Michael Schumacher was blamed for unsporting behaviour as he crashed into Jacques Villeneuve during the final race of the season in Jerez.
During the 1997 season, Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher was leading the championship by a single point ahead of Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve. The championship came down to the wire until the last race.
Schumacher had 5 wins compared to Villeneuve’s 7. This meant that in the event of a tie on points, the Villeneuve would be crowned world champion. Therefore it was vital for either driver to finish ahead of the other.
Therefore there was supposed to be drama. The last round of the season was held in Jerez, Spain. And the drama unfolded in the qualifying session.
Schumacher, Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen set an identical qualifying time of 1:21.072. This was the first time such an incident occurred. Villeneuve was awarded pole position on the starting grid for setting the time first.
Schumacher started second and Frentzen third. Having lost the chance to set pole position, Michael had to overtake the Canadian. But the Williams that season was much quicker on track compared to the Ferrari.
Mick Schumacher photographed in the distance, watching Michael Schumacher lose the 1997 WDC to Jacques Villeneuve following the latter two’s crash at the European GP in Jerez (October 1997) pic.twitter.com/ouWV5ZGjtR
— proof mick schumacher is a time traveler (@mickruiningpics) April 20, 2022
Also, the Canadian was in a great run of form. This left Schumacher to opt out of a rather unsporting tactic in order to save his chances of winning the championship.
Schumacher led the race and Villeneuve was trailing him until lap 48. Villeneuve attempted an overtake on the inside of Schumacher, and the German turned in on the Williams and collided.
Schumacher was forced to retire. But to his disappointment, Villeneuve continued to race and eventually finished 3rd behind Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard despite sustaining damage. This was enough for the Canadian to claim his first and only Championship title.
The backlash of Michael Schumacher’s collision in 1997
Michael Schumacher had previously sabotaged his rival’s championship charge in 1994. During the 1994 Australian GP, Michael crashed into Hill in a similar fashion damaging Hill’s suspension.
But fate did not favour him this time for the Germans as he lost the championship. Michael lost the 1994 title to Jacques Villeneuve. And for this incident, he faced heavy criticism from the media who portrayed him as a villain.
Schumacher was summoned to a disciplinary hearing by the FIA. He was later disqualified from the 1997 World Championship losing his 2nd place. Schumacher was ordered to take part in FIA’s road-safety campaign during the 1998 season.
He was portrayed as a villain by the media for his ‘Kamikaze’ move and his image as a champion was shattered. But in a later interview with Martin Brundle, he claimed he did what he had to do!
He was asked what would he be willing to do in a high-stakes environment. Michael admitted, “I believe I did that only once and that was the situation in Jerez with Villeneuve.”
He adds, “What I want to say is I went through the school of Mansel, Prost & Senna and other drivers in the competition at the time. And that’s where I draw my conclusion.”
According to Michael, the sport had not changed according to the time. It was okay to make such a move in the past. But when the Ferrari driver did so, he set an example that was first of its kind and was condemned.
“In the past, it was okay to do things like this. Even though it’s not okay for me,” he continued. “What do you do, if you don’t go for it, you are going to be second. And people will say, ‘Why didn’t would do it and if you do you look stupid and you will be criticised.”
Fast forward to 2021, the times have changed. And we saw how the title was decided between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Seems like the lines between hard and fair racing are always blurred during such high-stakes races.
Also Read: Michael Schumacher drove 19 qualifying laps to win 9 seconds ahead of David Coulthard
