Schuey's karting ambitions

As part of a recently appointed five-man FIA advisory panel (The FIA Karting Commission), that also includes his close friend and leading kart team owner Peter Kaiser, Schumacher wants to help drive down the cost of competing at the highest levels of karting.

"The sport of karting is meant to be affordable for a large group of kids," Schumacher told his official website. "The more kids know how much fun this sport is, the better - for them and for the sport.

"Karting is a good solid background for any kind of motor sports, but if it is made accessible only to a select few, that's no help to anyone. At the moment, karting is unfortunately going in a direction of being a very select and expensive sport, and we want to change that."

Schumacher began his career in karts at the age of five. He was twice the German Junior champion in 1984 and 1985, before switching to the seniors where he became the German and European champion in 1987. He has maintained his links with the sport ever since.