They lived in a two roomed flat in Fischenich, which was a flat industrial region. Here Michael went to school, he didn't enjoy schooling except for three subjects, English, Maths and Judo.

Outside of the classroom, Michael was completely different.
His father gave him a kart, and he used to pull him round using a piece of rope but as he was a handyman, it wasnt long before Rolf had fitted the kart with a small engine from a scooter and Michael was then burning up the pavement.

When Michael hit a lamp-post his father decided to take him to a kart track at Kerpen-Horrem.
It was here that Michael learned to control the machine in all kinds of conditions and he loved throwing it round in controlled slides.

Michael loved spinning in the rain and to all accounts he still does...

Maybe this constant support from his parents are what made him into the champion he is today!!!

Four year old Michael was the youngest member of the Kerpen Kart club. A year later he got his hands on his a much more competetive machine, It had a 100cc engineand his father built it up using the parts thrown away by other club members, His father had to cut the chassis as it was too long for Michael, this machine won a few races.
When Michael was seven Rolf Schumacher was offered a job at the track looking after and repairing the kart, As Elizabeth was working in the bar they were able to keep a close eye on Michael. A year later in 1975 Ralf was born.

When Michael was eleven, he was taken to Nivelles in Belgium, there is where Michael first saw his soon to be idol, Ayrton Senna.
Thanks to some of his fathers friends especially Jurgen Dilk, who financed his new karts and equipment he became German Junior Champion in 1984, an exploit he repeated the following year.
Jurgen had two children of his own and treated Michael as if he were his own son, he is certainly the most significant person in Michael's success in motor racing.

One day whilst racing in the German Junior Championship - he must have been 15 or 16 - he began to have a problem on the second lap of the race. Michael put his hand down into the cockpit and physically held onto the carburettor keeping only one hand on the steering wheel throughout the rest of the race. Michael won the race and later explained to Jurgen that 2 screws had fallen out obliging him to hold the carburettor himself, there Michael showed his mechanical sensitivity.

When Michael finished schooling, he joined a Volkswagon and BMW dealership as an apprentice, he earned 450 Deutschmarks per month and his main job was to wash the cars and change the oil, He soon got bored with this and in addition decided to leave home to live in Darstadt nearer to his work. Living away from his parents taught him alot, he had to manage on a very low salary, he used to go to discos in the evening and meet girls... but he never spent more money than he had.