On November 25 2012 in Sukuza, Japan, Michael Schumacher will rip off his racing gloves, turn off the engine of his Mercedes and walked away (maybe via the podium), into retirement.
The world of Formula 1 will be that little bit dimmer for all those who supported him.
Since his first race almost 21 years ago as a fresh faced young stripling for the now-extinct Jordan Ford Team, Schumacher has been an icon of motor racing.         He has dominated F1, creating staggering statistics on the way: seven World Championships (five in a row from 2000-4), 91 wins and 155 podiums. But to simply look at the statistics would be to miss the point. ‘Schumi’ had an uncanny ability to dominate opponents, races, seasons in a way that has not been matched.
Appearing as a champion in the years after the sport was cruelly robbed of Ayrton Senna, he seemed to fill the void with a similar style and ruthless will to win.
He was a brilliantly competitive driver who divided opinion due to his aggressive style. He gave nothing to his opponents and frequently infuriated them;  often cars touched and drivers had no option but to move out of his way.
There were other elements to his genius as well; he was perhaps the best ever driver in wet and slippery conditions, his lap times remaining miraculously unaffected while others slid and careered around the track.
In the late 1990’s in particular his ability to retain control of his Ferrari in dire conditions was uncanny. He faced and saw off the best his competitors; men like Juan Pablo Montoya and Mikka Haikkanen whose names have mostly disappeared while Schumacher’s has endured.
Even after his first retirement, Schumacher could not resist the urge to race. After hanging up his suit and leaving Ferrari in 2007, he only lasted a few years before the lure of the racetrack won him back.
Since then, he has been nowhere near as successful-no wins, no podiums-but that is partly due to the car. In some ways, the fact he is still racing very competitively at 43 enhances his fame further.
This being said we must ask ourselves whether Schumi’s decision to come back was really in his best interests.
Will the world remember him as the seven time world champion who came to define the sport, or as the guy who could never accept that he had to stop racing?
Regardless of the verdict, he has been the most famous, iconic and successful driver in the last 20 years and the world of F1 will miss him sorely.