Schumacher qualified on pole position. He outpaced Hill by half a second, an incredible feat on the tight Monégasque circuit. However, he shot himself in the foot by waving to the crowd before the qualifying session was completely over and Gerhard Berger, who was still on a quick lap, crashed into the back of the Ferrari. Schumacher later apologized to Berger for going too slow.
Having had two dry days of practice, it poured with rain on race day. Schumacher had a poor start and, while still on the first lap, made a mistake at the right hander after the Loews hairpin, getting half-way onto the inside kerb, then pushing the car into the guard-rail. It was all over hardly before it had hardly begun.
To his eternal credit, Schumacher took the blame full on the chin. He returned to the team garage and apologized to everyone. Lunetta says, ‘He came in looking like a beaten dog. He was devastated and said sorry to everyone. We forgave him. He gives such a lot, and he is only human; he has to make mistakes sometimes.’
Team Principal Jean Todt put it succinctly as he commented, ‘Michael accepts errors from others, but not from himself.’ Meanwhile Eddie Irvine had qualified seventh but had a disappointing race; he had been given an illegal push start by the marshals, then Mika Salo and Mika Hakkinen crashed into him, ending his race.
End of Monaco. Deep depression. It was quiet on the way home as everyone pondered what might have been, and wondered when the next good times would come along. However, there is nothing as contrary as Formula One and disaster can turn into victory in the space of a couple of weeks – and that was about to happen. Next stop was Barcelona and the drive of a lifetime.
CREATIVE ADVERTISING
Ferrari and Shell are a potent combination: power and passion allied to technical excellence. This message has been broadcast across the world with the help of some stunning advertising campaigns. One such advertisement, called ‘The pit stop’, features Eddie Irvine coming in for a change of tyres and refuelling, but instead of concentrating on the race, he wants to ensure he’s using Shell petrol because he is collecting the company’s model cars. Thirty million people collect these cars, and the two advertisements are seen by over a billion people in more than 100 countries worldwide.
ALL ABOARD FOR SPAIN
SCHUMACHER WAS IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN
To say it rains in Spain is like saying it snows in Switzerland. There is normal rain, and then there is Spanish rain which falls in torrents. King Juan Carlos turned up for the race and Schumacher took him for a spin round the track, pointing out the dangers of driving in the wet! From third position on the grid, Schumacher made a poor start (because of a temperamental clutch) and was briefly down to sixth before overtaking the hapless Hill, who’s race was about to end.
Then Schumacher took on Berger and Alesi. By the 12th lap, he had left the others behind, was out in front and in a class of his own. He pulled away from the others at a rate of four seconds a lap. It was awesome to see and put Schumacher firmly up there with the all-time greats. The most recent comparison had been Senna’s remarkable drive at the European Grand Prix at Donington in 1993.
Team-mate Eddie Irvine qualified sixth, but spun out of the race after one lap. It was a shame because Ferrari had clearly got the set-up and race strategy perfect and could have had a one–two finish.
Edward Asprey will never forget it as, by chance, nearly all of the Asprey hierarchy were at the race. ‘It was a simply staggering drive by Schumacher, we were all stunned by the drama. We had never expected to witness such sheer talent and guts at such close quarters. It was indisputable proof of Schumacher’s greatness. He just left everyone else standing. It was as though the rain didn’t exist. We celebrated with a serious bottle of champagne on the way back.’
As Schumacher took the chequered flag, the Ferrari garage became the scene of a kind of rain dance as the team members celebrated their joy. For Ignazio Lunetta, there was the promise of a brand new Vespa from Ferrari Chairman, Luca di Montezemolo to celebrate the victory; for Giorgio Ascanelli there was the great satisfaction of knowing that the race strategy of two pit stops had worked to perfection.
Montezemolo was overjoyed, Todt relieved and happy. The media started to talk about World Championships. It was a good job no one could look into the future. Spain was a high that would be remembered fondly as the team’s fortunes took a dive in the next two months. There were still problems to sort out; a new higher nose for the Canadian Grand Prix; a clutch that wasn’t so difficult to use, and other small modifications to improve the aerodynamics.
On their own these were problems that could easily be sorted out, but combined they were about to become overwhelming and put the team under the kind of pressure that, in the past, had blown it apart.
‘Every time I wake up I struggle because we are not winning. But the important thing is to keep on trying…’
Giorgio Ascanelli
Ferrari Chief Engineer, talking after the French Grand Prix
Not even in their worst nightmares could any of the Ferrari team have imagined that the next two months would be as disastrous as they turned out to be. It all started on a fairly positive note, with the debut of the redesigned raised nose in Canada. This won the approval of both drivers. Schumacher said, ‘It’s worth between a tenth and two-tenths of a second, and more comfortable.’ Irvine added, ‘The car is more consistent between entry and exit of corners with the new nose.’ There were also some aerodynamic modifications carried out at Maranello, which made the car less sensitive. After qualifying, things continued to look hopeful. Schumacher took third spot on the grid behind the two Williams with Damon Hill on pole position. Irvine qualified a highly credible fifth.
The atmosphere within the team was calm and relaxed. Everyone expected the cars to show progress, although no one was in any doubt that the win in Spain had been down to Schumacher’s brilliance rather than the car. As Nigel Stepney says, ‘The win in Spain doesn’t reflect our true position. That was down to Schumacher. He was brilliant to watch. He overcomes a lot of problems and is in the same league as Senna. Drivers like that are few and far between.’
However, neither Ferrari driver finished the race. Stepney explains, ‘We didn’t look good on full tanks during the Sunday morning warm-up. There was a problem with the brake balance and the starter motor broke on Schumacher’s car only 30 seconds before the grid was due to form.’
In fact, Schumacher was forced to start from the back of the grid, and even though he was up to seventh by the time of his pit stop on lap 41, his driveshaft broke as he got to the end of the pit lane, forcing his retirement from the race. Post-race analysis diagnosed clutch problems that had effectively overstressed the driveshaft.
Eddie Irvine lasted a mere two laps before an unidentified flying object hit his car and the push rod broke, forcing him to retire from the race. Stepney comments dryly, ‘When Irvine’s push rod went, he came into the pits
