Schumacher is not only beloved of his army of fans but was also loved throughout the pit lane for his personality as well as his driving prowess before his December 2013 skiing accident.
In the first previously unseen interview since the incident which left ‘Schuey’ in a coma and unable to walk, he was asked which drivers he looked up to help him improve.
The seven time world champion, whose record remains unsurpassed, gave a humbly surprising answer.
Mr Schumacher said he did not just look at the best drivers he was competing against but said everyone, no matter what their position on the grid, had “something special” that he could learn from.
Asked if he only analysed the best drivers, Schumacher replied: “To develop yourself to fight at the steps, you not only look at the car, you look at yourself and other drivers.
“You look not only at the front drivers, you look everywhere.
“Or so I did because everybody has something special that I wanted to know.”
The incredibly self-effacing response has startled F1 fans who believe the 49-year-old, who won 91 races, already knew all there was about racing.
Schumacher was seriously injured in a skiing accident after striking his head on a rock while in an off-piste area in the French Alps in December 2013.
He was in a coma for six months and little is known of his current condition but it is believed he has been left unable to walk.
He is cared for in his Swiss home where his manager has said his condition is slowly improving.
The newly released video was shot in October 2013, hauntingly less than three months before his skiing accident.
In the interview, the former Ferrari, Benetton and Jordan driver explained his huge success was not down to his own ability alone but that he relied on a huge team to help win his record number of titles.
He said: “Success in any situation of life is about team work, as a team you are much stronger.
“Formula 1 is a team world and definitely key to my job.”
He added the driver he most respected was Mika Hakkinnen but his idol was an unrelated footballing namesake.
The German said: “The most respected guy in all those years definitely was Mika Hakkinnen.
“We had great fights but a stable private relationship.
“In the young days of karting I was looking around and yes I saw Ayrton Senna, I saw Vincenzo Sospiri, who I admired a lot as a driver, but my real idol was Toni Schumacher the football player.”
In other Formula One news, it was announced today that Robert Kubica will make a sensational return to the sport eight years after he almost lost his life in a rally accident.
The 33-year-old Pole, who nearly lost his right arm in the crash, will race for historic team Williams where he has been a reserve and test driver.
He said: “I understand and see the point that it is a story that probably nobody has believed.
“We all knew that it might be something not achievable. This shows that somehow nothing is impossible.”