Michael Schumacher let all his cordiality vanish into thin air when he pushed Rubens Barrichello against the pit straight wall at the 2010 Hungarian GP. As the Hungaroring race brought out the ‘beast’ in Schumacher, this particular incident left Sir Jackie Stewart extremely furious, as he was “shaking with rage,” recalled Matt Bishop recently.
Bishop got into a conversation with Richard Williams about Schumacher’s racing career in the ‘And Colossally That’s History’ podcast. He shed light on how Schumacher’s habit of going to any extent to salvage a situation, found him in Stewart’s bad book with the Hungary 2010 incident.
“I remember Jackie Stewart being there at that race, and he was shaking with rage,” said the former Aston Martin employee. Following this, Bishop added how he too felt a sense of rage like Stewart. Because he found no sense as to why the German former driver pulled off such a move.
Explaining this further, Bishop stated that the then-Mercedes man had nothing to lose against Barrichello. They were neither racing for a championship nor for a race win or a podium. Therefore, risking the lives of two only for the sake of supremacy looked repellent, he concluded.
Admittedly, the clip of Schumacher and Barrichello going side-by-side is very famous to this day, as F1 posts about it often during the Hungarian GP every year. Nevertheless, Schumacher, all his career, had been a very aggressive driver and the Hungaroring ordeal wasn’t a one-off incident.
How did the FIA once disqualify Michael Schumacher?
Michael Schumacher had everything on the line in the 1997 European Grand Prix when he went against his then-championship rival Jacques Villeneuve. They fought fiercely through the season, and were separated by just a solitary point.
The European GP, held at Jerez, was the season finale that year. Schumacher, driving for Ferrari, was ready to go to any extent to salvage the championship. However, his actions in the race caused a consequence, that no other driver experienced to this date.
As Villeneuve attempted to overtake Schumacher on Lap 48 of the race, the latter controversially turned into the former’s car, causing a collision. This did not escape the eyes of the FIA, who disqualified Schumacher from the championship owing to his foul play.
Besides this, Michael Schumacher also once received a two-race ban after overtaking Damon Hill in the formation lap of the 1994 British GP. This was due to the seven-time champion ignoring the black flag and continuing to race. All in all, the German former driver always remained competitive no matter what, and this made other drivers reluctant to race hard against him.
