Schumacher edges clear as fuel rig thwarts Hill

34 comments on “Schumacher edges clear as fuel rig thwarts Hill”

1. 

   Nin13 (@nin13)
   16th October 2014, 11:58

   Despite what people say back in 1994 Michael Schumacher was not loved by FIA unlike his time at Ferrari. To get things straight he was disqualified from 2 wins and excluded from 2 further races. Almost 40 points defeceit there. You can imagine how poor Hill was in drivers standings.

   So I always feel what he did in last race is justified. HILL did not deserve title. FIA were artificially trying to make him win.
   1. 

      Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
      16th October 2014, 12:18

      So I always feel what he did in last race is justified. HILL did not deserve title. FIA were artificially trying to make him win.

      Regardless of the context, driving into a competitor is not a valid racing solution to a grievance with a competitor or the governing body.
      1. 

         DASMAN (@dasman)
         16th October 2014, 22:54

         You need to watch the incident again. It was Hill who did the ramming.
         1. 

            Mike (@mike)
            17th October 2014, 4:19

            I am, a MASSIVE Schumacher fan, I grew up watching him. When I got a mod for my F1 game, it was to put Schumacher back into it (Sorry Rosberg).

            … Having said that, Schumacher was clearly in the wrong. I don’t think it was particularly on purpose, I think it however was clumsy at best. And it was entirely his responsibility to leave room.
   2. 

      Daniel (@tamburello)
      16th October 2014, 12:31

      Please explain his behavior towards Villeneuve later that decade then. You have to admit that for all his results, he was one of the worst sportsmen the sport has ever seen. Driving into your opponent twice would be considered a permanent ban from Racing two decades earlier so the FIA was being extremely forgiving to him.
      1. 

         Corey
         16th October 2014, 13:37

         So, was Senna a poor sportsman too?
         1. 

            Lewis McMurray (@celicadion23)
            16th October 2014, 13:44

            At times, definitely
         2. 

            Klon (@)
            16th October 2014, 16:08

            How about yeah? Only those who have seen nothing of his but the movie Senna and the GT6 clips and those of questionable intellect consider Senna anything more than an anti-hero.
         3. 

            Hyoko
            16th October 2014, 22:13

            About the worst that ever was. It’s not just a matter of his personal enormous unsportmanship. He managed to ruin sportmanship in F1 for good, pretty much just by himself.
   3. 

      JSC
      16th October 2014, 14:11

      Ironically it was after the Villeneuve incident that Schumacher and the FIA began their cosy relationship. Max Mosley has gone on record to say that the punishment handed out to Schumacher, which was to put in some time helping out with the FIA’s road safety campaign, brought them into closer contact than they had enjoyed up until that point and they found that they got on rather well together. Before that, Mosley had been pretty scathing about him, certainly throughout 1994, and there was also some spat I remember at the start of 1995 (something to do with Schumacher apparently trying to work the driver weighing system to his advantage I think).
      1. 

         Alex Ward
         16th October 2014, 14:25

         Schumacher had a lead helmet for the driver weigh in… it was to set car weights i belive…
   4. 

      smudgersmith1 (@smudgersmith1)
      16th October 2014, 17:11

      I have read some BS in these comment columns, but this takes the biscuit, did you actually watch the 94 season…I did. To say the Benneton was close to being illegal throughout the whole season is a massive understatement, (launch control fitted but never used !! so how did he consistently power away even when 3rd on the grid to lead)
      How can it ever be justified to ram another guy off the track, was Hill a better driver…no, did he deserve a shot at the title…absolutely. Did the FIA love him, hate him…no, they were just rather crap at policing the whole show back then. Personally for the underhand attics and blatant swerve across Hills bows…I would have given him the championship.
      1. 

         joe
         16th October 2014, 21:37

         Well said.
      2. 

         MSC98 (@msc98)
         17th October 2014, 7:53

         @smudgersmith1
         I doubt you watched any of races in 1994, otherwise you wouldn’t make such statements. Here is a copy of mine older comment about Schumacher’s starts in 1994.

         Interlagos – Senna starts better, Schumacher spins his wheels and looses one position to Alesi and almost another one to Hill 2>3 -1
         Aida – Schumacher starts well, gets ahead of Senna who had a big twitch, Hakkinen also had a good start 2>1 +1
         Imola – Senna and Schumacher had similar start 0
         Monaco – pretty much equal start from all in top 3 positions 0
         Barcelona – Schumacher starts well, as do Hill and Hakkinen 0
         Montreal – top 3 had pretty much equal start, all three spins wheels 0
         Magny-Cours – Shumacher had perfect start, Hill’s was average, an Mansell’s was poor 3>1 +2
         Silverstone – Hill’s start was perfect, Schumacher’s not so good 0
         Hockenheim – both Ferrari’s start is excellent, as is Katayama’s (equal to what Schumacher did in France), Schumacher and Hill both had an average start 0
         Hungaroring – both Williams cars starts better than Schumacher but he manages to stay ahead 0
         Spa Francorchamps – Barrichello and Schumacher had similar start 0
         Jerez – Hill overtakes Schumacher, his start was perfect pretty much like Schumacher’s in France 1>2 -1
         Suzuka – start on rain, Schumacher starts well, Hill had an average start, Frentzen also had a good start 0
         Adelaide – Mansell had a poor start, Schumacher and Hill identical 2>1 +1

         All in all, Schumacher gained positions on 3 occasions, and lost his positions on 2 occasions. In total he gained 2 positions.

         So, one extraordinary start out of 14.
         Conclusion – it was either lousy LC, or LC wasn’t used.
         1. 

            smudgersmith1 (@smudgersmith1)
            25th October 2014, 8:08

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Formula_One_cheating_controversy
            The above link gives some pointers. In addition to watching every race, (It seems you only watched the start ?) what you fail to mention are the several other issues that occured during the season, which taken as a whole, together with MSC cheating by ramming Hill off the road at the end of the season, lead me to believe that as I said above, Hill deserved a shot at the title.
2. 

   PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
   16th October 2014, 12:05

   I think this is what F1 has, among other things, been missing for the last few seasons. Not only a fight for the drivers title but a season where the constructors isn’t just a formality.
   1. 

      Ben Needham (@ben-n)
      16th October 2014, 13:32

      I disagree with part of your statement; there has been a fight to the wire for the WDC in 5 seasons since 2006. That’s more often than not we’ve seen a Championship decided at the last race and this year it almost certainly will be too (double points etc).

      In terms of the constructors Championship, yes, it’s nice to see fights between two teams: McLaren vs Ferrari, Brawn vs Red Bull, Williams vs Benetton… whatever it may be. But to be honest I think each season has a different personality. In a season like this one, no one is thinking about the WCC, because the WDC is so gripping.
3. 

   Oli (@dh1996)
   16th October 2014, 12:15

   I still think it is amazing what Hill managed to do in the Williams. That Benetton was further ahead of the Williams than Mercedes is ahead of Williams this year. Damon would have deserved that title so much.
   1. 

      frood19 (@frood19)
      16th October 2014, 13:12

      i think by mid-season the williams was a quicker car. it was a quicker car for the entirety of 1995 too despite benetton having the same engine.
   2. 

      Breno (@austus)
      16th October 2014, 13:26

      Deserved that title? FIA basically reduced Schumacher’s season by four.
   3. 

      Ben Needham (@ben-n)
      16th October 2014, 13:38

      @dh1996 – perhaps we can pick up a degree of bias from your username and display picture ;-)

      I don’t think what Hill achieved in 1994 was altogether remarkable, while still admirable. He shouldered the responsibility of the team following the death of Senna and that’s commendable for a driver not far out of his first full season. However, to say he deserved the title is so far from the truth.

      Simply by following these (brilliant) flashback posts, it’s clear that Schumacher was entirely dominant despite not being allowed to post a result for 4 races. That’s 40 points (+points Schumacher would have potentially outscored Hill by in some of those rounds) just gifted to Hill on a plate.

      While I like Hill as a person and as a driver, and admire his many skills; 1994 was Schumacher’s year.
   4. 

      Sven (@crammond)
      16th October 2014, 14:36

      I don´t think Hill´s speed was any kind of representative of how good the Williams was. Senna had about the same advantage to him than Schumi had to Verstappen, and Benetton certainly wouldn´t have been any close to the constructor´s championship had they had a driver line-up like Williams had from after San-Marino onwards. Senna´s death completely broke Williams´ driver-politics for years.
      1. 

         Sven (@crammond)
         16th October 2014, 14:47

         Though, that said, I still believe banning Schumi of 4 races wasn´t unjustly done to make the championship exciting. If at all, allowing him to race in 12 of the races with traction control was unjustly done to further attract the huge market of german viewers that mostly weren´t that much into F1 till then.
         The whole ´94-season was just a huge mess.
   5. 

      Kingshark (@kingshark)
      17th October 2014, 3:03

      @dh1996

      That Benetton was further ahead of the Williams than Mercedes is ahead of Williams this year.

      Nowhere near, mate.
4. 

   Davey
   16th October 2014, 13:18

   I wonder just how many races refeuling ruined over the years.
   1. 

      joe
      16th October 2014, 21:40

      Agreed, never liked it from day one until the day it ended.
5. 

   JSC
   16th October 2014, 14:04

   What a shocker for Alesi! The Ferrari may well have been unsuited to the Jerez track but surely it should have been finishing ahead of the Ligiers?

   And what happened to Barrichello in the race after his brilliant qualifying and early fight with Mansell?
   1. 

      Bleu (@bleu)
      16th October 2014, 19:37

      IIRC he had a puncture late in the race. Was holding 5th place on lap 58.
6. 

   Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
   16th October 2014, 15:07

   A race to forget for Mansell, and sure enough I’d forgotten that he did this one as well as his more famous comeback appearances at Adelaide and Suzuka. Pretty tough on DC – wasn’t it around this time that Ron Dennis signed him up?
7. 

   Piffles
   16th October 2014, 16:07

   I remember how poor, pathetic and sad that whole latter part of the season felt to me when I watched it as a kid.

   Hill & Schumacher, behaved like 2 squabbling little kids fighting over a prize that never should have been theirs. Pathetic, beginner mistakes from both drivers, punctuated by petty protests, scandals and disqualifications. After the recent departures Prost, Senna and Mansell, the F1 grid was left without a single World Champion and it showed painfully in the quality of the racing.

   The fan community also suffered. I remember all the new German “fans” suddenly taking an interest in F1 with Schumacher winning and commenting on how “fantastic” and “exiting” the races were while most of us were desperately hoping for brighter days.
8. 

   Tim M (@tim-m)
   16th October 2014, 17:39

   According to Wikipedia, it was the last race for Andrea de Cesaris.
   1. 

      PeterG
      16th October 2014, 23:36

      It was, JJ Lehto went back to Sauber (Where he’d raced in 1993) for the final 2 races in place of Andrea.
9. 

   Bleu (@bleu)
   16th October 2014, 19:40

   I remember that day that seven retirements in the race wasn’t a lot. I think Comas and Brabham ones were not even shown although latter car could be seen on the side of the track.

   Nowadays if we have seven retirements in the race, it’s a lot.
10. 

    PeterG
    16th October 2014, 23:43

    All of the random driver changes done over the final half of 1994 saw the FIA introduce limits on the number of driver changes a team could do over a season to 1 change per-car.

    There was an exception if they were forced to make a change through driver injury however.

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