1995 Formula 1 Racing Season
Schumacher and Hill Crashed Again in Italian Grand Prix at Monza
Dec 26, 2008
Ever since their title deciding crash at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix the relationship between Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill had been a controversial one. At Spa-Francorchamps in 1995 they would once again fight no-holds barred for victory. In the following race, at Monza, the title rivals would once again collide.
Schumacher Wins Controversial Belgian Grand Prix
The grid for the Belgian Grand Prix had a highly unusual look to it, due to unpredictable weather during qualifying. Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari was on pole, with his team-mate Jean Alesi second. Mika Hakkinen was third in his McLaren, and was joined on row two by Johnny Herbert’s Benetton. David Coulthard was the highest placed Williams driver in fifth, with Mark Blundell sixth in the other McLaren. Then came Eddie Irvine and title challenger Hill. Schumacher endure a nightmare session and started way down in 16th position.
Early in the Grand Prix Alesi led from Herbert, only for the Frenchman’s legendary bad luck to strike, this time in the form of a suspension failure. Herbert led briefly before making a mistake which allowed Coulthard through. The Scotsman fared no better than Alesi, retiring with a broken gearbox.
Hill was left in the lead of the race, with Berger second and Schumacher a remarkable third. When it rained Hill changed to wets, while Schumacher took a gamble and stayed on slicks. Hill quickly caught his rival, only for Schumacher to use questionable tactics to keep the Williams behind. Eventually, Schumacher ran wide and Hill was past.
This was a day when Schumacher’s luck was in, however. Shortly after Hill passed him the track started to dry and Schumacher’s slicks became the tyre of choice. He soon found himself back in the lead.
It rained again later in the race, with both Schumacher and Hill stopping. The Englishman’s opportunity to challenge for victory disappeared when he was issued a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Schumacher won the race, with Hill making it back to second place after his penalty. Aguri Suzuki was an excellent third for Ligier, Heinz-Harald Frentzen fourth for Sauber, Mark Blundell fifth for McLaren and Rubens Barrichello sixth for Jordan.
Hill Takes Schumacher Out of a Grand Prix Again
David Coulthard’s Monza weekend started well, as the Williams driver secure pole position, but things soon went wrong. On the warm-up lap he spun and drove into the pits. Fortunately, a multi-car accident at the start meant the race was stopped. Coulthard was able to re-start in his spare car.
Coulthard led Berger’s Ferrari in the early stages of the Italian Grand Prix, before a wheel bearing failure sent him into retirement. This left Berger and Alesi running first and second, to the delight of the tifosi. Schumacher was rudely taken out of the race by Hill, when the Williams driver left his braking too late while trying to lap Taki Inoue’s Footwork.
After the pit stops Alesi led from Berger, but then disaster struck the Ferrari pair. Firstly, a camera mounted on Alesi’s car fell off and struck the following car of Berger, inflicting terminal damage to its suspension. Then, just a few laps from home, Alesi also had a wheel bearing fail and was out. Herbert came though the carnage to win the second Grand Prix of his career from Hakkinen. Frentzen was third, followed by Blundell’s McLaren. Mika Salo finished fifth in a Tyrrell and Jean-Christophe Boullion was sixth in the other Sauber.
F1 Grand Prix season review continues.
