Michael Schumacher should have been stripped of one of his world titles, according to a friend of the F1 legend.
The German icon won an incredible seven F1 drivers’ crowns during his illustrious career, two with Benetton and five in a row with Ferrari. Only Lewis Hamilton has the same number, with the British racer collecting his seventh title in 2020.
His maiden championship, won back in 1994, is his most controversial as it was decided by an infamous collision with rival Damon Hill at the final race in Australia. Schumacher went into the showdown, held on the Adelaide street circuit, with a one-point lead. He led Hill from the start but was under immense pressure from the Williams driver.
And just before the midway point of the race, Schumacher buckled under the pressure, sliding off the track and hitting a wall. He bounced back onto the track, where Hill tried to dive down his inside, only for Schumacher to turn into the Williams, taking them both out of the race.
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It remains one of the most controversial finishes to a championship in F1 history. And almost 30 years on, journalist and friend Roger Benoit has recalled that incident by declaring Schumacher should only have six titles.
"Of course I know that he was world champion seven times. But the 1994 title should actually be taken away from him because he only won it because of his foul on Damon Hill," said Benoit in a wide-ranging interview with German title Blick.
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In the interview, Benoit also issued a rare update on Schumacher’s health. It is almost 10 years since Schumacher suffered life-changing injuries when he hit his head on a rock during a skiing accident in the French Alps.
For most of the last decade, he has been cared for at his family home in Switzerland, completely out of the public eye to preserve his and his family’s privacy and very little is known about his condition.
Asked for an update, Benoit said: “No. There is only one answer to this question and that is what his son Mick gave in one of his rare interviews in 2022: ‘I would give anything to talk to dad’. This sentence says everything about how his father has been doing for over 3,500 days. A case without hope.”
Benoit was referring to an insight from Schumacher's racing son Mick, who said in an episode of the Netflix show Drive To Survive: "I think dad and me, we would understand each other in a different way. Simply because we speak a similar language – the language of motorsport.”
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