In 1996 Schumacher moved to Ferrari and by 1997 key former Benetton personnel like Ross Brawn or Rory Bryne (the B194 designer), Tad Czapski (the engine electronic’s guru) joined him. Ferrari then went from being an occasional race winner to serial championship contenders over a sustained period. Questions have since been asked, why did Schumacher and his former Benetton colleagues stick together? Was it because they had sidestepped the rules
Is Red Bull Racing the new Benetton is perhaps an misleading title, as Benetton operated in an era were many technological advantages were made, were sometimes more than 20 teams tried to attempt for an Grand Prix, and when Formula one cars were still beautiful. No I refer to is the amount off driver switches the team made last few years in mid-season. Perhaps the title should be “Red Bull
The Formula One was dominated years by McLaren and Williams. Both won several titles during the 1980s and the 1990s, until 1994 arrived. With Senna moving towards Williams and McLaren left with Peugeot engines. And Benetton… well they had some German Michael Schumacher. The season would be full of scandals, false claims and sadly the loss of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger. 1994 the untold Story by Ibrar Malik goes
1994 is misschien wel het meest controversiële seizoen dat de Formule 1 heeft gekend in haar rijke geschiedenis. Het seizoen werd voornamelijk gekenmerkt door het git zwarte weekend op Imola. Waarbij Ronald Ratzenberger en Ayrton Senna het leven lieten. Maar waar vooral Benetton en Michael Schumacher de dienst uit maakte in vele controverses en betichtingen van vals spel. Ibrar malik probeert met zijn boek “1994 The Untold Story of a
Welcome to the second episode of the Old Rumour Mill of Formula One. A special blog dedicated to the old rumours of Formula One. Many rumours appeared during the years. Some were just silly “Alain Prost to move to Benetton in 1992”. Others were just amazing to read “Pedro Diniz to move to Ferrari in 2000”. Every week a new episode of the Old Rumour Mill of Formula One will
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of that horrific race weekend and the passing of two F1 drivers there will be 3 separate blogs over the coming days. Tomorrow’s blog pays tribute to Roland Ratzenberger and how his accident helped spark an important safety legacy within F1. Wednesday’s blog will remember Ayrton Senna’s final 24 hours. However, today’s blog gives a more personal recollection. Mike Fairholme is well known and respected
Many believe Schumacher ran illegal driver aids during 1994 because one of Benetton’s former drivers, Jos Verstappen, once claimed so during an interview in 2011. This along with all the other arguments are analysed extensively in the book however, what is not commonly appreciated is five other drivers stepped inside the B194 that year also. Schumacher, Lehto, Herbert and Allan McNish all drove the 1994 Benetton and their views on
1994, is in many ways a weird and unexplainable season. With lots of gossip and rumours of illegal software used on the car of Schumi, the dead of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna and let’s not forget the battle between Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher. Both drivers reached a point they started to hate each other. Ibrar’s new blog is about this specific Feud between Hill and Schumi. “I do
The Flying Dutchman, Jos Verstappen, the father of current F1 star Max, arrived in the sport with a BANG. On his debut, the 1994 Brazilian GP, he arguably caused one of the most horrific looking multi car pileups ever. This had followed massive hype surrounding the 22-year old that he was F1’s next big thing. Some believed the pressure of debuting for one of F1’s top teams (Benetton) alongside the
2001 marked the end of an era. As Benetton would leave the Formula One. Their engine supplier Renault decided to buy the team and bring Renault back in the Formula One as a team. The Benetton B201 would score one last podium at the Belgium circuit, as the car struggled a lot with the engine. During after season testing the Benetton B201 appeared on the track only this time in
