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This article first appeared in GP Racing magazine.
In a long glass cabinet sits a pristine line of caps: each one was worn by Michael Schumacher during a specific year in his career. At the end of the row are a few silver caps from those 'comeback' years with Mercedes (2010-13), but predominantly they are red.
The decade at Ferrari, 1996 to 2006, is neatly laid out, but in the middle of the line is a strange anomaly. A cap is missing. In its place is a scruffy-looking, long-haired, bright-red wig. It's peculiarly incongruous - until you realise its significance.
This was the wig Schumacher wore on the podium at the 2000 Malaysian Grand Prix, the final race of the year, where Ross Brawn (then technical director of Ferrari) and Rubens Barrichello donned similar hairpieces to celebrate Ferrari's success in wrapping up the constructors' and drivers' double for the first time in 21 years. For such a serious racing operation it was a rare moment of public frivolity. The quest to win both titles had taken years of toil to achieve and this was a chance for them all to - quite literally - let their hair down.
