German regulations forbade kart drivers from getting their licence under the age of 14; to get around it, Schumacher went to Luxembourg and got his at the age of 12, then went onto win the German Junior Kart Championship.
Rolf built him a kart from spare parts (as well as taking on two jobs to help hs son pursue his dreams), and at the age of six, Schumacher won his first club championship.
In 1992, he finished three points ahead of renowned racing driver Ayrton Senna, who told a friend he thought the German was "the next big threat, way ahead of all the other drivers around at the time.”.
In November 2014, he was reportedly “paralysed and in a wheelchair”, and unable to speak, but Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm told press the following year that he was slowly improving: "I can only say again: There are signs that give us encouragement," she said.
The German former racing driver, who won a record-setting seven world championships, has been living in private with his family since a life-changing skiing accident in 2013.