I think early Schumi was "win at all costs" in a way that made the "if you don't go for a gap" moment seem chill and sensible. I know we shouldn't speak ill of the unwell, but between the fuel filter cheating, the still got TC cheating, and the Australia incident, the 94 season forever tainted my willingness to see Schumacher as a true great.
I think schumi had a personality that wouldn’t allow him to do it completely by the book. Some people are like that; they have to break some minor rule somewhere, just to show they’re in control. And with Walkinshaw and Briatore around, well… compound interest in practice
How you gon mention 09 but not 07/08 which both were much wilder and went to the final race. Massa v Ham, Fernando V Lewis V Kimi, spygate, crashgate, etc. Lol.
Besides all the regulations and breaches from both stewards, driver and team, the simple explanation is that after Senna's death the British media and fans assumed that Damon was going to run away with the championship, but by the time of the British GP, Schumi was mopping the floor with him. So something had to be done to stop him, and that "something" was the penalty for an irrelevant issue (since both starts were normal), the DSQ and the subsequent race bans (including the Spa incident). Overall Schumi lost the chance to score points in 4 races out of 16, 25% of the season, for reasons other than mechanical problems, and yet he won the championship. Three years later came the most vindictive and illogical penalty in F1 history; after clashing with Villeneuve at Jerez, which caused himself to retire while JV cruised to the title and hence had no incidence on the championship, Schumi lost all the points scored during the year.
Yeah, british media are mad to bring Hamilton an undeserved 8 title. They can't stand that a german had more titles after the great Fangio ( from Argentina) than any british pilot. They never forget than in 80's 2 brazilians and a french dominated "their" sport. Now Max destroy his golden favourite and they are more crazy than ever.
I’d say; if you had to pick just a single F1 season to show someone who’s never experienced F1; to try and make sure you expose them to literally everything the sport can entail; then the 1994 season is that season to show them.
I agree. It's the 1st year I watched every single race and I've been hooked ever since. (1st race I watched was Monaco 1992 but I only watched a few races in 92 and 93).
9:33 F is such a lovely character though, I'm glad they got a happy ending in that story. Great vid btw AM, everything about 1994 is a massive trainwreck. Makes 2021 look absolutely professional through and through
What rubs me the wrong way about all of this was that Schumacher did serve the penalty in the race, and then afterwards was DQd. Made a mockery of the system. Even Murray Walker said there’s no reason the officials would have him serving the penalty if he was going to be DQd anyways. But he was. Then the race bans just artificially tightened the championship entirely. Nothing against Hill but he didn’t stand a chance in 1994 without the FIA interventions. I mean aside from Japan he never ever beat Schumacher on merit that season. Even Spain, Schumacher was stuck in 5th. Schumacher was absolutely unbeatable that year. It would be like Verstappen getting banned a few races and suddenly Russell is 1 point behind him at the season finale. I mean, come on? The whole season was such a mess.
@@jonathansheppard7303Senna would’ve won 94 that’s the caveat and Schumi taking Hill out in the finale is irony as Senna would’ve led in points heading into the finale and with his superior qualy form Schumi would’ve had to win the race and likely have Senna finish 3rd or worst similar to 16
@@702TifosiGambler I mean Senna had a total of 0 points at the time of his death, so everything you said is just fan fiction. But sounds like a fun story
@@jonathansheppard7303 I mean Senna started with 3 DNF, Hill finished with 3DNFs and was 1pt behind Schumi, surely Senna would've outscored Hill by some margin. Fan Fiction?, wake up and smell the coffee jonny
He also won after a certain fresh-faced Sebastian Loeb crashed in the rain while leading which probably cost him the title. 2003 WRC was a cracker of a year overall, deserves its own video. Gronholm and Martin were probably the fastest drivers yet finished 5th and 6th (Gronholm kept on crashing and Martin had a car problem every other race). Sainz and Burns barely won anything but sheer consistency meant they led the championship for most of the season before Loeb and Solberg hit form late on. Plus Loeb arguably lost the title at the penultimate rally at Spain as well when he took the wrong tyres on the last day and lost the win to Panizzi on the last stage
The DQs and bans made up for a lot of points gained with the infamous black box aboard, which was definitely just decorative and not used for anything nefarious, honest.
I remember Benetton appealed the 2 race ban. Which wasn't heard for 6 weeks. Suspicions were that the next three rounds (Germany, Hungary, Belgium) all had massive Schumi fanbases and the appeal was delayed to not-damage attendance. Ferrari would then have one less car to beat for a feel-good win at Monza, but Alesi's gearbox had other ideas. But yeah, a right bloody mess, all year long.
But before the appeal it was a one race ban: he had been disqualified from Silverstone, and then banned for Hockenheim. It was only increased to a 2 race ban when they appealed. I understand he would have missed his home Grand Prix if they had accepted the 1 race ban, but it would have been a better strategy than risking a 2 race ban later.
@@Olivyay I vaugely remember it was a 2 race ban from the post-Silverstone hearing but I haven't got my 1994 reference book handy. That said, if Benetton could have picked a race to miss on strictly competitive level, either Hockenheim or Monza would have been the obvious choice as top-end power was a weakness for the otherwise very competitive works Ford V8. But it just got uglier at each turn
Benetton were allowed to pick the races they wanted to miss. They believed Monza and Estoril were two circuits the V8 Ford Benetton would be least competitive. Hockenheim was going to be the least but due to Michael's home race he decided it was race he could not miss but later the team regretted this as the Ford expired during the race anyway. That was from Steve Matchett the Benetton mechanic who did the Speed channel converge in the US.
Whatever side of the fence you sit with this situation, I think everyone can agree it just goes to prove that the stewards fucking things up is not something new.
He was still on his way to lose to Schumacher though had there been no penalty shenanigans, however well he drove. That was how dominant Schumacher was that year.
@@paulwalton7786 I know, I'm not arguing with that, but his performance in the race was still beating the Williams (he easily followed Damon before the first pit stop, stayed out longer and came out in front and then was increasing the gap once Berger who was on a 1-stop had pitted), which was pretty painful at Silverstone.
Even as a Michael fan he got what he deserved at Silverstone, but the 2 race ban was just a way to make a close fight to give 1994 more than just the year senna died
Bullshit lmao No one was ever penalized for this prior to or after this incident lmao There was 0 precedent for penalizing a driver for passing under the formation lap and even Prost criticized the decision and called it for what it was. This was nothing more than a golden opportunity for the FIA to manufacture their title fight between Hill and Schumacher.
Excellent video Aidan! 🙌 I’ve been really enjoying the 1994 theme you’ve had going on recently, these videos have been so detailed and well made, even if they’ve also brought back some bittersweet and painful memories(94 was my 5th full season of watching F1, and it was also the year I nearly gave up watching because I was so upset by the events at Imola). I used to have the full live recording of the 1994 British GP on VHS, and on the live BBC coverage, an overhead shot does actually show Michael blatting past Damon a second time as they approached the Abbey chicane. I believe he did this on both formation laps too. Also, one thing I just discovered a year or so back, when I saw the Eurosport live coverage of the 1994 Brazilian GP on TH-cam: Michael had done the same thing at Interlagos in 94, overtaking Senna and then running ahead of him for part of the formation lap. Seems he might’ve had a thing for trolling Williams drivers at their home race!
Schumacher passed drivers on the parade lap many times during 1994. Brazil 1994 he passed notably Hill then gave the position back later in the lap. Benetton were shocked and above all else miffed at the penalty imposed toward Schumacher at Silverstone as it had been done in the past and no mention before about this nor had it ever been penalised. This is why they communicated with the FIA during the race for many laps as they believed the FIA made a mistake amid all the confusion. This was blown way out or proportion. Anyway they couldn't prove Benetton wrong with TC and LC during the season thus came down on them hard like a ton of bricks with parade lap gate here and floor gate at Spa where it the floor was worn due to the spin over the large kerb at high-speed. Anything to make the run-away championship more exciting. But due to heavy anti Schumacher bias in the UK he was of course painted to be the villain. One of my ex girl friends was the daughter of Charlie Whitting. I once spoke to Charlie about this whom said that, that season on a basis of every race - Williams were puttting pressue to the FIA to penliase Benetton for everything they could much like we see today with Merecdes and Red Bull its just broadcasted on the air today so we know about it
From memory, it looked on TV as if Schumacher overtook Hill twice on the 2nd formation lap; camera coverage of the circuit was incomplete, but that's what Murray Walker thought.
@@HangoverTelevision it even happend before and none ever got punished. i even remember prost criticising the stewards decision. schumacher just gave the fia a chance to manipulate the championship and they took it because they wanted to get the championship open till the end.
Yeah twice, at least on the second formation lap, once by starting very quickly and then a proper late on the brakes dive into Abbey. There's some footage on TH-cam somewhere but I can’t find it at the moment. One the first lap he did the same thing off the start but I'm not sure if he did it into Abbey then as well. It's very weird watching it, I've never seen anything else quite like it.
I was a big Senna fan, but in his absence and having Schumacher met during an autograph session in the beginning of 1994 and of course being German, he obviously was my second choice. Although, in all fairness I became a lot more invested in Schumacher when he joined Ferrari. I think Schumacher's DSQ comes down to one thing only. A penalty would have probably been justified, but considering that it was handed outside the 15 minute window, it was simply a mistake by the race stewards to issue a penalty and everything that happened afterward was just compounding that mistake! Including the British GP, he was ultimately excluded from 3 race weekends. Along with the Belgian GP and the skidboard issue, he ultimately had to content winning the 1994 F1 championship in 12 races as opposed to Damon Hill's 16 races. That's 7.667 points/GP for Schumacher to Hill's 5.69 points/GP. Needless to say Schumacher won the 1994 championship fair and square! In my experience, 99% of the people who bring up the collision with Hill at Adelaide (a 50/50 incident by the Suzuka 89 standard) or the alleged launch control, which may or may not have been used (only his race start at the French GP was really jaw dropping), conveniently always forget about the highly dubious 3 race ban. 92 points in 12 races for MSC to 91 points in 16 races for HIL! Everything else is just hot air.
I blame Max Mosely entirely for the death of Senna. Mostly because his ham-fisted ban of driver aids led to a Williams that was almost undrivable, but partially because I really don't like his politics.
But they still had 8 months to make sure that car wasn't undrivable, and they failed when other teams succeeded even though their cars were slower. They had the same engineering team as in 1991 when they designed the passive FW14, so it's not like they had forgotten how to. I blame Newey, and Newey himself agrees.
Absolutely, when it takes 2% per lap advantage, Michael in a red armchair and a rookie teammate to win a championship there's no way Damon would have gotten near the title in 1994 if the ban never happened
@@Sticktothemodels That was never proved and what they did find was on nearly every car on the grid but it's use was unproven and considering how much better the Williams was in 95 and Schumacher still walked the title, it probably had nothing to do with those illegal gadgets.
With Prost's retirement at the end of 1993 and Senna's death in early 1994 F1 had lost it's box office appeal. Both Hill and Schumacher had artifically risen to the top of the sport and it's one of the reasons why 1994 was a junk season. It's why they dragged Mansell back at the end of the year.....nobody really cared about Hill or Schumacher at the time. In 1994 Hill wasn't good enough to be a World Champion and Schumacher/Benneton looked and felt like cheaters. It wasn't until 1998 and the Hakkinen/Schumacher rivalry that F1 recovered to a high level.
Completely agree about Hill but not Schumacher. I'm anything but a fan of his, but his immense talent was self-evident to all F1 fans from that first qualifying at Spa in the Jordan. He also won races before 1994 with clearly inferior metal.
Schumachers rise wasn't artificial at all, he was clearly emerging as the main character in the fight, right from the off before Senna died winning the opening races. That just sounds like your narrative. More than likely without the dq's and bans and Senna being alive Schumacher would of still won the title in a slower car vs Senna instead of Hill and that would of been an exciting new rivalry where i reckon Schumacher wins 94 and 95 in slower machinery and Senna rises to the top again after Schumacher switches to Ferrari in 96 and 97. That is most likely outcome with Senna and Schumacher becoming one of the sports biggest rivalries. To think Schumacher was artificially bought up is not too clever and takes a lot of bias to believe.
@@trueultimagod2465Lol Schumacher couldnt beat Senna when he was in the inferior Mclaren. He wasnt going to beat him later on in 1994 when the Williams improved.
Extremely silly thing for Schumacher to do. I think until he got that first title he was a little bit paranoid. I'm inclined to believe this was deliberate........for some reason.
Missed some important info from the saga of that year that people like to forget. Most important is the electronics. At the end of the year ferrari (Berger and alesi) and McLaren (Hakkinen and Brundle) were found to have exactly the same systems on their cars as Bennetton and given exactly the same fine. If Schumacher was cheating so were they. All teams said it was cheaper and safer to use proven software with that part deactivated. Secondly there was a lot of hate between max Mosley FIA and Briatorie Bennetton. Lots of people consider this was the driving force. Schumacher was also disqualified from Spa which he won. The plank under the floor was too worn. Problem is that it was easily explainable by the big spin down the curbs he had. Rules said after first measurement car should be remeasured but never was they just disqualified him. Team said in later years they let it go because they felt FIA was out to get them. Most of the cleaver performance was later discovered to be drawn using sports car knowledge and fuel loads
The McLaren system was a gearbox that had automatic upshifts and manual downshifts that the FIA couldn’t do anything about because it technically didn’t breach anything. But they shut that loophole immediately. Any fines they got were due to late submission of the ECU data. Ferrari complied immediately with the FIA’s request to hand over the ECU data and they found nothing. Can’t miss anything that didn’t happen 😅
@@AidanMillward yet Ferrari were still fined the same amount as the other 2 teams? . It's interesting to take Ross Brawn's view on it. As with most things that seem unexplainable at the time and therefore become food for conspiracy. They are very explainable. But not in someone's interest to explain at the time. Better to have people making crazy claims about you than actually tell them where you get your advantage.
The plank at Spa was uniformly worn out at the front, not at all like what a scrape on a kerb would do, and not on the part of it that had scraped over the curb at the exit of Fagnes. There are photos of it on the Web. It was probably an honest setup mistake by the team (the chicane at Eau Rouge completely changed the ride height needs for that track, and the rain on friday and saturday had limited all setup testing for dry conditions to the sunday warmup), but still not technically legal.
@@Olivyay You may find the comments of people like Brawn interesting. It is again about the way the rules are applied. Having found that the plank was worn the rules said that additional measurements were required. But instead they went straight to disqualification. As with Silverstone the rule book was cherry picked. They followed the bits that allowed penalty but ignored the bits about the process of how that penalty was allowed to be implemented. It has always been the lack of consistency that has hurt them. Senna and Prost in Japan was another one. But there are many.
Taking over 20 minutes to inform a team of a penalty, when the rules state they must be informed within 15 minutes cannot be explained away by saying they were scratching their heads over what rule to cite for a penalty. Begs the question - why? Were they incompetent or did they just not like what he did and were thumbling through the rule book to see what sticks?
Sometimes I despair from doing anything. That rulebook in this instance. I just wanna race, I promise to be good, ok? ‘Rule 146, under e, clause lll, see rule 117 as your by now splitting headache allows’
Because they have to protect themselves from anyone trying to take the piss. I’ve written rulebooks for a couple of sim racing series and you have to somehow think up every conceivable situation because someone at some point pull the “it doesn’t say here I can’t” card.
Aidan, have you ever heard of Roger Neilson? He worked as an NHL coach who got famous for abusing the rulebook in so many creative ways that the series had to keep inventing new rules to counter him. Someone (or someoneS) in the sim racing community are definitely lurking in the shadows, waiting for their chance to shine and annoy the rule makers
There was a pretty bullish culture at Benetton in those days, it was all about flexing. Imagine if you did that now - you'd find yourself in a Uber back to the hotel pretty fast.
Did you just say “bullish culture”? I can think of one current F1 team that has a bullish culture, too? This team doesn’t manufacture sports cars, just like Benetton ;-)
1994 was pretty desperate. Berger hitting the pit wall was hilarious though. I remember the commentators didn’t notice at the time and were perplexed at him slowing down. Oh and Brundle taking Berger on the outside into Mirabeau to get 2nd, that was good.
I honestly think the 2 race ban was completely over the top and the wmsc tried to make a point that you shouldn't "fuck with them" and I also think that the championship standings were definitely a reason why such a harsh penalty was chosen. Schumacher deserved the 1994 championship without a doubt.
If you search for formation laps before that, you will se that guys sometimes switched places around the lap and then moved back to start the race. Clearly this us trying to benefit Hill at his home grand prix.
That was a Hockenheim thing so would t have been an issue. They were going to throw the book at Benetton before Larousse and/or ligier said they’d taken theirs off too, but only because the manufacturer had told them to
Just as well I didn’t refer to the BBC. Was referring to the likes of the Sun and the Mail. They were the ones after Damon not Auntie. The same British press that hacked a dead girl’s phone, lied about what happened during the Hillsborough disaster and hounded Princess Diana to her death.
They really wanted to make 94 more than just the season Senna died. FIA really tried to spice things up, Schumii should've won that championship relatively without any issues if not for that ban.
What year did Lewis Hamilton get in trouble in Korea (or was it Silverstone?) where the FIA took so long to decide what his penalty was and by the time they did, he was already far enough ahead that he served his drive through and kept his position? It seems like the only reason for the FIA's existence is money and to spice up F1 in all the wrong ways.
Valencia 2010? With Alonso first snitching on him on the radio and then complaining that he was still in the same position after having been able to build a gap before being issued the drive through.
People think it was trying to psyche him out. But why do that when you’ve got that much of a lead in the standings I don’t know. Not that it changed anything cos his gearbox started acting up towards the end of the race.
@@AidanMillward The Michael was a bit of a scumbag towards Hill that season really, considering what he and the Williams team went through. As well as this, he was always getting little jibes in, such as calling Hill "Dad" to emphasise the age difference between them. It was only really after Hill held him off at Suzuka that year that Schumacher treated Hill with any modicum of respect.
@@jdseymour1978 Remember also Monza 2000 when he hit the brakes on the last straight after Safety Car just before the restart and nearly caused a pile-up behind. (it was not (yet) illegal, but still a scumbag move)
The Benetton team clearly believed they were above the rules that year, and it obviously influenced Schumacher, who already didn't care much for other drivers on track. Maybe the outrageous way he dominated the season even when Senna was still there got to his head and he thought nothing could possibly touch him. I'm not sure if the way the FIA handled it was to compensate for Schumacher's domination, it's like how Hamilton complained in 2020 at Monza and Sochi that "they" were trying to stop him, when he really just broke the rules even if he didn't mean bad. While I believe the excessive plank wear episode at Spa was a genuine Benetton setup mistake that they didn't want to admit and tried to weasel their way out of punishment from, the Silverstone one was purely on Schumacher and, knowing how the FIA didn't like when you appealed their bans just to delay them, it would have been wise from them to accept missing Hockenheim where their engine would be at a disadvantage even though it was Schumacher's home race, and be able to race at Monza and Estoril. He would have ran away with the championship with no need to desperately crash into Damon.
@@draganluzija3823 True. But unfortunately from Time to Time during his Career Michael did these unnecessary things were everybody asks himself Why?. Like the famous Stop in Monaco Qualifiyng or the Villeneuve Ramming.
Mindgames and I also think Michael believed there was something wrong with the timekeeping during the qualifying and believed he was the true pole sitter.
Strange why we dont see any penalties for overtakings during start lap now, seen countless times nr 2 on the grid overtake nr 1 driver/pole sitter in the formation lap during last 5 years and never get a penalty for it, like schumacher here they let the pole sitter past during the formation lap. So why is it illegal back in 1994?
my understanding is that the FIA prefers that all cars get away from the grid cleanly and safely even if it means an overtake occurs, so long as the position is returned in a timely manner, such as before turn 1. Schumacher was just doing whatever he pleased and was probably playing mind games.
Can’t be censorship if they’re not photoshopped. No tobacco logos were allowed in Britain, Germany and France. The Benetton doesn’t have any Mild Seven logos on it either.
@@janus6 tobacco advertising was banned in the uk in 1963-ish. When Chapman turned up with gold leaf logos he was given some gaffer tape and told to cover them up
Why is it an issue if you pass on the formation lap? I understand it's against the rules but why? You're not stealing his grid position so who cares? And I say this as the most rabid Schumacher hater...
Yes, why did the stewards take so long to issue the penalty? Austria -23: Idk, question unclear... The Michael (always make me smile in nostalgia when you say that) sure had his moments. A great driver, hugely competitve and result driven - and as far as can be from a shout as 'cleanest champion'.
The really interesting question, for me, about this episode, has nothing to do with the rules and how they are applied. Those are arcane matters. No, what is actually interesting is the psychology of it, not addressed in this video. Namely, why the fuck did Schumi overtake Hill twice (or three times indeed) during the formation laps ? The best answer I think is that it was pure psychological warfare and one upmanship from Schumacher. Those were dark arts he completely mastered, we saw it time and again. He was essentially sating to Hill "you are my inferior - perhaps you got pole but you know your rightful position is behind me". He knew that Hill was under immense pressure to live up to the car he had, his paternal heritage and of course stepping into Senna's gigantic shoes of Williams number 1. This was a way for Schumacher to absolutely pwn Hill, although it did in the immediate term somewhat backfire. Over the course of the season, Hill demonstrated tremendous grit to harness his talent and mount a challenge. However much he was criticized, and notwithstanding his talent deficit to Schumacher, he did end up getting close enough to everything out of that Williams.
Michael didn't do anything wrong. He wasn't going to nab his grid slot or anything and even if he reached the grid ahead of Damon he'd only cool his tires for longer so had no advantage to gain by being in front so it wasn't a real offence. Besides, it was probably done to get a decent championship fight going since Hill needed a break to try and figure out how to drive fast
But he did do something wrong, he overtook on the formation lap, not once,, not twice but three times. Once can be written off as an accident, but three times? And not giving the place back instantly? Whether or not you agree with the rule is irrelevant, the fact is The Michael broke the rule and was therefore punished for it.
@@johnyossarian1135 The banning afterwards is a different issue. However the actual race (which I was at lol) he did something wrong and was punished for it as described, for that you can have no argument. Personally I do think they should have left it at that since as Aidan said the stewards didn't exactly do everything 100% correctly themselves. It wouldn't have surprised me if when the case was heard at the WMC they saw what Benetton were doing and thought "we know you're cheating but we can't prove it, but we can give you the maximum punishment for this so we will"
@@MrSniperfox29 I know it's an offence regulation wise but no advantage was gained so the stewards were clearly looking to get Damon some sort of advantage before the formation lap was even started
@@AidanMillward speaking of which do you have a moment to discuss our lord and saviour? That aside enjoyable video. 94 was just before my time but I’ve learned more about it lately via your channel and it really did seem to be a transition point for the sport in so many ways
Power steering should have been outright banned from here on. You either can hang on to the steering or you can't. If the car can go faster, start muscling it like Mansell.
Power steering can spare injuries to drivers' hands/wrists in case of a crash. They don't have it in IndyCar and this has happened way more than in F1.
The 94 Benetton used tc. Clutch breake throttle out the put activated it same in reverse entering pit deactivate it was told by an ex benneton team member who I won't mention
Possibly the beginning of the legend of Schumacher as a dirty cheating supervillain? Mick Dastardly? Before my time, that was another 4 years away, by which time his villain tag was established * cough * Adelaide * cough * I certainly wouldn't have stood for it in my black and white mind. Rule says X, driver does Y, get out of here. Driver doesn't get out of here, who does he think he is, does he think the rules don't apply to him? Insert political gag here. "Yeah, we messed up", will always sound a bit fishy given the, er, tense, times at this point. And of course it's Britain, with a British competitor involved, so the opposition will always be cheating in the eyes of the press. Something something cricket.
I'm sometimes wondering if The Michael was involved in more cheating and rule bending than other drivers, or if he was just unlucky and more of his cheating was found out.
Actually his "cheating" only existed in the British media. After the season ended FIA stated that Ferrari and McLaren were using the same software as Benetton, because the changes came too late to safely develop an alternative, so it was easier to disable the offending part, just like Benetton did.
Lmao. His career definitely wouldn't have been short. If Benetton hadn't picked up Schumacher, others would have. Jordan absolutely would have kept him. Mclaren was interested as were other teams.
@@Olivyay A great champion doesn't cheat over and over again has he's done countless times during his career. I will never see him as one of the greats. His character prevents me from doing that.
@@sanfordcurtis8242 He's a great cheat yes. But not a great champion. He stole atleast one of those championships by cheating and many races that got him other championships. A few of those championships aren't deserved. He will never be a great in my view. Great champions don't cheat or try to take out their opponents when they get beat.
Capitalising TITLES for the ENGAGEMENT. I hate me too.
So what do we reckon? Was it Schumacher trying to intimidate Hill at home? Or something else?
I think early Schumi was "win at all costs" in a way that made the "if you don't go for a gap" moment seem chill and sensible. I know we shouldn't speak ill of the unwell, but between the fuel filter cheating, the still got TC cheating, and the Australia incident, the 94 season forever tainted my willingness to see Schumacher as a true great.
I think schumi had a personality that wouldn’t allow him to do it completely by the book. Some people are like that; they have to break some minor rule somewhere, just to show they’re in control. And with Walkinshaw and Briatore around, well… compound interest in practice
Schumacher trying to psych out a rival? Nah, next you'll be saying he hit Damon and Jacques on purpose 😁
@@OriginalApexTwin Or park it in qualifying at Monaco. Ridiculous suggestion that he would do something like that.
@@Jgb8110 You have a wild imagination, put the jazz cigarette down.
The 1994 season was just one of those bonkers seasons like ‘76, ‘89, ‘90, ‘03, ‘09, ‘12, and ‘21
And '82.
'86 could be on that list
and 2007
99 is a notable example
How you gon mention 09 but not 07/08 which both were much wilder and went to the final race.
Massa v Ham, Fernando V Lewis V Kimi, spygate, crashgate, etc. Lol.
Besides all the regulations and breaches from both stewards, driver and team, the simple explanation is that after Senna's death the British media and fans assumed that Damon was going to run away with the championship, but by the time of the British GP, Schumi was mopping the floor with him. So something had to be done to stop him, and that "something" was the penalty for an irrelevant issue (since both starts were normal), the DSQ and the subsequent race bans (including the Spa incident). Overall Schumi lost the chance to score points in 4 races out of 16, 25% of the season, for reasons other than mechanical problems, and yet he won the championship. Three years later came the most vindictive and illogical penalty in F1 history; after clashing with Villeneuve at Jerez, which caused himself to retire while JV cruised to the title and hence had no incidence on the championship, Schumi lost all the points scored during the year.
Hamilton vs. verstappen : 50 g crash ,10 second penalty british driver.
Schumacher vs. Hill ; formation shenanigans, black flag german driver.
And a two race ban.
Yeah, british media are mad to bring Hamilton an undeserved 8 title. They can't stand that a german had more titles after the great Fangio ( from Argentina) than any british pilot.
They never forget than in 80's 2 brazilians and a french dominated "their" sport.
Now Max destroy his golden favourite and they are more crazy than ever.
I’d say; if you had to pick just a single F1 season to show someone who’s never experienced F1; to try and make sure you expose them to literally everything the sport can entail; then the 1994 season is that season to show them.
I agree. It's the 1st year I watched every single race and I've been hooked ever since. (1st race I watched was Monaco 1992 but I only watched a few races in 92 and 93).
Also 1976 and 1982
9:33 F is such a lovely character though, I'm glad they got a happy ending in that story.
Great vid btw AM, everything about 1994 is a massive trainwreck. Makes 2021 look absolutely professional through and through
2021 was alright until the stewards broke the rules
1994 was pure madness
What rubs me the wrong way about all of this was that Schumacher did serve the penalty in the race, and then afterwards was DQd. Made a mockery of the system. Even Murray Walker said there’s no reason the officials would have him serving the penalty if he was going to be DQd anyways. But he was. Then the race bans just artificially tightened the championship entirely. Nothing against Hill but he didn’t stand a chance in 1994 without the FIA interventions. I mean aside from Japan he never ever beat Schumacher on merit that season. Even Spain, Schumacher was stuck in 5th. Schumacher was absolutely unbeatable that year. It would be like Verstappen getting banned a few races and suddenly Russell is 1 point behind him at the season finale. I mean, come on? The whole season was such a mess.
The stewards on the day let him keep the result. It was when the WMSC got involved it escalated.
@@AidanMillwardI stand corrected, you are right!
@@jonathansheppard7303Senna would’ve won 94 that’s the caveat and Schumi taking Hill out in the finale is irony as Senna would’ve led in points heading into the finale and with his superior qualy form Schumi would’ve had to win the race and likely have Senna finish 3rd or worst similar to 16
@@702TifosiGambler I mean Senna had a total of 0 points at the time of his death, so everything you said is just fan fiction. But sounds like a fun story
@@jonathansheppard7303 I mean Senna started with 3 DNF, Hill finished with 3DNFs and was 1pt behind Schumi, surely Senna would've outscored Hill by some margin. Fan Fiction?, wake up and smell the coffee jonny
I'd love to see a video about the 2003 Rally Tour de Course where Petter Solberg won the rally despite he destroyed his Impreza during Shakedown.
It's not the right decade, but it's a great rallying documentary - The Greatest Years Of Rallying 1980-1989 th-cam.com/video/oNRuiqowbeo/w-d-xo.html
He also won after a certain fresh-faced Sebastian Loeb crashed in the rain while leading which probably cost him the title.
2003 WRC was a cracker of a year overall, deserves its own video. Gronholm and Martin were probably the fastest drivers yet finished 5th and 6th (Gronholm kept on crashing and Martin had a car problem every other race). Sainz and Burns barely won anything but sheer consistency meant they led the championship for most of the season before Loeb and Solberg hit form late on. Plus Loeb arguably lost the title at the penultimate rally at Spain as well when he took the wrong tyres on the last day and lost the win to Panizzi on the last stage
The DQs and bans made up for a lot of points gained with the infamous black box aboard, which was definitely just decorative and not used for anything nefarious, honest.
I remember Benetton appealed the 2 race ban. Which wasn't heard for 6 weeks. Suspicions were that the next three rounds (Germany, Hungary, Belgium) all had massive Schumi fanbases and the appeal was delayed to not-damage attendance. Ferrari would then have one less car to beat for a feel-good win at Monza, but Alesi's gearbox had other ideas. But yeah, a right bloody mess, all year long.
But before the appeal it was a one race ban: he had been disqualified from Silverstone, and then banned for Hockenheim. It was only increased to a 2 race ban when they appealed.
I understand he would have missed his home Grand Prix if they had accepted the 1 race ban, but it would have been a better strategy than risking a 2 race ban later.
@@Olivyay I vaugely remember it was a 2 race ban from the post-Silverstone hearing but I haven't got my 1994 reference book handy. That said, if Benetton could have picked a race to miss on strictly competitive level, either Hockenheim or Monza would have been the obvious choice as top-end power was a weakness for the otherwise very competitive works Ford V8. But it just got uglier at each turn
Hill was getting very angry fan mail at the time for something he didn’t even do.
Benetton were allowed to pick the races they wanted to miss. They believed Monza and Estoril were two circuits the V8 Ford Benetton would be least competitive. Hockenheim was going to be the least but due to Michael's home race he decided it was race he could not miss but later the team regretted this as the Ford expired during the race anyway. That was from Steve Matchett the Benetton mechanic who did the Speed channel converge in the US.
11:26 I misheard "Benetton of the doubt" and, that could be a good saying for giving anything but the benefit of the doubt
Whatever side of the fence you sit with this situation, I think everyone can agree it just goes to prove that the stewards fucking things up is not something new.
Aah, remember this one like yesterday. Shame that the antics of Benetton overshadowed how well Damon Hill drove that day Silverstone.
He was still on his way to lose to Schumacher though had there been no penalty shenanigans, however well he drove. That was how dominant Schumacher was that year.
@@Olivyay - Michael Schumacher broke the rules that day so deserved to be punished
@@paulwalton7786 I know, I'm not arguing with that, but his performance in the race was still beating the Williams (he easily followed Damon before the first pit stop, stayed out longer and came out in front and then was increasing the gap once Berger who was on a 1-stop had pitted), which was pretty painful at Silverstone.
Even as a Michael fan he got what he deserved at Silverstone, but the 2 race ban was just a way to make a close fight to give 1994 more than just the year senna died
True.
I agree despite not Michael fan
Bullshit lmao No one was ever penalized for this prior to or after this incident lmao There was 0 precedent for penalizing a driver for passing under the formation lap and even Prost criticized the decision and called it for what it was.
This was nothing more than a golden opportunity for the FIA to manufacture their title fight between Hill and Schumacher.
You're a fan of that torpedo guy? Lmao the greatest cheating champion in F1
@@GoldenEDM_2018 Hill torpedod him twice. Lmao
Schumacher-Brawn : a legendary combo
Man, 94 was such a clusterfuck, it's unreal.
That circuit colour image map picture thing you put in is awesome!
Excellent video Aidan! 🙌 I’ve been really enjoying the 1994 theme you’ve had going on recently, these videos have been so detailed and well made, even if they’ve also brought back some bittersweet and painful memories(94 was my 5th full season of watching F1, and it was also the year I nearly gave up watching because I was so upset by the events at Imola).
I used to have the full live recording of the 1994 British GP on VHS, and on the live BBC coverage, an overhead shot does actually show Michael blatting past Damon a second time as they approached the Abbey chicane. I believe he did this on both formation laps too.
Also, one thing I just discovered a year or so back, when I saw the Eurosport live coverage of the 1994 Brazilian GP on TH-cam: Michael had done the same thing at Interlagos in 94, overtaking Senna and then running ahead of him for part of the formation lap.
Seems he might’ve had a thing for trolling Williams drivers at their home race!
Schumacher passed drivers on the parade lap many times during 1994. Brazil 1994 he passed notably Hill then gave the position back later in the lap. Benetton were shocked and above all else miffed at the penalty imposed toward Schumacher at Silverstone as it had been done in the past and no mention before about this nor had it ever been penalised. This is why they communicated with the FIA during the race for many laps as they believed the FIA made a mistake amid all the confusion. This was blown way out or proportion. Anyway they couldn't prove Benetton wrong with TC and LC during the season thus came down on them hard like a ton of bricks with parade lap gate here and floor gate at Spa where it the floor was worn due to the spin over the large kerb at high-speed. Anything to make the run-away championship more exciting. But due to heavy anti Schumacher bias in the UK he was of course painted to be the villain. One of my ex girl friends was the daughter of Charlie Whitting. I once spoke to Charlie about this whom said that, that season on a basis of every race - Williams were puttting pressue to the FIA to penliase Benetton for everything they could much like we see today with Merecdes and Red Bull its just broadcasted on the air today so we know about it
So he did it constantly until they finally penalized him for his own stupidity, got it
@@Stimor Drivers did this commonly on parade laps, go watch full races from the 80s and up to this point and you would see this happen
I was born in 93 and I love just adore the MP4/8 my fav F1 car
There is footage in a F1 review showing The Micheal over taking Hill on a formation lap.
From memory, it looked on TV as if Schumacher overtook Hill twice on the 2nd formation lap; camera coverage of the circuit was incomplete, but that's what Murray Walker thought.
yea and nowadays this happens all the time without anyone getting punished.
@@HangoverTelevision it even happend before and none ever got punished. i even remember prost criticising the stewards decision. schumacher just gave the fia a chance to manipulate the championship and they took it because they wanted to get the championship open till the end.
Yeah twice, at least on the second formation lap, once by starting very quickly and then a proper late on the brakes dive into Abbey. There's some footage on TH-cam somewhere but I can’t find it at the moment. One the first lap he did the same thing off the start but I'm not sure if he did it into Abbey then as well. It's very weird watching it, I've never seen anything else quite like it.
That being the key; no one saw the 2nd overtake but Walker (a biased observer) and some stewards... if any.
I was a big Senna fan, but in his absence and having Schumacher met during an autograph session in the beginning of 1994 and of course being German, he obviously was my second choice. Although, in all fairness I became a lot more invested in Schumacher when he joined Ferrari.
I think Schumacher's DSQ comes down to one thing only. A penalty would have probably been justified, but considering that it was handed outside the 15 minute window, it was simply a mistake by the race stewards to issue a penalty and everything that happened afterward was just compounding that mistake! Including the British GP, he was ultimately excluded from 3 race weekends. Along with the Belgian GP and the skidboard issue, he ultimately had to content winning the 1994 F1 championship in 12 races as opposed to Damon Hill's 16 races. That's 7.667 points/GP for Schumacher to Hill's 5.69 points/GP.
Needless to say Schumacher won the 1994 championship fair and square! In my experience, 99% of the people who bring up the collision with Hill at Adelaide (a 50/50 incident by the Suzuka 89 standard) or the alleged launch control, which may or may not have been used (only his race start at the French GP was really jaw dropping), conveniently always forget about the highly dubious 3 race ban.
92 points in 12 races for MSC to 91 points in 16 races for HIL! Everything else is just hot air.
As well as everything else you mentioned, 46 drivers appearing in one season (I think - need to check), Herbert driving for 3 teams - bonkers season
I blame Max Mosely entirely for the death of Senna. Mostly because his ham-fisted ban of driver aids led to a Williams that was almost undrivable, but partially because I really don't like his politics.
But they still had 8 months to make sure that car wasn't undrivable, and they failed when other teams succeeded even though their cars were slower.
They had the same engineering team as in 1991 when they designed the passive FW14, so it's not like they had forgotten how to.
I blame Newey, and Newey himself agrees.
Artificially spicing up the ‘94 season that Schumacher would have ran away with
Absolutely, when it takes 2% per lap advantage, Michael in a red armchair and a rookie teammate to win a championship there's no way Damon would have gotten near the title in 1994 if the ban never happened
Somewhat makes up for the illegal car they conveniently glossed over
@@Sticktothemodels the car was never proved to be illegal though
@@Sticktothemodels That was never proved and what they did find was on nearly every car on the grid but it's use was unproven and considering how much better the Williams was in 95 and Schumacher still walked the title, it probably had nothing to do with those illegal gadgets.
I guess that means Schumacher artificially spiced up the results by cheating
With Prost's retirement at the end of 1993 and Senna's death in early 1994 F1 had lost it's box office appeal. Both Hill and Schumacher had artifically risen to the top of the sport and it's one of the reasons why 1994 was a junk season. It's why they dragged Mansell back at the end of the year.....nobody really cared about Hill or Schumacher at the time.
In 1994 Hill wasn't good enough to be a World Champion and Schumacher/Benneton looked and felt like cheaters. It wasn't until 1998 and the Hakkinen/Schumacher rivalry that F1 recovered to a high level.
Completely agree about Hill but not Schumacher. I'm anything but a fan of his, but his immense talent was self-evident to all F1 fans from that first qualifying at Spa in the Jordan. He also won races before 1994 with clearly inferior metal.
Schumachers rise wasn't artificial at all, he was clearly emerging as the main character in the fight, right from the off before Senna died winning the opening races. That just sounds like your narrative.
More than likely without the dq's and bans and Senna being alive Schumacher would of still won the title in a slower car vs Senna instead of Hill and that would of been an exciting new rivalry where i reckon Schumacher wins 94 and 95 in slower machinery and Senna rises to the top again after Schumacher switches to Ferrari in 96 and 97. That is most likely outcome with Senna and Schumacher becoming one of the sports biggest rivalries.
To think Schumacher was artificially bought up is not too clever and takes a lot of bias to believe.
Nope. Perhaps it was garbage for British fans. But everyone else knew Schumi was a super star and a more than worthy heir of Ayrton.
@@trueultimagod2465Lol Schumacher couldnt beat Senna when he was in the inferior Mclaren. He wasnt going to beat him later on in 1994 when the Williams improved.
Extremely silly thing for Schumacher to do. I think until he got that first title he was a little bit paranoid. I'm inclined to believe this was deliberate........for some reason.
Missed some important info from the saga of that year that people like to forget. Most important is the electronics. At the end of the year ferrari (Berger and alesi) and McLaren (Hakkinen and Brundle) were found to have exactly the same systems on their cars as Bennetton and given exactly the same fine. If Schumacher was cheating so were they. All teams said it was cheaper and safer to use proven software with that part deactivated. Secondly there was a lot of hate between max Mosley FIA and Briatorie Bennetton. Lots of people consider this was the driving force. Schumacher was also disqualified from Spa which he won. The plank under the floor was too worn. Problem is that it was easily explainable by the big spin down the curbs he had. Rules said after first measurement car should be remeasured but never was they just disqualified him. Team said in later years they let it go because they felt FIA was out to get them. Most of the cleaver performance was later discovered to be drawn using sports car knowledge and fuel loads
The McLaren system was a gearbox that had automatic upshifts and manual downshifts that the FIA couldn’t do anything about because it technically didn’t breach anything. But they shut that loophole immediately. Any fines they got were due to late submission of the ECU data.
Ferrari complied immediately with the FIA’s request to hand over the ECU data and they found nothing.
Can’t miss anything that didn’t happen 😅
@@AidanMillward yet Ferrari were still fined the same amount as the other 2 teams? . It's interesting to take Ross Brawn's view on it. As with most things that seem unexplainable at the time and therefore become food for conspiracy. They are very explainable. But not in someone's interest to explain at the time. Better to have people making crazy claims about you than actually tell them where you get your advantage.
The plank at Spa was uniformly worn out at the front, not at all like what a scrape on a kerb would do, and not on the part of it that had scraped over the curb at the exit of Fagnes. There are photos of it on the Web.
It was probably an honest setup mistake by the team (the chicane at Eau Rouge completely changed the ride height needs for that track, and the rain on friday and saturday had limited all setup testing for dry conditions to the sunday warmup), but still not technically legal.
@@Olivyay You may find the comments of people like Brawn interesting. It is again about the way the rules are applied. Having found that the plank was worn the rules said that additional measurements were required. But instead they went straight to disqualification. As with Silverstone the rule book was cherry picked. They followed the bits that allowed penalty but ignored the bits about the process of how that penalty was allowed to be implemented. It has always been the lack of consistency that has hurt them. Senna and Prost in Japan was another one. But there are many.
Taking over 20 minutes to inform a team of a penalty, when the rules state they must be informed within 15 minutes cannot be explained away by saying they were scratching their heads over what rule to cite for a penalty. Begs the question - why? Were they incompetent or did they just not like what he did and were thumbling through the rule book to see what sticks?
Flat bottomed cars
You make my rockin world go round
You could write more than one book on the 1994 season.......It had everything, sadly.
Still don't get what he got out of overtaking before the start of the race?
Childish antics to put Damon in second during the formation lap.
Sometimes I despair from doing anything. That rulebook in this instance. I just wanna race, I promise to be good, ok?
‘Rule 146, under e, clause lll, see rule 117 as your by now splitting headache allows’
Because they have to protect themselves from anyone trying to take the piss.
I’ve written rulebooks for a couple of sim racing series and you have to somehow think up every conceivable situation because someone at some point pull the “it doesn’t say here I can’t” card.
Aidan, have you ever heard of Roger Neilson? He worked as an NHL coach who got famous for abusing the rulebook in so many creative ways that the series had to keep inventing new rules to counter him.
Someone (or someoneS) in the sim racing community are definitely lurking in the shadows, waiting for their chance to shine and annoy the rule makers
VERY GOOD video . EVEN with the ALL CAPS . lol
This video creator THANKS you ↩️😱
There was a pretty bullish culture at Benetton in those days, it was all about flexing. Imagine if you did that now - you'd find yourself in a Uber back to the hotel pretty fast.
Did you just say “bullish culture”? I can think of one current F1 team that has a bullish culture, too? This team doesn’t manufacture sports cars, just like Benetton ;-)
1994 was pretty desperate. Berger hitting the pit wall was hilarious though. I remember the commentators didn’t notice at the time and were perplexed at him slowing down. Oh and Brundle taking Berger on the outside into Mirabeau to get 2nd, that was good.
He'd have got away with it if he'd used the Chewbacca defence.
“That guy Briatore…just because he wore his baseball cap on back to front, he thought he could do anything he wanted…”
I honestly think the 2 race ban was completely over the top and the wmsc tried to make a point that you shouldn't "fuck with them" and I also think that the championship standings were definitely a reason why such a harsh penalty was chosen. Schumacher deserved the 1994 championship without a doubt.
F …. For the good old days.
They certainly aren’t coming back… the current F1 season has been really boring.
@@augustortiz I’ve been falling asleep during most of the races so far.
I always saw Schumacher as the Dick Dastardly of Formula 1.
I wonder who Muttley was. Was it Briatore? LMFAO.
@@bjorge1896 yeah, Briatore ended up in the dog house with crash gate. 😂
If you search for formation laps before that, you will se that guys sometimes switched places around the lap and then moved back to start the race.
Clearly this us trying to benefit Hill at his home grand prix.
Good morning from Michigan.☕
Great video. But I still can't understand why Schumacher and Bennetton did it? What was the point.
Wasn't the Schumacher races ban also related to the Benetton's refueling being out of specs?
From memory, not googling right now...
That was a Hockenheim thing so would t have been an issue. They were going to throw the book at Benetton before Larousse and/or ligier said they’d taken theirs off too, but only because the manufacturer had told them to
These Britishers are still salty that their people didn't win. Grow up
I’m sorry that the facts of what happened that day trigger you.
And they used the exact same book when Sir Lulu was beaten by Max.
excelent video
im always telling F1 and the stewards were always a circus ;D
Does anyone else find Ironic?
That the TH-camer who has keep comments clean in his comments section call the BBC bottom feeders.
Just as well I didn’t refer to the BBC. Was referring to the likes of the Sun and the Mail. They were the ones after Damon not Auntie.
The same British press that hacked a dead girl’s phone, lied about what happened during the Hillsborough disaster and hounded Princess Diana to her death.
They really wanted to make 94 more than just the season Senna died.
FIA really tried to spice things up, Schumii should've won that championship relatively without any issues if not for that ban.
Guess he should not have constantly done illegal things that got him banned then
What year did Lewis Hamilton get in trouble in Korea (or was it Silverstone?) where the FIA took so long to decide what his penalty was and by the time they did, he was already far enough ahead that he served his drive through and kept his position? It seems like the only reason for the FIA's existence is money and to spice up F1 in all the wrong ways.
Valencia 2010? With Alonso first snitching on him on the radio and then complaining that he was still in the same position after having been able to build a gap before being issued the drive through.
Don’t remember. I do remember him being told to drive faster and shut up at Monza one year because of the loophole regarding tyre pressures.
@@AidanMillward 2015 I think
Does anyone know any potential reasons why Michael was doing the overtakes in the warmup lap(s)? Seems very illogical to me.
Most likely some kind of psychology on Hill; intimidation etc?
People think it was trying to psyche him out. But why do that when you’ve got that much of a lead in the standings I don’t know.
Not that it changed anything cos his gearbox started acting up towards the end of the race.
@@AidanMillward The Michael was a bit of a scumbag towards Hill that season really, considering what he and the Williams team went through. As well as this, he was always getting little jibes in, such as calling Hill "Dad" to emphasise the age difference between them.
It was only really after Hill held him off at Suzuka that year that Schumacher treated Hill with any modicum of respect.
@@jdseymour1978 Remember also Monza 2000 when he hit the brakes on the last straight after Safety Car just before the restart and nearly caused a pile-up behind.
(it was not (yet) illegal, but still a scumbag move)
I think it wasn’t exactly rare to do back then, or until then. I vividly remember Senna doing the same in 1993 but can’t recall the race.
The Benetton team clearly believed they were above the rules that year, and it obviously influenced Schumacher, who already didn't care much for other drivers on track.
Maybe the outrageous way he dominated the season even when Senna was still there got to his head and he thought nothing could possibly touch him.
I'm not sure if the way the FIA handled it was to compensate for Schumacher's domination, it's like how Hamilton complained in 2020 at Monza and Sochi that "they" were trying to stop him, when he really just broke the rules even if he didn't mean bad.
While I believe the excessive plank wear episode at Spa was a genuine Benetton setup mistake that they didn't want to admit and tried to weasel their way out of punishment from, the Silverstone one was purely on Schumacher and, knowing how the FIA didn't like when you appealed their bans just to delay them, it would have been wise from them to accept missing Hockenheim where their engine would be at a disadvantage even though it was Schumacher's home race, and be able to race at Monza and Estoril.
He would have ran away with the championship with no need to desperately crash into Damon.
Shane Van Gisbergen video when????
I think main question that is unanswered here is why did Schumacher overtake Hill at all?
My personal answer: Mindgames.
@@patrickhein6986 I know, but he was so far ahead of Hill in championship that it was unnecessary
@@draganluzija3823 True. But unfortunately from Time to Time during his Career Michael did these unnecessary things were everybody asks himself Why?. Like the famous Stop in Monaco Qualifiyng or the Villeneuve Ramming.
@patrickhein6986
Is it fair to say Michael has been punished enough?
Mindgames and I also think Michael believed there was something wrong with the timekeeping during the qualifying and believed he was the true pole sitter.
Strange why we dont see any penalties for overtakings during start lap now, seen countless times nr 2 on the grid overtake nr 1 driver/pole sitter in the formation lap during last 5 years and never get a penalty for it, like schumacher here they let the pole sitter past during the formation lap. So why is it illegal back in 1994?
Because none of those people have overtaken and stayed there for half a lap, then gone and done it at least twice more in the event of a restart.
@@AidanMillward Ahh I see, yeah thats true.
my understanding is that the FIA prefers that all cars get away from the grid cleanly and safely even if it means an overtake occurs, so long as the position is returned in a timely manner, such as before turn 1. Schumacher was just doing whatever he pleased and was probably playing mind games.
Because it was the time when a British driver had a dominating car but still could not beat that new Kraut.
9:38
F
Those photoshoped pictures of the Williams are embarrassing. Is it TH-cam forcing this censorship?
Can’t be censorship if they’re not photoshopped. No tobacco logos were allowed in Britain, Germany and France.
The Benetton doesn’t have any Mild Seven logos on it either.
@@AidanMillward I didn't realize it went back that far. Thanks for that info. Aidan.
@@janus6 tobacco advertising was banned in the uk in 1963-ish. When Chapman turned up with gold leaf logos he was given some gaffer tape and told to cover them up
Why is it an issue if you pass on the formation lap? I understand it's against the rules but why? You're not stealing his grid position so who cares? And I say this as the most rabid Schumacher hater...
Quite probably the pinnacle of Schumacher/Benetton shithousery from that season.
If something Benetton is guilty for making the worst looking championship car ever....after Brawn
1994 the season that could make a turtle run
Yes, why did the stewards take so long to issue the penalty?
Austria -23: Idk, question unclear...
The Michael (always make me smile in nostalgia when you say that) sure had his moments. A great driver, hugely competitve and result driven - and as far as can be from a shout as 'cleanest champion'.
Weeeeelllllll… people do keep crying about wanting the good old days back.
Be careful what you wish for 🤪
@@AidanMillward As long as we don't go far enough back to have more casualties than races in any given season I'm sure we'll be fine 😅
In a world full of cheating Michaels, be a Kimi.
Schumacher also overtook Ayrton during the formation lap at Brazil, if I'm not mistaken.
Yes, you're right. Other drivers too. It was not unusual. But nobody cares about it to that time.
The really interesting question, for me, about this episode, has nothing to do with the rules and how they are applied. Those are arcane matters. No, what is actually interesting is the psychology of it, not addressed in this video.
Namely, why the fuck did Schumi overtake Hill twice (or three times indeed) during the formation laps ?
The best answer I think is that it was pure psychological warfare and one upmanship from Schumacher. Those were dark arts he completely mastered, we saw it time and again. He was essentially sating to Hill "you are my inferior - perhaps you got pole but you know your rightful position is behind me". He knew that Hill was under immense pressure to live up to the car he had, his paternal heritage and of course stepping into Senna's gigantic shoes of Williams number 1. This was a way for Schumacher to absolutely pwn Hill, although it did in the immediate term somewhat backfire. Over the course of the season, Hill demonstrated tremendous grit to harness his talent and mount a challenge. However much he was criticized, and notwithstanding his talent deficit to Schumacher, he did end up getting close enough to everything out of that Williams.
simply they did not wanted him to be champion
Michael didn't do anything wrong. He wasn't going to nab his grid slot or anything and even if he reached the grid ahead of Damon he'd only cool his tires for longer so had no advantage to gain by being in front so it wasn't a real offence. Besides, it was probably done to get a decent championship fight going since Hill needed a break to try and figure out how to drive fast
But he did do something wrong, he overtook on the formation lap, not once,, not twice but three times.
Once can be written off as an accident, but three times? And not giving the place back instantly?
Whether or not you agree with the rule is irrelevant, the fact is The Michael broke the rule and was therefore punished for it.
@@MrSniperfox29 it's a drive through at most though. Banning him for that is downright stupid
I mean… he did.
It’s not like the rule from the actual rule book was quoted verbatim or anything 🤣
@@johnyossarian1135 The banning afterwards is a different issue.
However the actual race (which I was at lol) he did something wrong and was punished for it as described, for that you can have no argument.
Personally I do think they should have left it at that since as Aidan said the stewards didn't exactly do everything 100% correctly themselves.
It wouldn't have surprised me if when the case was heard at the WMC they saw what Benetton were doing and thought "we know you're cheating but we can't prove it, but we can give you the maximum punishment for this so we will"
@@MrSniperfox29 I know it's an offence regulation wise but no advantage was gained so the stewards were clearly looking to get Damon some sort of advantage before the formation lap was even started
So effectively the 94 season was complete bullshit?
No. It marked the rise of one of the best F1 drivers ever. The only problem is, he ain't British.
First person who is not a bot. Looking forward to this
At least the bots aren’t flogging crypto anymore.
@@AidanMillward speaking of which do you have a moment to discuss our lord and saviour?
That aside enjoyable video. 94 was just before my time but I’ve learned more about it lately via your channel and it really did seem to be a transition point for the sport in so many ways
Not a bot., was 1st. Unless bots have watched Formula 1 since the late 1970's 🤔
Power steering should have been outright banned from here on. You either can hang on to the steering or you can't. If the car can go faster, start muscling it like Mansell.
Power steering can spare injuries to drivers' hands/wrists in case of a crash. They don't have it in IndyCar and this has happened way more than in F1.
@@Olivyay exactly. If say you spin and the car skids into the gravel, the steering can kick back on you and break your arms
The 94 Benetton used tc. Clutch breake throttle out the put activated it same in reverse entering pit deactivate it was told by an ex benneton team member who I won't mention
"I won't mention " cuz it's Total horsecrap
Dunno why, but this just popped into my head… what if the points increased each race? As in, 1st in race 1 = 10 points, 1st in race 24 = 30 points…
Possibly the beginning of the legend of Schumacher as a dirty cheating supervillain? Mick Dastardly? Before my time, that was another 4 years away, by which time his villain tag was established * cough * Adelaide * cough * I certainly wouldn't have stood for it in my black and white mind. Rule says X, driver does Y, get out of here. Driver doesn't get out of here, who does he think he is, does he think the rules don't apply to him? Insert political gag here. "Yeah, we messed up", will always sound a bit fishy given the, er, tense, times at this point. And of course it's Britain, with a British competitor involved, so the opposition will always be cheating in the eyes of the press. Something something cricket.
I'm sometimes wondering if The Michael was involved in more cheating and rule bending than other drivers, or if he was just unlucky and more of his cheating was found out.
No. He definitely cheated. There are other drivers who have, but none so consistently and blatantly in all the time I've followed F1.
Actually his "cheating" only existed in the British media. After the season ended FIA stated that Ferrari and McLaren were using the same software as Benetton, because the changes came too late to safely develop an alternative, so it was easier to disable the offending part, just like Benetton did.
I just wonder if Schummel Schumi wasn't bernie's friend, how would his carreer have looked.....i think verry short
Damons would have been about 10 minutes without his dad's legacy to open doors for him
Lmao. His career definitely wouldn't have been short. If Benetton hadn't picked up Schumacher, others would have. Jordan absolutely would have kept him. Mclaren was interested as were other teams.
Schumacher had a small part in murdering Senna by cheating and doesn't deserve half his championships.
And to think some people consider Schumacher a great champion...
Well, he is (his titles in 1995, 2000, 2001, and 2004 are particularly impressive), but you can be a great champion and still have a big dark side.
@@Olivyay A great champion doesn't cheat over and over again has he's done countless times during his career.
I will never see him as one of the greats. His character prevents me from doing that.
Michael is a great champion. He has seven world titles and is one of the GOATs. Damon Hill is a champion, but a very average one.
@@sanfordcurtis8242 He's a great cheat yes. But not a great champion. He stole atleast one of those championships by cheating and many races that got him other championships.
A few of those championships aren't deserved.
He will never be a great in my view. Great champions don't cheat or try to take out their opponents when they get beat.
@@blueguy12345 so by that logic, do you consider Senna a great cheat because of Japan 1990?