bob jennings' WORLD O' RACING 01/07/2003
Magnificent Michael; a Classic Comeback (originally presented 08/28/96)
Photo of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari on the way to victory in the1996 Grand Prix of Belgium courtesy of Formula One - Images of the Month
A quick look at the 1996 Formula One season might have created the impression there are essentially two cars racing. Coming into Sunday's Grand Prix of Belgium, the 13th round of the 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Rothmans Williams - Renaults of Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve had won all but two Grand Prix events. Only Hill, who had seven Grand Prix victories and 79 championship points, and Villeneuve, who had three wins and 62 points, are still eligible to become the 1996 World Champion. The Williams team had already clinched the Constructor's title for the eighth time with 141 points. Williams' closest competitor was the defending champion Benetton team with 51 points. Benetton's Jean Alesi, with 35 points, was third in the driver's standings. Only the unusual circumstances brought on by wet weather in Spain and high attrition in Monaco has prevented a complete sweep of victories by the Williams cars. Five times they have finished one - - two this season.
It's been an incredible year for Williams, which is arguably the finest racing team, with the finest racing cars in the motor sport world.
In contrast, 1994 and 1995 World Champion Michael Schumacher has been suffering through a frustrating 1996 season; his first with Ferrari. He scored one F1 victory last spring, in Spain, which came in unusual situations brought on by heavy rain. With only 29 World Championship points, Schumacher ranked fourth in championship standings. Schumacher's points finishes, prior to his "opportunistic" but skilllful win in Spain, were a third place in Brazil, second places, at the Nurburgring in the Grand Prix of Europe, and again at Imola. Since the win however, Schumacher's only points finish was a fourth place in front of his countrymen at the Hockenheimring in Germany.
Throughout this Summer, the Italian press has been regularly "frying" both Schumacher and Ferrari team manager Jean Todt, the Frenchman who came to Ferrari after successfully managing Peugeot's World Championship sports car racing program a few seasons ago. Schumacher has remained steadfast in his public support of Todt and his commitment to returning the World Championship to Ferrari. The most recent Ferrari World Champion was South Africa's Jody Scheckter in 1979. Often in 1996, many in the Italian media have questioned the $25 million Ferrari is paying Schumacher this season and next. Currently Schumacher is reported to be negotiating a $30 million contract with Ferrari for 1998.
It's not that the latest Ferrari V10 package from designer John Barnard hasn't been competitive at times in Schumacher's hands. He has put the Ferrari on pole at a couple races this season. He has also led several laps. However the Ferrari reliability has been very weak. Shumacher's list of retirements has been like a list of everything that can go wrong with a racing car. In the season opener in Melbourne, brake problems put him out by the 33rd lap. He was out of the GP of Argentina with rear wing damage on lap 46. He crashed on a rain slick track moments after the start of the race in Monaco. In Montreal the Ferrari failed to get away from the grid on the parade lap and Schumacher was forced to start the race from the rear of the field. He was charging through the pack, in Canada, when the Ferrari quit on lap 45. In the French race at Magny Cours, Schumacher's Ferrari blew on the parade lap. He was out at Silverstone on lap three with gear selector problems. In the previous F1 event in Hungary, the Ferrari quit within a few laps of the finish.
Schumacher's Ferrari teammate this season is the highly regarded Irishman Eddie Irvine. Irvine's Ferrari season is perhaps an indication of the obstacles Schumacher faces. Irvine began the season with a third in Australia behind the Williams pair of Hill and Villeneuve. It's been downhill for the Irishman since. He had a fifth in Argentina and a fourth at Imola, and that comprises his season total of nine World Championship points. Irvine's performances make Schumacher's 29 points all the more significant.
It's been a completely different season for Schumacher, from the preceding two with the Benetton team in which he took 17 of his career 20 F1 wins and consecutive World Championships. However given the image Schumacher projects, it's easy to envision the German sticking out his pronounced jaw, dismissing what he left behind and focusing on the job at hand.
At the picturesque and ultra fast Spa Francorchamps circuit, perhaps the supreme circuit in contemporary Formula One, Schumacher did the job in great fashion.
Hill, Schumacher's arch rival, during his two championship seasons, has been having problems with the starts of recent Formula One events. That happened again in Spa to the season long Grand Prix points leader, as he fell to fourth behind pole sitter Villeneuve, Schumacher and David Coulthard's McLaren - Mercedes.
The 1996 F1 season appears to be in a momentum swing from Hill to his first year Williams teammate Villeneuve. Hill had a perfect start to the season with wins in the opening three races, before Villeneuve won the fourth round over Schumacher at the Nurburgring. Hill won the next race at Imola, and two races later scored a pair of convincing wins in Canada and France. Hill's seventh win of 1996 came in Germany at Hockenheim, when the leading Benetton - Renault of Gerhard Berger failed a few laps from the finish. At mid season, Villeneuve's fortunes appeared to be sagging. His performances had been lagging behind Hill's and rumors were circulating that the Canadian was going to be dropped by Williams at the end of 1996. Jacques came back with a strong win at Silverstone and again in the recent race in Hungary. About that time, Frank Williams announced that Villeneuve would return to the team next season. Hill's future with the team looks to be less certain despite his championship lead. His grip on the 1996 title, which once seemed strong, appears to be less secure as the end of season approaches.
There were places on the four mile plus Spa circuit which were still wet from morning rains but the sun was out which is unusual in Belgium at the beginning of the race. Villeneuve continued to lead with Schumacher directly behind until the F1 "safety car" came on the circuit after a crash by Jos Verstappen's Arrows. At that point Schumacher rushed to the pits with a quick stop for fuel and tires. Villeneuve and Hill each stopped within a few laps but neither as quickly as Schumacher. Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen, in the other McLaren, remained on the circuit and in the first two positions until they pitted.
When the order settled after the sequence of pit stops, Schumacher was leading Villeneuve.
Hill's problems continued when he missed the "Bus Stop Chicane" and was forced to run the "escape road."
As the race progressed into the final laps, Villeneuve appeared to be setting Schumacher up for a pass. Then the Ferrari pulled out a larger margin at the end and the two reversed their finish at the Nurburgring in April, where Villeneuve was able to hold off Schumacher.
This was Schumacher's 21st career Grand Prix win, placing him one victory ahead of Hill and ninth all time on the list of F1 winners, behind Alain Prost (51), Ayrton Senna (42), Nigel Mansell (31), Jackie Stewart (27), Jim Clark (25), Niki Lauda (25), Juan Manuel Fangio (24) and Nelson Piquet (22). From his delight on the podium, it might have been the most personally important win of his career. I enjoyed watching Schumacher and team manager Todt celebrating their success.
The race makes me anticipate a strong Ferrari - Williams battle for the remaining three races of the season, but I'm not sure that will happen. It's more likely to be a championship fight now that Villeneuve has cut Hill's points lead to 13.
Regardless, it was good to see Schumacher and Ferrari on top, if only for one race. It will be interesting to see if they can sustain this performance in two weeks in front of the "tifosi" at Monza. The Italians have been cool in their reactions to Schumacher thus far. If he can manage a win in Monza, I'll be curious to see if his popularity increases among the Ferrari "fanatics."
In my opinion, Schumacher is the first clear predominant F1 driver since Jackie Stewart retired after the 1973 season. Ayrton Senna is often spoken of in those terms and Senna's was a magic talent. Senna never took on the challenge that Schumacher has with Ferrari. It's going to be fun to see if Schumacher can bring Ferrari back to the top of Formula One.