Ferrari’s world champion driver Michael Schumacher sitting in ‘Maestro’ Fangio’s Alfa 159 at the Alfa Romeo’s Cuore Sportivo exhibition in Dublin, 1999. This year Schumacher became the first F1 driver to equal Fangio’s achievement of five Drivers’ World Championship titles.

13 August 2002: When Michael Schumacher came to Dublin on a flying visit three years ago, he paid homage to a hero whose feats he has now equalled by winning his fifth F1 world championship.

It was a moment never to be forgotten by anyone lucky enough to be there: an outstanding world champion paying tribute to a legendary former world champion whose name is still a byword for excellence.

When the ‘Cuore Sportivo’ exhibition, comprising 24 famous and historic cars from Alfa Romeo’s museum, came to the RDS, Dublin in 1999, one of the most important VIP visitor was Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher.

The Ferrari Formula 1 team quite literally grew out of Alfa Romeo. Enzo Ferrari managed the Alfa Romeo racing team before he set up Scuderia Ferrari and the first cars he raced with the famous prancing horse symbol were Alfa Romeos. Then Enzo decided to build his own cars, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari became competitors and the rest is history. Today however both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari are part of the Fiat Group, the former competing with great success in Touring Car Championships and the latter apparently unbeatable in Formula 1 in no small part to Michael Schumacher.

The legendary Juan Manuel Fangio– winner of five world championship titles and known simply as ‘the Maestro’- drove for both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari. In 1951 driving an Alfa Romeo GP159 he beat Ferrari’s Alberto Ascari to win the World Championship. This was the last year Alfa Romeo competed in the world championships.

Fangio’s GP 159 was one of the cars on show at the ‘Cuore Sportivo’ exhibition. So when Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher, nicknamed the ’Rainmeister’ for his unequalled ability on wet tracks, flew in to Dublin to visit the show he was delighted to see such an historic car, a car associated with a man recognised as one of the immortals of motor racing.