Michael Schumacher: Controversy's favorite child?

In his illustrious career, Michael Schumacher has surmounted all the odds to become one of the most, if not the best driver in Formula 1 history. But the path towards this feat hasn’t been all hunky dory. On numerous occasions, Schumacher has been called unethical and his ruthless pursuit of winning a race (and at times the championship as well) has come under the scanner on multiple occasions. Despite all this, most Formula 1 fans swear by him and adore him for who he is.

Let us look at certain instances where Schumacher has been involved in controversies and try and analyze what actually happened.

Benetton – Jordon Tussle

Michael Schumacher with Jordon Team at the Belgian GP 1991

Michael Schumacher made his Formula 1 debut with Jordan in the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix as a substitute for Bertrand Gachot, who, was very interestingly imprisoned for spraying CS gas (tear gas) on a taxicab driver in London! Schumacher was not well known when he made his debut, in fact he had never raced at the Spa circuit before. But he showed his potential in his very first race weekend when he qualified seventh on the grid. But, unfortunately his race lasted for only a lap, after which he had to retire due to a clutch problem. Schumacher’s impressive showing prompted Flavio Briatore, the then Managing Director of Benetton, to hire Schumacher to race for Benetton in the very next race. Before joining Jordon, Schumacher was a contracted Mercedes driver. Mercedes had a deal with Jordon where they paid $150,000 for Schumacher’s race debut. But Jordon hadn’t inked any deal for the remaining races of the season with Schumacher or with Mercedes to whom he was contracted to. This led to a legal tussle where Jordon applied for an injunction in the UK courts to prevent Schumacher from driving for Benetton, but they lost the case as they did not have any contract or agreement with any party involved.

In this scenario Schumacher couldn’t have done anything, it was his raw talent that was speaking here.

Controversial championship winning season (1994)

1994 was one of the most controversial and also the most successful season for Schumacher in his career at that point in time. 1994 was a bad season for Formula 1 itself, as it saw the death of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger in the same race weekend. Schumacher’s team Benetton were in the middle of a row, where it was alleged that they violated the technical guidelines set by FIA regarding the traction control system. Later the charge was proved to be true.

At the British Grand Prix, Schumacher overtook Damon Hill, his championship title rival on the formation lap. This prompted the stewards to disqualify Schumacher from the race. But, things didn’t just end there, when Schumacher was disqualified, he was required to come back to the pits, but Schumacher didn’t come back to the pits and ignored the fact that he was disqualified. This outrageous behaviour resulted in a two race ban for Schumacher. The Benetton team justified this act by laying the blame on an error in the communication between the stewards and the team.

Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill collide

Things weren’t any better for Schumacher in the Belgian Grand Prix, though he won the race, his team Benetton were apprehended by the FIA for yet another technical infringement, which striped Schumacher of his win. This brought Schumacher’s championship title rival Damon Hill to within a point of winning the championship. Things culminated during the final race of the season at Australia, where on lap 36, Schumacher made a mistake and his car hit a barrier on the right side. This allowed Damon Hill, who was in the second position to close the gap and try and overtake Schumacher in the next corner. But Schumacher sensing this closed the room Hill had sought to exploit rather quickly, which led to both the drivers colliding and thus handing Schumacher the championship title in the most controversial manner. This incident bears an eerie resemblance to the way Alain Prost won his championship against Ayrton Senna. The jury is still out on whether Schumacher did this on purpose or not.

1994 season all over again?

In 1996, Schumacher joined Ferrari who were very much struggling to become a competitive team. He also brought with him Benetton’s technical team in the form of Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn. These two played a prominent part in Schumacher’s title wins in 1994 and 1995 with Benetton and he wanted to build a strong championship winning team around them. Schumacher was in some way successful as Ferrari ended the 1996 season in second position in the constructor’s championship, while Schumacher finished third in the drivers championship.

Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve collide

1997 was yet another turning point in Schumacher’s career. The Ferrari was competitive to win the championship this time around and the drivers championship battle was fought between Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve in the Williams. Again Schumacher had a frail one point lead over Villeneuve going into the penultimate race of the season at Jerez. Schumacher was leading the race for most part until he developed a coolant leak, which impacted the performance of his car substantially and was probably heading for a retirement. Sensing the opportunity Villeneuve tried to overtake Schumacher, but Schumacher swerved his car frantically which looked deliberate and wanting to cause an accident. But fortunately for Villeneuve, he somehow came unscathed from this incident and took the championship. Schumacher was severely punished for his unsportsmanlike behaviour by disqualifying him from the drivers championship for the season and he was also made to participate in a road safety initiative!

Qualifying controversy at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher’s qualifying incident at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix

Schumacher had his share of controversies in qualifying too. During qualifying of 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Schumacher stopped his car at the Rascasse corner during final stages of the qualifying session, during which Fernando Alonso was on a flying lap, over two tenths of a second faster than Schumacher and well on his way to taking pole. After qualifying, Schumacher said that he, “locked up the front and went wide”, but the wide consensus in the paddock was that it was a deliberate act by Schumacher. The matter was taken up with the race stewards, and as a result Schumacher was penalized to start at the back of the grid.

Tardy treatment of Schumacher’s team mates

Who ever has been a team mate to Schumacher over the years, has almost always had to play second fiddle to him. He would be expected to help Schumacher in his title pursuit, like Rubens Barrichello did in 2002 at the Austrian Grand Prix. Barrichello was leading the race until the last lap when Ferrari ordered Barrichello to let his team mate pass, thereby gifting Schumacher the drivers title. Poor Barrichello had no choice but to relent and give away the win to Schumacher. This resulted in $1 million fine for both the drivers and this officially brought a law banning team orders.

Throughout his career Schumacher has displayed an attitude of “win at all costs”, which on some occasions proved to be good and on some occasions proved to be bad. Yes, Schumacher has been brash and greedy at times in his career, but no one can take away his talent, which according to many is perhaps the best in Formula 1 history. One more important thing to note here is when Schumacher was disqualified and suspended, he didn’t lose his grit and determination, he didn’t get bog down by the unending criticism he has had to face in his career. After each disappointment he has risen from the ashes and come back stronger, this is the attitude a sportsman requires and that is what enables them to reach greatness. Every fan of Formula 1 irrespective of their acceptance of Schumacher as a “honorable” driver will be praying that he displays the same tenacity and the will to fight, to come out of his life threatening ski accident as we all feel he still has something to contribute to Formula 1.