Schumacher was born into a working-class family in Hurth; his father Rolf was a bricklayer who later ran the local kart track, and his mother worked the track's canteen. At age four his father modified a pedal kart with a motorcycle engine, and the boy's first crash into a lamp post led to his first visit to the Kerpen karting circuit. Schumacher obtained a kart licence in Luxembourg at age 12 because German regulations required a minimum age of 14. By 1987 he was both German and European kart champion, and had quit school to work as a mechanic.
Moving into single-seater cars in 1988, Schumacher won the German Formula Konig series in his debut season. He won the 1990 German Formula Three Championship and the Macau Grand Prix, then joined the Mercedes junior sports car programme alongside Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger. He won the season finale of the 1990 World Sportscar Championship and competed at the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Schumacher made his Formula One debut at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix with Jordan-Ford as a replacement for the imprisoned Bertrand Gachot, qualifying seventh at Spa-Francorchamps despite never having raced there. He retired on the first lap with clutch failure, but his performance attracted Benetton, who signed him for the remaining races.
At Benetton, Schumacher achieved his maiden victory at the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix in wet conditions and won the 1994 Drivers' Championship with eight victories, though the season was shadowed by the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola, allegations of technical irregularities, a disqualification, and a two-race ban. His championship-deciding collision with Damon Hill in the final race in Adelaide remains one of Formula One's most controversial moments. He repeated his title success in 1995, helping Benetton to its first Constructors' Championship and becoming the youngest two-time World Champion in history.
Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996, a team that had not won the Drivers' Championship since 1979, for a salary of $60 million over two years. He brought designer Rory Byrne and technical director Ross Brawn from Benetton to assist the rebuilding process. Initial seasons brought competitive battles but not titles: he was disqualified from the 1997 championship for deliberately colliding with Jacques Villeneuve at the European Grand Prix, and lost the 1998 title to Mika Hakkinen by a single race win in Japan. A broken leg at the 1999 British Grand Prix ended his season early and ended his chance of that championship.
In 2000 Schumacher won Ferrari's first Drivers' title in 21 years, overcoming a sustained season-long challenge from Hakkinen. He then dominated the sport across five consecutive championship years: winning 9 races in 2001, a record-equalling 11 in 2002 (finishing every race on the podium), his record-breaking sixth title in 2003 (claiming the seventh in 2004), winning 13 of 18 races in 2004. His 2002 season is considered one of the most statistically dominant in the sport's history. Between 2000 and 2004 he took 48 victories with Ferrari and won all five championship titles.
Regulation changes for 2005 requiring tyres to last a full race distance tipped the competitive balance toward Michelin-shod rivals. Schumacher won only at the boycotted 2005 United States Grand Prix and finished third in the championship. His last Ferrari season in 2006 came close to yielding an eighth title — at one point Ferrari won six of seven races — but engine failure in Japan while leading ended his chance, and he finished runner-up to Alonso. He announced his retirement at the Italian Grand Prix.
Schumacher returned with the new Mercedes GP team in 2010, joining team principal Ross Brawn who had overseen all seven of his championships. His three-year comeback produced no victories and no podiums until the 2012 European Grand Prix in Valencia, where he finished third to become the oldest driver to achieve a podium since Jack Brabham in 1970. He retired for the second time after the 2012 season, having contributed significantly to building the technical and cultural foundation that enabled Mercedes to win a record-breaking run of Constructors' Championships from 2014 onwards.
Schumacher was noted for his ability to sustain qualifying pace laps throughout an entire race distance, his sensitivity under braking — simultaneously using throttle and brake to stabilise the car through corners — and his capacity to adapt his style under changing conditions to protect his tyres or brakes. He exercised four hours daily to strengthen his neck muscles against cornering g-forces, establishing a fitness benchmark that transformed driver preparation across the sport. Telemetry analysis showed he consistently braked later than teammates while using slight throttle application mid-corner to balance the car.
His wet-weather performances earned him the nicknames Regenkönig ("Rain King") and Regenmeister ("Rain Master"), and he won 17 of the 30 wet-weather races he contested through the end of 2003.
Schumacher is credited with transforming Ferrari from a team with serious reliability and culture problems into the most successful constructor in Formula One history. Ross Brawn stated: "In my opinion, he is the greatest Formula One driver, and the records which he holds in our sport speak volumes for his success and commitment." He was appointed a UNESCO Champion for Sport in 2002 and donated over $65 million to charitable causes.
In December 2013, Schumacher suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a skiing accident in Meribel, France. He was placed in an induced coma for six months and subsequently received extensive rehabilitation before being returned to his home in September 2014. He has not appeared in public since. His condition remains private at the family's request.