Michael Schumacher was so competitive that he once told a rival he had never been wrong in his entire life after a chaotic crash leaving him to drive his 3 wheeled car back to the pitlane.
The 7 times world champion needed to catch up to Mika Häkkinen in the driver’s standings at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1998, but wet weather made it difficult.
He started fourth for Ferrari, ahead of teammate Eddie Irvine, while incumbent champion Jacques Villeneuve would start sixth for Williams after surviving a massive accident at Raidillon on Friday (apart from an injured knee).
Damon Hill had previously raised eyebrows by qualifying third in his Jordan 198 in Saturday’s dry qualifying session — despite being over a second behind the pole-winning McLaren of Hakkinen, who was followed by Finn’s colleague David Coulthard.
Following a crash by Mclaren driver David Coulthard, the race restarted with Häkkinen leading. The Finnish driver spun early, allowing Schumacher to build a commanding lead.
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After half the race, Schumacher was a lap ahead of most of the field and was approaching Coulthard to lap him. As he did so, however, the German driver smashed into the back of Coulthard’s car and ripped the front right wheel off of his Ferrari.
“No! I don’t see it like that” – Angry Schumacher discussing the incident with Coulthard
Schumacher was enraged and charged to the McLaren garage to confront Coulthard but was held back by team members. Afterward, the two drivers were summoned to bury the hatchet, but Schumacher was in no mood to do so.
Speaking in the Schumacher documentary, Coulthard said: “We met up on Bernie Ecclestone’s bus to try and clear the air. I said to him ‘I accept my part in the crash but you need to take some responsibility as well and he went: ‘No I don’t see it like that.’
“I said: ‘Well Michael, in fairness you crashed into the back of me. I didn’t reverse into you,’ and it led to a conversation where I said: ‘Surely you must be wrong sometimes. He thought about it for a while and he went: ‘Not that I remember.’
“Michael came back to the pits convinced that Jacques had hit him”
Ross Brawn, who was technical director of Ferrari said that Schumacher was convinced it was Villeneuve who had turned in on him.
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“In his mind, Jacques Villeneuve had hit him. He wasn’t putting on an act. In his head, that’s what happened and so in that fraction of a second, what happened with him? Who knows?
“It wasn’t a premeditated act. It was something which happened and he came back and was convinced and he wasn’t trying to convince others that he’d not done wrong.
“Michael came back to the pits convinced that Jacques had hit him and then when we showed him the video, he realized that that wasn’t the case.
“It was one of those moments that Michael had two or three times in his career, where his commitment, his competitiveness, his dedication just went that one step too far,” concluded Brown.
