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“All his teammates used to crash”– Michael Schumacher rival hails him for handling ‘nervous’ Benetton car

Tanish Chachra
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"All his teammates used to crash"– Michael Schumacher rival hails him for handling 'nervous' Benetton car

Rival of Michael Schumacher, in the mid-1990, Damon Hill talks about how the German mastered the car despite his teammates struggling.

Michael Schumacher is the legend of F1. Many even hail him to be the greatest F1 driver to grace the sport. Indeed, winning seven world championships would require a certain level of talent that separates an individual from others.

Talking about that skillset, former F1 champion Damon Hill talks about how Schumacher mastered his Benetton car. Meanwhile, his teammates at the same time used to crash it regularly.

“Do you remember when Mike [Michael Schumacher] could drive Benetton,” said Hill to F1 nation. “It was a very nervous car, and all his teammates used to crash.”

“But you look at the early onboard footage of Michael at Benetton. His hands were all over the place. Literally, it was a blur, I mean the steering wheel. He was working so hard and managed to stay at the top of it.”

Also read: Mattia Binotto credits Michael Schumacher for winning mentality at Ferrari in 2022

Michael Schumacher was a genius

Apart from bringing out the best from the limited Benetton, Schumacher also played a pivotal role in Ferrari’s resurgence in the early 2000s. TheGerman race driver used to stay back at the Ferrari garage and help the team form a better car.

His contributions, along with a competent workforce at Ferrari, made them win five world championships in a row. Thus, giving one of the most glorious eras to the Prancing horses.

Moreover, Schumacher had a vital role in Mercedes’ emergence to the top. After coming out of retirement. Schumacher served the Silver Arrows for three years.

Over there, Schumacher had little success, but he was a part of a bigger plan. The seven-time-world champion guided the team to be a better side technically.

And only two years after his departure, Mercedes won their first championship, followed by seven more. Even to date, Mercedes acknowledge Schumacher’s role in the team’s success.

So, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Schumacher had this edge to make the team better with limited resources. Probably that makes him arguably the greatest ever.

Also read: 1998 season’s Ferrari F300 of Michael Schumacher is now up for Sale for 4.9 Million Dollars

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra

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Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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