Rewind: Michael Schumacher Bursts Into Tears In Italy (VIDEO)

Michael Schumacher, who was joined by Mika Häkkinen and his brother Ralf on the podium after winning the Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari in 2000, could not keep his composure and showed his emotions at the post race press conference in Monza. The German, who had equalled Ayrton Senna's number of victories at that moment, broke into tears when he was asked if matching the Brazilian's number of wins meant a lot to him. The seven time F1 World Champion has retired from F1 for the second time after an unsuccessful three year period with Mercedes, but is believed to take on a management rol at the German outfit. He has admitted that the competition at the front of the grid is currently stronger than it was when he reigned supreme. Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, Schumacher said: "The field is closer together. In my early days, there was always the chance to be quicker than another driver not just by a couple of tenths, but a full second. Why? Because the cars aerodynamically were not so balanced and were therefore very sharp to drive. As a driver, you then had many more possibilities yourself. Today, the cars are aerodynamically stable and well balanced. The window in which you work is not as big." However, Schumi, who turns 44 years old today, added that it didn't necessarily mean that current F1 drivers are better than those in the past. "Are the drivers of today so much better? It has always only been the best drivers who are in F1. Today there are more best drivers? Of course I set new standards with the way I work, but my former colleagues were on the way they were accustomed to working perfectly, and some had to replicate the new standard. The difference today is that maybe the new generation has grown up with this same scale."