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by Barrie Taylor -
13/6/2000
In
1991, a new talent burst onto the F1 scene at Spa. Michael Schumacher
qualified 7th in his Jordan, but suffered clutch failure when
leaving the line. However, he had been noticed by Benetton boss
Flavio Briatore, and Schumacher took Roberto Moreno's place
in the team at the following race at Monza. Briatore and Schumacher
were a powerful combination, with Ross Brawn, the then Benetton
technical director.
In
1992, Schumi scored his first win. A brilliantly judged performance
at Spa, beating the might of the far superior Williams' of Mansell
and Patrese.
In
1994, Schumi was given a potentially championship winning car,
the Benetton B194, designed by Rory Byrne. Senna was gunning
for the championship himself, having recently joined Williams.
Tragically however, Senna was killed at Imola, and Schumi took
over the reigns as the top driver in F1. He won the first four
races of the 1994 season, and was pulling away from his rivals
in the standings, when he was disqualified from the British
GP for overtaking Hill on the warm-up lap (a regulation now
retracted). He was also disqualified from the Belgian GP because
the undertray of the Benetton was deemed illegal. Hill needed
the points, and closed up on Schumacher, whilst Schumi was forced
to sit out 2 GP's. Eventually, Schumi won the Title after a
controversial collision with Hill in Australia. His greatest
win of the year was in Monaco, in the most difficult circumstances.
Schumi won by nearly a minute from Brundle (his former team-mate
who was then in a McLaren). His other greatest performance was
in Spain. Schumi was stuck in 5th gear for more than 40 laps,
and still he finished second only to Hill.
In
1995, Schumi was given a car that was equal to the Williams.
The Benetton B195 was powered by a Renault engine, the same
power-plant used in the Williams. Schumi won the first race
of the season in Brazil, but was initially disqualified on fuel
irregularities, then later reinstated on appeal. The next two
races, Argentina and San Marino were both won by Damon Hill.
Schumi made a mistake on a slippery surface at Imola and crashed,
an uncharacteristic mistake, but as he himself says "I
am allowed one mistake a season". Schumi returned to form
with a dominant performance at Monaco. As the season unfolded,
Hill and the Williams team became increasingly desperate. Hill
and Schumi had several collisions, starting at the British GP,
when Hill made a wildly optimistic move, and took them both
out. Hill also made several silly mistakes, allowing Schumi
to pull well clear of him in the race for the title. Hill and
Schumacher had a fabulous battle at Belgium. As usual for Spa,
it was a wet race, and this time Schumi had not qualified well.
He gambled on starting on slick tyres, to gain the advantage
in the early laps, which he managed to do. The rain got heavier,
and Hill who was on rain tyres was closing on Schumi. For a
lap and a half, the two were often side-by-side, until Schumi
slid wide on a puddle, letting Hill by. Schumacher then went
into the pits after an accident brought out the safety car,
and changed to rain tyres. Hill spun and fell away, but recovered
to finish second, behind Schumi. Schumi had the championship
wrapped up with 2 races to go.
He
was offered a drive with Ferrari for 1996, partnered by Eddie
Irvine. The F310 was the first Ferrari to have a V10 engine,
so reliability was a problem in the early part of the year.
Also, the F310 had an innovative titanium gearbox, which apparently
cost the same to research and develop as the Minardi team's
budget for a whole season! Schumacher won 3 races on the way
to third place in the title race, including a superb win in
terrible conditions in Spain.
In
1997, Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve were fighting for the
Title. Schumacher had scored 5 wins including his greatest performance
at a wet Monaco. In a race where less than half the field finished,
Schumi was nearly a lap ahead of the pack, including his fast-improving
team-mate, Irvine. At Suzuka in Japan, Schumi and Irvine had
beaten Williams hands-down with a superb tactical performance.
Villeneuve had been thrown out of the race for not slowing down
for a yellow flag, but was later reinstated. Villeneuve, Ferrari
reckoned, probably will get any points docked, so Schumi might
be punted off the track. Irvine was instructed to get past Villeneuve,
hold him up, and let Schumacher win, and that is exactly what
he did. Not for the first time, Ross Brawn (who was asked to
go to Ferrari with Schumi and Rory Byrne) and Schumi had made
a team look tactically naive. At Jerez, Schumi's car developed
technical problems and was slowing, and Villeneuve was closing
fast to take the lead. Villeneuve tried to pass, but Schumi
was closing the door. If he had moved to cover his line a second
earlier, he would have forced Villeneuve to back off, but as
it was, there was a collision, and Schumacher was out. Villeneuve
was the champion, and Schumacher had to wait another year for
a chance at the Title.
Schumi
was looking great in 1998. Six wins had put him into contention
for the Title. He had come together with Coulthard controversially
in Argentina, although I don't think that it was a serious matter.
Michael is tough, we all know that, and we all know what to
expect in races. Some people may disagree with me, but that's
the way it is. Schumi had scored a stunning hat-trick in Canada,
France and Britain, where he won on the wrong side of the pit
wall (the first time this had ever happened)! He had passed
Wurz under yellow flags, but the stewards didn't pass the message
to Ferrari until there were 3 laps left. Ross Brawn got Schumi
to come in on the last lap, to take his 10 second stop and go.
It was the most bizarre end to a race in living memory. Schumi
outfoxed all the opposition Hungary with a 3 stop pit stop strategy,
which enabled him to take an astounding victory and at Monza
Schumi scored a very popular win with Irvine second. In Japan,
Schumi could have won his third title, but he stalled on pole
position (officially due to a faulty device in the clutch mechanism).
He finished second in the Championship again.
In
1999, Ferrari seemed to have got everything right and it seemed
as if Michael might finally regain the Title. Irvine got his
first win in Australia, followed by brilliant Schumi wins at
Imola and Monaco, but then came the fateful British GP. Michael's
Ferrari's brakes failed on the first lap, and he smashed into
the wall at Stowe, breaking his right leg badly. Irvine and
stand in driver Mika Salo battled against McLaren, scoring two
wins and some podiums, until Michael (some say reluctantly)
returned, at the now legendary first Malaysian GP. Schumi dominated
the event, taking pole by nearly a second, and holding off Hakkinen
throughout the event. Ultimately however, it was Hakkinen who
ended up champion for the second time.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the author of this article are not necessarily
those of mSchumacher.com, which may differ.
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Spanish
GP 1996
Michael performs his famous trademark "podium leap" after a win
Japanese
GP 1997
Another win and as usual Michael
is ecstatic!
Italian
GP 1998
A Ferrari 1-2 in Italy and his
brother third! What more could Michael ask for?
Malaysian
GP 1999
Michael blitzed the opposition
on his return at the first ever Malaysian GP in 1999
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