Michael Schumacher’s 18 full seasons on the Formula 1 grid included everything from prestigious World titles to a villain tag he could never shrug off.
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But then again, he did very little to try.
A record-setter, a flawed genius, a legend, a cheat. Schumacher was all that, it all depended where your allegiances lay.
1994 British Grand Prix
How ironic that Schumacher’s first championship-winning season was also his annus horribilis. 1994 was the season that set him on the course to become a multiple World Champion, and also the season in which his reputation suffered its first dents.
Hill won the race with Schumacher second, only for the German to be disqualified for failing to serve a stop-go penalty that was issued on lap 14 of the race when the stewards declared he had overtaken Hill twice on the earlier formation lap.
Schumacher continued as if nothing had happened which resulted in the driver being shown the black flag. Again he ignored the race officials with Benetton claiming confusion. The stewards didn’t buy that and handed Benetton a $25,000 fine.
That become a $500,000 fine when the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council got involved. Taking a dim view on the team and driver’s behaviour, they also handed Schumacher a two-race ban. Benetton appealed the latter and Schumacher was allowed to race.
That, though, turned out to be his first of two DSQs for the season as the German was also disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix, although this one was not on him.
Schumacher won the race by 13 seconds ahead of Hill but was subsequently disqualified when the stewards’ post-race inspection found excessive wear on the wooden skid block on the underside of his car.
1994 Australian Grand Prix
Despite two disqualifications, Schumacher’s antics were by no mean curtailed. If you ask Hill they actually stepped up a gear at the season-ending Australian Grand Prix.
The two went into the final race of the championship with the Benetton driver on 92 points to the Williams man’s 91 – not quite winner takes all, but close enough
Nigel Mansell lined up on pole position ahead of the title protagonists but Schumacher was quickly up into P1, Hill right behind him. They raced 1-2 through to lap 36 where, with Hill catching Schumacher, the latter made a mistake.
Off the track at the East Terrace corner, Schumacher hit the wall before pulling back onto the track and, more notably, across the track. Hill tried to pass him but the two collided, both drivers retiring as a result.
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