A couple of weeks ago, news broke that Balbir Singh, Michael Schumachers’ ex spiritual guru and physiotherapist was back, after a 3 year break.

As happy as I was to seeing another Indian face in the paddock, I was intrigued by who this man was. The regular readers and friends know that F1 is the only sport I really care about and Schumacher is one of my all time favorite driver and the Scuderia being my choice of team. The fact that I knew nothing about this guru, who apparently was very close to Schumi, made me search and I had to share this with you.

To start… I had to look for how Balbir met Schumi and the answer was on the Force India website.

Born in the Punjab, but a long time resident of Germany, Singh had no connections with motor sport when a chance encounter led him to meeting Schumacher. Having just left Benetton, the then double World Champion was searching for a physio to work with him at Ferrari.

‘I was working in a hospital and I had a contact through his uncle,’ says Balbir. ‘He was coming to me, and one day he said, ‘Hey, Michael is looking for somebody.’ This was November 1995, and Michael was starting testing with Ferrari with white overalls.

‘There were another few guys before me who probably didn’t fit him, but I had never worked in motor sport before. I met him and I was supposed to stay with him for four days in Paul Ricard. I took a one week holiday and went there. After four days Michael said to me, ‘How many days did you take for your holiday?’ ‘One week.’ He said, ‘Can you stay Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then I can send you home?’ I said, ‘OK.’ So Saturday I went back and the week after he called me and said, ‘I’ve decided, we have to work together.’

‘I said, ‘I have my contract here, I can’t just leave my patients…’ He said, ‘No worries, you just give me the person, and we can fix it up.’ So a week later my boss said ‘You’re free!’

‘I don’t know what happened, but somebody called my boss. He said, ‘Pack up your stuff, you can go.’ I thought I would go for one or two years, I never thought it would be 10 years…’

And if you thought Balbir was another one of the guys on the team, you are wrong. A 1998 article from Atlas F1, now Autosport, discusses Michael’s dedication. Titled “The loneliness of a long distance driver” the article has an important paragraph about how close Balbir was to the F1 super star.

He (Schumacher) sleeps there in the most modest surroundings – a bed, a sofa, a chest of drawers and a sports-bag with very few clothes. The only human companionship he has is his physio-therapist Balbir Singh, sleeping next door. They share a toilet and a shower, but hardly share a conversation; Schumacher is seldom alone, but often very lonely.

And then I had to go looking for what Michael thought about Balbir leaving, and thanks to google I did.

Balbir is one of the few men that I could and can trust 150 percent,” the seven times champion told Germany’s Bild newspaper on Thursday.

“The split will hurt me. I will miss him. I must simply accept that he wants to build a new future,” added Schumacher, 36, who insisted earlier this week that he was not thinking of quitting despite his poor start to the season.

The Ferrari driver’s spokeswoman said the two would remain close friends.

“He is one of the closest people to Michael,” she said. “It’s been 10 years now and at one point he just said I have to care about my family more.”

Dubbed Schumacher’s ‘wonder-guru’ by Bild, Singh’s behind-the-scenes role has been far more than massaging away the aches and pains of racing. He also keeps an eye on what the driver eats, calms him down and acts as a confidant.

“He has something in his hands that no-one else has,” said Schumacher, a distant eighth in the championship with just 16 points after seven races.

So it’s no wonder that when Balbir, who spent his time off working with Dakar rally, had a special visitor at the Force India motor home.

To think that one of the greatest drivers ever, had an Indian by his side at the peak of his career sends chills down my spine. I just wish I were more attentive when the champ was still racing.

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