

Hero or villain then? Perhaps he's a bit of both, but either way, one thing is for sure. Should Schumacher succeed in adding one final record with an eighth title in the last three races of his grand prix career, get ready for one hell of a party in Sao Paolo.

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