Schumacher '94 - The Birth of a Legend (2026) Movie Script

[tense music playing]
When I look at it now,
of course I see Michael.
I mean, it kind of looks like a face,
doesn't it?
When that helmet was out,
things got exciting.
-[crowd cheering]
-[engine whirring]
[Corinna] That was the start.
The start of something big.
[commentator] He's won in Brazil,
Japan, France and Monaco.
Michael Schumacher is the new star
of Formula 1.
[crowd chanting] Schumi! Schumi!
[man 1] Racing drivers
are born with a gene
that is different from most
ordinary human beings.
They have this rage to compete.
[man 2] Is it such a great life?
[music rises]
[commentator] Now the black flag is out.
Michael Schumacher is disqualified
from the race.
They kept trying to stop him.
1994 was the perfect movie.
Tragedy.
Loss.
Love.
Danger. Excitement. Controversy.
[man 3] In the case of Schumacher,
he was found guilty.
[in German] I don't understand
what's going on here.
[man 3 in English] He has been banned
for two races.
[fan] They're screwing him over.
They don't want him to win.
It was a sport defining season.
It changed Formula 1 forever.
We still talk about it today.
[Corinna] Michael knew my heart
was with him when he won.
But my heart was with him
when he lost too.
My heart is always with him.
That's how it is.
I think a lot of people
have a lot to say about him.
But not many know Michael the way I do.
[music fades]
[new wave music playing]
My mother was totally against it.
Yeah, that was funny.
He was always down at the go-kart track,
racing with all the other boys.
And Michael would just nudge them
out of the way and get through.
He would drive like. [tuts rhythmically]
And then
And it was always quite funny,
but my mother used to say,
"Just look at Schumacher".
"On their own go-kart track, anyone who
breaks the rules gets thrown out."
"Now he's throwing
the other drivers off the track."
My mother always said, "Oh, Schumacher".
[man] Not forget, at the time,
Michael was very young
and was an incredible talent.
New for Formula 1.
We are in the beginning
to climb the mountain.
And Corinna was there all the time.
And see these two people so in love
was fantastic, you know.
I mean, we were twenty one.
What do you do when you're twenty one?
[camera shutter clicking]
["Common People" by Pulp playing"]
[photographer] Michael, on the right!
She came from Greece
She had a thirst for knowledge
She studied sculpture
At Saint Martin's College
That's where I
Caught her eye
She told me that her Dad was loaded
I said, in that case
I'll have rum and Coca-Cola
She said fine
And then in thirty seconds time
She said
[man] Before that I'd covered tennis,
football and boxing.
Then you arrive in Formula 1 and realise
there's a reason they call it the circus.
[Ebel] Michael,
this is Ayrton Senna's home race.
150,000 Brazilians
will be cheering him on,
he's the clear favourite.
But I think he'll have his work cut out.
Are you confident for tomorrow?
[in German] The car was faultless today.
We're well prepared for tomorrow's race,
so I think we've got a very good chance.
[Ebel in English] My first impression was,
"So this is the superstar,
Michael Schumacher."
"And you know what?
He speaks the same dialect as I do."
["Common People" continues]
[commentator] Welcome to
the sweltering heat of So Paulo, Brazil
for the opening race
of the Formula 1 season.
And driving for Team Benetton,
Germany's rising star, Michael Schumacher.
[Ebel] Michael had
this presence about him.
This sense of, "I'm here for a reason,
and I mean business".
He had so much self-belief.
At least that's how he came across
to me at the time.
"One day I'll win races here,
and one day I'll be World Champion."
[pensive music playing]
[Michael in German] I think
a lot of people dream of becoming
a Formula 1 driver.
And for me, it was a dream come true.
My goal is to one day be at the top.
And that's what I'm working towards.
[Ebel] In 1994, it was obvious
that we were in for the most exciting
Formula 1 season in years.
The great champion, Ayrton Senna,
against the young upstart,
Michael Schumacher.
It was going to be a real battle
and everyone thought
it would go all the way to the final race.
[Senna] Clearly,
Michael is driving very well.
And I'm sure it's going to be a long year.
A long championship.
Um, with a good fight, uh, with Benetton.
[fans cheering]
STEP ON IT, AYRTON!
Senna was Schumacher's idol.
I mean, insofar as he had any.
There's not really been another driver
before or since, like Ayrton Senna.
[serious music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] And here comes
the young Schumacher onto the grid.
He will start the opening race
from the front row, alongside Senna.
And I think everyone could sense that this
was going to be the great new rivalry.
[crowd cheering]
And one of the problems that happened
in the first years of Schumacher's career
was that Senna didn't show respect
to Michael.
-[dull thuds]
-[music fades out]
That was a problem for him.
He knew that he was as good as Senna.
And he wanted to prove it to him.
[engines revving]
[rock music playing]
[announcer] Please clear the grid.
Please now clear the grid.
[rock music ends]
[commentator 1]
Alesi overtakes Schumacher.
Senna leads.
Alesi, then Schumacher, then Hill,
then Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
[commentator 2] Schumacher in third place.
He needs to stay on the back
of Alesi's Ferrari.
[commentator 3] 70 laps to go
at the end of this one,
and it has started on a charge.
[tense music playing]
Now comes the attack
from Michael Schumacher.
And he's through into second place.
Schumacher is now
just four seconds behind Senna.
Michael as a driver,
it begins and ends with his speed.
He had tremendous feel for a race car.
And the feel came from
his days as a boy driving karts.
He could feel the movement of of a car.
It's like a dance.
It's a delicate balancing act.
[commentator 1] Schumacher has closed
to within one point five seconds of Senna.
[man] As the race begins to unfold
in Brazil,
it's clear that Williams
and Senna are very fast.
But so is the Benetton.
It seemed to me
that the difference would come
when we got to the pit stops.
[tense music continues]
[commentator 1] The race leaders
enter the pit at the same time.
[Matchett] I could see the cars
coming down the pit lane.
[commentator] Senna pulls in,
followed by Schumacher.
[Matchett] Be fast,
be fast, be safe, be fast.
[commentator 1] It's neck and neck.
Who will have the better pit stop?
[engine revving]
[commentator 2] And Schumacher is out
ahead of Ayrton Senna
[commentator 1] Schumacher rejoins
the race ahead of Senna.
He's taken the lead
in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Lap twenty one,
and Michael Schumacher is in front.
[commentator 2] Unbelievable!
At that point,
I think Williams were aware,
certainly we were aware,
we are a definite threat
to Williams Grand Prix Engineering.
-[commentator 2] That That is Senna!
-[commentator 3] It's incredible!
[commentator 2] Goodness, Ayrton Senna.
[commentator 1] Senna has stopped
and is out of the race.
No points for the Brazilian.
Victory for Schumacher in Brazil.
Ten championship points,
and Germany goes wild.
[commentator 2]
No points for Ayrton Senna.
Michael's screaming.
[chuckles] He's He just can't believe it.
He knows now
that this is the start of something big.
I think I understood then, that actually
that first race of the season,
that's the one that sets your mind.
If you win that first race,
it means everything.
[Weber] Of course it was surprising.
It was unbelievable.
Just imagine it.
This young guy from Kerpen comes along,
leaves everyone in the dust
and wins a Formula 1 race.
Those things just
didn't happen.
-[national anthem playing]
-[crowd applauding]
[Briatore] Benetton was a fantastic team.
If you want, a revolutionary team,
because it was done by very young people,
young engineering
uh, very low budget.
And was the first time
somebody breaking the system.
Before, the championship has been
Tyrrell, Brabham, McLaren, Ferrari.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And we arrive, and we blow up everybody.
So the people was not happy.
I was happy. Michael was happy.
And [chuckles]
we don't give a shit
what the people thinking about.
[funky pop music playing]
Benetton? Who are these
They're a knitwear company from Italy,
aren't they?
What are they doing in Formula 1?
Moreover, why are they so quick?
We were just doing things differently.
I think the other teams
didn't really respect what Benetton was
and the way we went racing
because we were a bit light-hearted.
We weren't the sort of corporate thing
that McLaren were, for example.
And we weren't the traditional thing
that Williams were.
We We were different.
We were the newcomers.
They came in as the newcomers,
as the underdogs.
With their T-shirts. And that was great.
That was my first team.
We were a happy team, you know?
Rock and roll.
And Michael was really
part of the family.
He had two family,
and Corinna was there all the time.
She was part of the team, Corinna.
Uh, she was wearing the gear of the team.
She was really a team player as well.
I'm from Schwalmtal.
I'd never even been as far as Frankfurt.
Then all of a sudden, I was in Mexico.
And in Acapulco.
And so on and so forth.
And then to do it with someone you love,
that's wonderful, of course.
When you're young and suddenly
you get to travel the world like that,
it's amazing.
And once you get into that rhythm,
you're living from race to race.
We always used to say, "On to Monza".
"On to Spa."
[engine revving]
"On to Budapest."
That was the little world we lived in.
To really understand it,
you have to be passionate about it.
You have to live and breathe it.
And then it works.
You see Corinna arrive, Michael arrive.
You see Michael arrive, Corinna arrive.
All together, all the race together.
Corinna was a big supporter of Michael.
[woman] They were dropped into
a totally different world.
You know, to turn up at Formula 1,
even in those days,
it was a bit mind-blowing, really.
I felt like protecting them both,
really, you know
Corinna was shy.
She was lovely and homely and
normal. [chuckles] Yeah.
Stu and Di.
I still remember them.
They were really good cooks.
You could always retreat there,
and they were a bit like family.
I enjoyed being on that bus.
It was like camping.
I'd wait downstairs on the bus.
Or upstairs.
From the front, you could look
directly down over the paddock.
[crowd chattering
[dynamic synth music playing]
In those first few years,
Formula 1 was a world of wonder to me.
An absolute world of wonder.
There were so many people buzzing around.
It was all incredibly hectic.
But at the same time there was
a certain calm and confidence.
Because everyone knew what they were doing
and were in sync with each other.
It's not just twenty idiots
driving around in circles.
It's exceptional athletes competing
at the highest level in their sport.
And engineers showing their craft
out on the track.
And it was wonderful.
I can picture Michael now
at my kitchen door
with his bag on his back.
"I'm your new driver."
"Okay, come on in." You know?
I think he was totally bemused
by it all as well, really.
It happened so quickly for him.
I think he realised
he was quite a good driver,
but he hadn't quite got into
the thoughts that he was
a really top dog, you know?
[pensive music playing]
[Symonds] Michael was a very calm person,
a very logical person.
I often thought
he'd actually be quite a good engineer.
Just he had that sort of mindset.
But when the visor comes down,
a different part of the brain engages.
There's no doubt about it.
When the helmet's on
and the seat belts are tight,
he's a racer.
[pensive music continues]
[Wasser] A quick explanation
for anyone new to Formula 1.
Qualifying is all about setting
the fastest lap
to secure a place
at the front of the grid.
He's picked up
right where he left off in Brazil.
Schumacher sets the fastest lap
on Friday in Aida.
I can't believe it.
I wasn't into motorsport
before I met Michael.
It never really interested me.
My father once said to me,
"Would you like to go
to a Formula 1 race sometime?"
I said, "Oh no,
why would I want to do that?"
I only got into motorsport
because of Michael.
He helped me understand it.
Once you really start watching it,
and you see the technology
and everything that goes into it,
it's actually great fun.
[Wasser] But in the end,
someone else was faster than Schumacher.
Ayrton Senna raced around the track
at top speed and stopped the clock
two tenths of a second faster
than Schumacher.
It's the Brazilian's sixty-forth
career pole position.
[Michael] And suddenly in qualifying,
Senna was ahead and I thought, "Shit".
I was I was a bit hopeless
at this moment because
because we we tried so many things,
but we we we didn't seem to
to achieve something.
[Symonds] Michael lived for the moment.
"Friday qualifying,
I want to be quickest."
"Second practice on Saturday,
I want to be quickest."
He lived for the moment.
I think those of us
who perhaps were a bit more mature
and had been racing
a little bit differently.
We knew that the only thing
that really mattered was Sunday.
[Corinna] You're under pressure.
You have to do so much for your team.
He knew I'd be there for him,
even when he wasn't the fastest.
And I think that's exactly the point.
You know there's someone
who's there for you unconditionally,
whether you're performing
or going through a tough time.
That's what's really important.
You need someone who supports you.
Through the good times and the bad.
And so we'd quickly go to the hotel
and get into the bath.
That's where I told him all the news.
I wasn't so bold
as to go into the other teams' garages.
But when I was standing outside,
I'd sometimes have a look and think
"What's he doing there?"
I think everyone does that.
I didn't understand everything,
but I'd tell him whatever I saw.
["Rush" by Paula Abdul playing]
[Corinna] That was our song.
So if I happen to hear it on the radio,
or somewhere,
I always think, "Oh, how lovely."
And if I'm driving, I usually tear up
because I find it so beautiful.
But that's just the way it is.
Rush, rush
Hurry, hurry, lover
Come to me
Rush, rush
I can feel it
I can feel you all through me
Rush, rush
Ooh, what you do to me
Rush, rush
[song fades out]
[Wasser] Konnichiwa,
and welcome to Aida, Japan.
Once again, it's Ayrton Senna's car
number two in pole position,
which means he'll be starting
from the front of the grid.
Next to him is Schumacher.
And that's good news for the German fans.
The race is about to begin.
[tense music playing]
[commentator] And it is go.
And straight into the lead
goes Schumacher.
Olivier Panis has stopped
and a spinner there.
That is Senna!
Senna, and he's rammed!
Rammed by Larini!
[Wasser] Ayrton Senna has retired.
He's out of the Pacific Grand Prix
in Aida.
[commentator] My goodness, the drama
is starting right at the beginning.
And Michael Schumacher leads.
[Wasser] What a surprise.
Two races into the new season,
and young Michael Schumacher leads
the World Championship with twenty points.
[commentator] Schumacher wins
the Pacific Grand Prix for Benetton Ford.
[crowd cheering]
[pensive music rises]
[Symonds] This is a very interesting
time uh, of the season.
And one that is,
I think, very misreported.
[Allen] Aida was where the problems
really started to emerge
around whether or not there were
some issues with the Benetton car.
Senna was convinced
there was something not right
about the way
that Schumacher's car sounded
when he was standing
by the side of the track.
[camera shutter clicks]
[Matchett] Senna finds himself
at the side of the track
and becomes convinced in his own mind
that he's hearing something
that resembles to him traction control,
and this would worry him.
[engines roaring]
[Allen] What traction control does,
is it cuts the cylinders at certain times
to reduce the wheel spin
of the rear wheels.
So you always have perfect grip,
and you can hear that.
I mean, firstly,
Benetton didn't have traction control.
And secondly, if it did have,
he couldn't have heard it.
[Weber] He made the claim afterwards.
That there was something
not right about the Benetton.
That it had traction control.
Yes, it was true. But the traction control
was sitting in the car.
And his name was Schumacher.
All this suspicion, you know?
Cheating, no cheating.
Because Formula 1 is quite simple. If the
the big team is winning, no problem.
If the new entry is winning,
it's cheating.
You know, it's always like this.
[Allen] I think because of the way that
Benetton had come suddenly to the top,
there was always a bit of suspicion
about how they had done that.
People were prepared
Some people were prepared to believe
that there was something strange
going on with that car.
[announcer speaking in Japanese]
[crowd applauding]
I don't think that Senna and Michael
were ever going to be the best of friends.
I think there was a grudging respect.
You know, it's like they say,
you shouldn't meet your heroes.
Well, maybe it's a little bit like that.
[Corinna] They all realised
straight away that Michael
might be more capable than the others.
And they weren't too happy about that
because it creates problems.
[reporter] You have to ask, 20 points,
that's a comfortable lead, isn't it?
[in German] Well, it's not uncomfortable.
I'm definitely happy with it.
But even so, it's completely
unrealistic at the moment
to be talking about
the World Championship or anything.
One thing's for sure,
we won the first two races.
Those are in the bag.
No one can take them away from us.
The joy, the points.
And that is, of course, fantastic.
[in English] In Japan, he came flying
across the finish line in first place.
He's the most sought-after man
in the Formula 1 circus.
He's our Formula 1 ace,
Michael Schumacher!
-[rock music playing]
-[audience appluse]
Michael Schumacher.
You're third
in the World Championship standings.
-For now.
-For now.
-Michael Schumacher.
-Good evening.
[presenter] Michael Schumacher!
Does your girlfriend like when you come
home with that manly smell of fuel?
[in German] The smell of fuel is
always masked by the smell of champagne.
Because I always pour champagne
over my head after the race.
[in English]
Has success gone to your head?
What you've told us would normally take
ten years to achieve but you're only 23.
It's happened so fast.
Whenever he did an interview,
he'd always say, "I want to watch it".
Because back then, he still spoke
with a bit of a Cologne accent.
Honestly, why not spray each othe
with water and drink the champagne?
Because afterwards I'd be drunk.
And then I'd have a problem.
And then he just kept practising
the way he spoke.
Even though, for him,
that wasn't really motorsport.
But he knew it came with it.
It was just incredible, because you could
really see the excitement building.
"Yesterday was amazing.
It was incredible watching him drive."
"Is he really nice?
And what about Corinna? What's she like?"
The interest soared.
People wanted to know more,
if he'd been to Carnival
or to an opening somewhere.
Everything was broadcast.
And suddenly, Germany, the nation of cars
had arrived.
[Crowd singing
"Schumi Gib Gummi" by Klaus & Klaus]
Without me,
there would be no Michael Schumacher.
I have to say that.
I paid for everything.
Willi, and no one else.
[Allen] Ugh, Willi, what a character.
He was almost like a central casting.
You know. Had decided
they wanted a German manager
for the first German great driver.
You'd get a guy
that looked like Willi Weber.
[Weber] I had the leading team
in Formula Three.
So I was always on the lookout
for fast young drivers.
-[man] Michael is fourth!
-[woman] Yes!
I could see he could overtake people.
But that wasn't what impressed me.
It was the way that he handled the car.
[pensive music playing]
You could clearly see the magic
he was working out there on the track.
His control over the car.
It completely convinced me.
So I sent for him. And he came.
I'd never seen him before.
Only in a helmet.
Never in the flesh.
And I was taken aback.
There was a kid standing in front of me.
He was nothing like the image
I'd formed of him from watching him race.
Nothing at all.
He had this fuzz on his upper lip
that didn't suit him at all.
I looked at him and said,
"You're Schumacher?" And he said, "Yes".
And I thought, "Well, okay, here he is".
That's when it all started.
We agreed on everything
almost straight away.
I think if he'd had the money,
he'd have offered to pay me
just for the chance to drive.
[bustling commotion]
[Corinna]
Michael didn't want to be famous.
All he really wanted to do was race.
But, of course,
it comes with all the other stuff.
And when you're successful,
one thing leads to another.
[Michael] I think many people
dream of becoming
a Formula 1 driver.
And a big dream came true for me.
But, as it is in life,
everything has its ups and downs.
Sometimes I have to shut myself off a bit.
And sometimes I have to put
on a different face.
Which means Michael Schumacher the driver
isn't always Schumacher in private.
I have to protect myself.
He said back then
that he had to leave Kerpen.
Sometimes, he'd be sitting in the garden,
having a barbecue
and then suddenly there would be visitors
who'd climbed over the fence.
They wanted to have a barbecue
and a drink with him.
You always said that Michael Schumacher
wanted to stay normal.
Now your life is anything but normal.
You've also moved away from Kerpen,
and now live in Monte Carlo.
Do you have to do unusual things
to be able to live a normal life?
At the time, 18 of the 20 drivers
lived in Monaco. So Michael moved too.
[Corinna] For me, it was a big deal,
because I didn't really want to leave.
I mean
If you'd told me back then I'd be overseas
so much, I'd have said,
"No way. I'm staying here".
["Je t'aime moi non plus"
by Serge Gainsbourg playing]
[Corinna] Later on he started getting
lots of fan mail and everything.
There was this one girl
who would always send him underwear.
And it was quite funny, really.
Her name was Jutta.
DEAR MICHAEL
I'd say, "What's with her?"
"Why's she sending you underwear
and all this other stuff?"
And any time something came up,
he'd go, "Oh, come on, Jutta".
That was his running joke.
Jutta was somehow always there,
even though I'd never met her.
She'd only ever written letters.
Yeah, she was a constant.
Best regards to Jutta.
[chuckles]
[song ends]
-[engines revving]
-[horns honking]
[crowd cheering]
[indistinct shouting]
[Ebel] The first thing that struck me
about Formula 1 was the noise.
It really blew you away.
It turned out to be useful too.
Once I was covering Imola
with my colleague Heiko Wasser.
But we couldn't find the track.
Back then, the road signs weren't what
they are today, and there was no Google.
So we rolled down the windows.
-[horns honking]
-[cheering]
Then we followed the noise
and found the track.
["Tarzan Boy" by Baltimora playing]
We were all pretty excited
because it was the first weekend
RTL had a roaming camera.
My friend Kai Ebel
was the one carrying it around,
doing interviews during the races.
Kai and I talked everything through.
Were we going to keep it serious?
Or loosen things up a bit?
[Ebel] Imola is an absolute classic.
A must-have. The home of Ferrari.
You go into it full of excitement.
Then I put my headset on and go live.
I thought, "Now I can crack a few jokes,
grab a cappuccino, and really show people
what's going on here".
[indistinct chatter]
[Corinna] When you're going through there,
you're trying to move
as quickly as you can.
Michael always walked incredibly fast.
So I wore flat shoes whenever I could,
just so I could keep up with him.
I'd usually step to one side
because I knew all the photographers
would be taking pictures of him.
So you'd hurry through the paddock
and then disappear into your "catacombs".
Your bus or your tent.
And then you just hope the race goes well.
-[horns honking]
-[engines revving]
[Ebel] Friday was all still very positive,
really euphoric.
We did the check, and the director asked,
"Can you hear me? Are you there?"
The first sessions
are really a rehearsal for us.
Is everything working?
Are the comms working?
We weren't on air yet.
We knew it all started the next day.
-[reporter] Testing 1, 2, 3, 4.
-[commentator] Yes, no problem, Fritz.
And we're back on air
with the first qualifying session for the
San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy.
Jochen, can you hear me?
[Jochen] I can hear you, Fritz.
[commentator] Entry to the pit straight
is slippery. They're all sliding around.
He went round that
like he was in a go-kart.
And Senna is now faster than Schumacher
by 134 thousandths.
Right now, we're seeing excellent laps.
Michael Schumacher.
Oh, nice. Nice drift.
[Wasser] And here comes Barrichello
on a good lap.
A really bad crash!
[sirens blaring]
Oh my God.
Something terrible has happened.
[Wasser] That's Rubens Barrichello's car,
the Brazilian
driving for Eddie Jordan's team.
[Ebel] I could see it on my monitor.
The crash looked very dramatic.
[commentator] That was a serious accident.
[helicopter whirring]
[siren blaring]
[commentator] Red flag, of course.
The session's been stopped.
[reporter 1] Ayrton, you've seen Rubens?
He's all right. He's shocked,
of course, but he's all right.
[reporter 2] He's okay.
He's got some damage to his face.
He was unconscious, initially,
when they got to him in the car
and he'd swallowed some blood
so they put some tubes down to clear that
and to help him breathe.
[in German] I hope he's okay,
but maybe you know more?
[Ebel] He has facial injuries
and a few cuts.
He had to be put on a ventilator
because he was unconscious.
But we're hearing he's doing better.
He's now in hospital for futher checks.
Tomorrow will be better.
[indistinct chatter]
[pensive music playing]
I was always nervous when he was racing.
But I wasn't worried about him.
The only thing I really worried about
was something going wrong with the car.
I never thought
anything would happen to him.
Looking back, that whole Imola weekend
feels like a bad dream.
[indistinct chatter]
The feeling that the Imola weekend
was somehow cursed
began really on the Friday
when Rubens Barrichello crashed
very heavily in the Jordan.
Everybody was a bit unsettled
by that accident
and then that is exacerbated on Saturday
when we're experiencing something
we haven't experienced
for a very, very long time.
[Wasser] This is Roland Ratzenberger
in his first season.
The man from Austria.
[loud thudding]
[music becomes sombre]
[commentator] The second serious accident
of the weekend. That's not good.
Here is a guy, we see it on television,
he's getting CPR.
I've never seen that before.
It was clear to all of us
that it wasn't going to end well.
The impact was too severe.
It was too head-on and too violent.
You could see right away
that he wasn't moving.
Everyone was quiet. It was very quiet.
The drivers think they're invincible.
Yes, there can be an accident.
"It's not going to happen to me."
"It's going to happen to someone else.
If it does happen, I'll be all right."
But then suddenly, yeah,
that thought is shattered
and it's hard to come to terms with
then getting back in the car
and realising that you might be next.
[Corinna] Everyone was in shock.
That was the first time it really hit home
that something like this could happen.
At first, you never think it's something
that you have to worry about.
You know it can be risky.
Sure, but
I think when you're that young, you never
think anything's going to happen to you.
It's strange.
That was the first time we thought,
"Wow this actually is dangerous".
You tended to push it
to the back of your mind.
That was the first time
that I find myself shaking after accident.
I felt sick. I felt
I went in the motorhome
and I was shaking all over my body.
And then
then the difficult situation was coming.
To say, you're going to drive,
or not going to drive
[Corinna] I know there was a discussion.
I would have preferred them
to cancel the race.
And I don't think
Ayrton wanted to race either.
I think he felt something was wrong.
He said,
"Something's not right,
we shouldn't be racing".
Michael felt the same. He said,
"Yeah, we shouldn't race".
But if they decide to race,
then you have to do it.
You're under an obligation, in a way.
You don't really have a choice.
[Ebel] We're here with Bernie Ecclestone,
"Mr. Formula 1", the FOCA president.
Bernie, there are some reactions,
of course, of the drivers.
Some drivers say probably
Imola is becoming too quick for Formula 1
and the cars in Imola
are probably too dangerous to drive.
What do you say?
Rubbish. It's complete nonsense.
This was an unfortunate set
of circumstances.
Which most When these fatalities happen
is is normally what happens. You know?
It's never as clear-cut as it looks.
[sombre music rises]
[Allen] I find myself
in Bernie Ecclestone's motorhome.
And drivers are coming in and out
because a lot of people are unsettled
by what's happened with Ratzenberger.
But there's no question in Bernie's mind
that the show must go on.
It was a strange weekend.
[Wasser] Not easy to focus on the race
after everything that's happened.
But the fans are looking forward
to the event in Imola.
And Ayrton Senna has to deliver.
After two retirements,
he's yet to score a point.
A lot of pressure on the Brazilian.
[music becomes pensive]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[engine roaring]
It's clear to me that Senna is really,
really unsettled.
He's really uncomfortable in his skin.
I've known him a few years
and I'd never seen him
remotely like that before.
He doesn't really want to to race.
He's having doubts
about whether or not he should race.
But he feels he has to race.
He feels compelled to race.
[commentator] So now,
with just seconds to go,
the grid is being cleared.
[announcer] Please clear the grid.
Please now clear the grid.
[Wasser] We're ready for the start
here in Imola, the first of 61 laps.
[commentator] The green flag is showing.
They're ready to go.
Bruynseraede can press the button.
Now!
And Senna boils away.
Schumacher second, Berger third.
You know, it's like
a never-ending nightmare now.
[Wasser] This is unbelievable.
There's been another crash.
That's the Benetton,
it must be JJ Lehto's car.
And also Pedro Lamy in the Lotus.
We should not have been racing
that weekend.
I've got no idea
that things are going to get worse.
[commentator] You hear
the engine revs rise,
and the San Marino Grand Prix is go again.
[music becomes energetic]
[Wasser] And Schumacher's catching up,
getting closer. You're thinking,
"Where will be his chance to overtake?"
[commentator] Senna,
followed by Schumacher.
[music intensifies]
[music building]
[music steadies]
[commentator] Senna! My goodness!
[Ebel] Senna is off, he's out of the race!
Senna, a serious accident.
[commentator] He's still in the car.
His head's moved. I think I just saw
his head move a little bit then.
The race has been stopped.
The red flag is out.
[Wasser] Michael Schumacher
has also got out, and he's visibly shaken.
[commentator] Michael Schumacher
has stopped and got out of his car.
Helmet off, grim-faced.
And all is quiet at the Imola circuit.
The crowd has been stunned into silence.
[siren blaring]
[Allen] It's rare in life
that you find yourself in a situation,
especially with lots of other people,
where things feel out of control.
Out of control in the sense that
there are forces at play
that are greater than you are.
Something cursed is happening here.
[indistinct reporting]
[commentator] There's no more information
coming from the FIA press office
and, uh, the press centre
at the circuit here.
They're not going to give any information
on Ayrton's condition
until they know it's official.
At the moment,
if we look at the starting grid
the cars are being readied for a restart.
But really, it shouldn't go ahead.
That's also the opinion of Corinna,
Michael Schumacher's girlfriend.
She came up to me just now
with tears in her eyes and said,
"This is madness".
"They shouldn't be racing here!"
[engines revving]
[commentator] Ayrton Senna
is being stretchered away as I talk.
Still unconscious, but, uh,
Senna is, as I speak to you,
being put into the helicopter.
[music becomes suspenseful]
[engines revving]
[man] I have a statement in my hand
on the condition of Ayrton Senna.
And the statement is that Ayrton Senna
suffered severe head injuries
which produced a deep coma.
and the electrical brain test
shows brain death.
[music becomes pensive]
Yeah.
[no audible sounds]
[Symonds] Winning that race meant nothing.
[Briatore] We cancelled all the party,
the podium,
champagne, and this and that,
we cancelled everything.
[Di Spires] Michael was obviously
very distressed.
And he said,
"I don't know what happened to him".
We were actually crying in the kitchen.
He said,
"I don't want to do this anymore".
I can remember him saying that.
Whether he can remember saying it,
I don't know, but he said,
"I don't want to do this".
"Why? Why did that happen to Ayrton?"
He was really touched
about this situation, about, uh, Ayrton.
[Di Spires] He was beside himself.
Everything just was
went into slow motion in a way afterwards.
The The paddock was just silent.
I'll never forget the way
he came into the motorhome
and sat down on the steps and cried.
He was completely distraught.
He was beside himself.
No one could calm him down.
He told me, quite honestly,
that he was thinking about
whether he'd even race again
in the next Grand Prix.
But the worst
was really the two weeks after this.
Once I really have have to
had to accept that it is
That he is dead. I mean, this
This was
just something crazy.
[interviewer] Was it easy to
to drive again?
No.
I mean In Silverstone, I went there and
You suddenly saw many things
with different eyes.
I went around with a road car
in Silverstone through the circuit
and I just thought,
"This is a point you could be dead".
"This is a point you could be dead."
And I thought, "Crazy.
You always tested here,
you always raced here,
but there are so many points
you can crash
and you can be immediately dead".
That's the only thing I was thinking of.
But when I went then in the car,
fortunately, I I seemed to to
to be in
in this immediately and drive it,
not not thinking
anything of this any more.
You know where your limit is,
but sometimes you try to push your limit.
And in this moment,
I certainly didn't do this.
I knew my limit and I drove in my limit
and I didn't try anything.
But I had to find out
if this limit I used to know
is still a quick limit or if not.
I mean, at the time, people thought
I'm I'm completely cold
and, uh, have no emotions.
I got back in the car and drive.
But, I never express, I mean,
I don't express my feelings when I win,
and I don't express on the other side.
I'm I'm just that type of person.
But people that know me,
they know what I am feeling.
But he never actually said to me,
"I don't know if I can still do this".
[woman] Do you think
he was protecting you?
I think so.
Because for the people watching,
it's often even harder than it is
for the ones that are out there doing it.
[birds tweeting]
So we had this bench where we'd always sit
whenever anything happened.
That's where we'd talk things through.
It was important to us not to end up
snapping at each other or anything.
We never really did though, because
At the beginning,
when I got louder, he got quieter.
And that was really clever.
There's strength in staying calm.
I thought, "He's handling this well".
Because when he'd get quiet and say,
"Can we talk normally now?"
I'd say, "Yes, we can".
And just like that,
he'd bring me back down.
Honestly, if I'd said,
"I don't want you to race".
You can't stop a real racer from driving.
I wouldn't have stood a chance.
If someone else had taken that path
and wasn't like Michael,
I wouldn't have gone along with it.
I only have one life.
And I'd only share that with someone
I knew 100% was worth it.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have done it.
Not for God,
not for money, not for kind words.
None of that mattered to me.
If you're with someone that
you look forward to seeing every day,
that's something special.
And that's how it was.
[Allen] Michael chose
not to attend Senna's funeral.
Some drivers did, some drivers didn't.
There was a feeling perhaps, that
he wouldn't be welcome,
but I don't know
whether that was true or not.
But I think Michael's decision not to go
also speaks to this side of him,
which is that he understands
that he has emotions in him
that he can't necessarily always control.
[indistinct announcement]
He's a very sensitive person.
But he had to build a protective,
hard shell around himself.
And Michael's overriding feeling was
that he must not ever allow
his weaknesses to be seen.
[Corinna] Sometimes you can't go on,
and you have to give up.
But I think one thing
makes all the difference
and that's your mindset.
Michael was good at focusing on one thing
and shutting everything else out.
He was a master at that.
When he was focused,
he was completely in the zone.
And I think that helped him.
[Michael] I was empty. Empty.
Didn't know what to think,
didn't know what to feel.
I was happy about the the
my own achievement,
but Senna was not there,
so it was not the same.
[crowd cheering]
[Wasser] That's Schumacher's sixth win
of the season already.
Right now, Michael is driving like
he's from another planet.
After all the devastating things
that had happened,
there was finally some light again.
And you felt good because
you'd achieved something positive.
That was a nice feeling.
after that difficult time.
[Wasser] The championship seems
almost decided.
Who can stop Schumacher and Benetton?
The fact was, Benetton
and Michael Schumacher were so dominant
that people started asking,
"How are they doing this?"
If someone wins all the time,
you start looking.
Why's he suddenly so fast? What's he done?
[journalist] Your reaction, please,
to all this controversy over
Benetton has some sort of system
that is not legal.
There are rumours circulating
that you have been using
banned electronic systems.
In other words, traction control.
It's very easy to cast suspicions around
in Formula 1.
And the feeling was
that the Williams team, McLaren team
and Ferrari were part of that,
you know, to undermine Benetton.
I think Michael has made
one bad start all year.
I don't know
if they were using traction control.
I can't prove it.
Senna had already been saying,
two, or maybe three months before,
while he was still alive,
"I'm racing against an illegal car
that doesn't comply with the regulations".
There's been so many incidents
where people have interpreted
the regulations to suit their self
rather than what
the regulations were written for.
And traction control
was one of those things.
[Briatore] I feel that we have
everybody against us, you know?
Because if Benetton was winning
the world champion in Formula 1
that was downgrading everyone else
because Benetton was a T-Shirt maker.
So to have this group of people
winning a race
and trying to win the championship.
Nobody like it.
[reporter] Have some teams been cheating
in Formula 1 this season?
Well, we found in Benetton's software
an automatic start program.
But as far as we know,
it wasn't used this year.
[in German] I don't understand
what's going on here.
Because we can't do any more
than prove
that we're not using traction control.
I mean, I'm sorry.
All I can say is that the other teams
are apparently just jealous.
And they can't handle our success.
[Allen] They didn't need to actually prove
that they were using traction control,
because if you think about it,
they did all the damage
to Benetton and to Michael with suspicion.
For Michael, all of it was difficult
because it just wouldn't stop.
-[upbeat pop music playing]
-[crowd cheering]
[commentator]
Glorious weather at Silverstone,
the home of British Motor Racing.
This is what Britain has been waiting for.
[Ebel] Then at Silverstone,
the man he was up against was Damon Hill.
His rival was no longer Ayrton Senna.
Suddenly, it was Damon Hill,
an Englishman.
So Senna's passed away
and Formula 1 is left with a situation
where you have Michael Schumacher,
he needs a rival,
and Damon Hill steps up
to try and take on Michael
in the championship.
It's the old
"the Brit against the German."
-[pop music ends]
-[fanfare playing]
Silverstone was always difficult for us.
I mean the English, Damon
We were practically in the lion's den.
[fanfare ends]
[Allen] What started in Silverstone
was the beginning
of the competitive unravelling
of Michael Schumacher's championship.
And really, before going into Silverstone,
he had the world championship
pretty much exactly where he wanted it.
It was very unlikely that anyone
was going to be able to catch him
in the second half of the championship.
And really, it started
with a a stupid mistake,
really, on Michael's part.
He did something really quite trivial,
but actually it snowballed
into something really quite serious.
[announcer] Please clear the grid.
Please now clear the grid.
[pensive music playing]
[engines revving]
[Wasser] The formation lap gets underway.
Michael Schumacher immediately overtakes
pole-sitter Damon Hill.
Very unusual, you just don't do that.
[Matchett] During the formation lap,
Michael Schumacher momentarily overtook
Damon Hill's Williams.
"Why did he do that?"
We're all sitting there looking at this.
"What What's he doing?"
You know, you don't do this.
But Michael did it very obviously,
and to this day, I don't really know why.
I mean, to do it once is strange,
but to do it twice, is just out of order.
[Wasser] Schumacher overtakes Damon Hill
again on the formation lap.
A clear breach
of the Formula 1 regulations.
Everyone has to stay in their position.
How should I put it?
There are days when nothing goes right.
And it was one of those days.
And I'm 100% sure
that it traces back to Imola.
That something reminded him
or overwhelmed him.
Or didn't feel right.
From Imola on, Michael was different.
[tense music continues]
There was something inexplicable about it.
He knows exactly what he's doing.
He's not some beginner
who would overtake on the formation lap.
I mean, come on.
[scoffs]
[Wasser] We're just hearing
that Michael Schumacher
has been given a five-second penalty
for illegally overtaking
on the formation lap.
[Symonds] But where it really went wrong
was when the penalty was issued,
Flavio and the team decided
that this was incorrect
and they were going to argue it
with the stewards.
It was not correct.
It was completely wrong.
And so then, of course,
the whole house of cards comes down
and they send a black flag out.
[Wasser] Now let's see.
Here he comes around the corner
and there's the black flag. Definitely.
And it's for car number five.
That means Michael Schumacher
is out of the race.
A black flag in Formula 1 is the same
as a red card in a football match.
The player has to leave the field.
There's no argument. It has to happen.
And Michael doesn't do it.
He doesn't do it because
the team instructs him not to do it,
but it's still his decision.
[Ebel] And Michael just keeps driving,
and the team carries on
as if nothing's happened.
And we're thinking,
"Hey, they've told him to come in".
He says he didn't see the flag.
The mirror was fogged up or,
I don't know, maybe it was adjusted wrong,
he could only see birds.
The FIA, of course,
didn't find that very amusing.
It was the first time people said,
"My God, what kind of team is this?"
"And what kind of driver is that?"
We'll take him to task.
We need to punish him.
One of the problems Michael had
with '94 was that things he did,
he never got away with any of them.
whereas he always felt that
Senna had got away with a lot in the past
and other teams
were getting away with a lot in the past.
And yet somehow,
Benetton was always getting nailed
for every single little thing
that kept coming up.
That's what was really going on,
was trying to teach an upstart a lesson.
In the case of Schumacher,
he was found guilty
of ignoring the black flag.
He loses in any event,
his points from the British Grand Prix,
because having been shown the black flag,
he should have stopped
and that would have been
an end of his race.
In addition to that,
he has been banned for two races.
This was not a court, this was a dictator.
The dictator has decided
we are disqualified.
We are disqualified. Simple as that.
Everything in FIA was fabricated before.
No defence.
Whatever lawyer you have,
you have no defence.
[tense music continues]
[Corinna] They make the rules.
That's just how it was.
In the end, what can you say?
They suspended him.
It's tough when you get suspended.
When you realise
the sand's slipping through your fingers
and you can't hold onto it.
I think if you're going to punish them,
they need to know they've been punished.
People need to be careful
because they start to believe
they can walk on water.
And they drowned.
[tense music ends]
[in German] We're all obviously
very disappointed with the decision.
It's definitely
much harsher than I expected.
But we'll have to live with it.
And of course,
it's hard for the German fans
in Hockenheim.
Who were expecting me to race.
They'll certainly be very disappointed.
[quirky upbeat music playing]
[Ebel in English] People used to
go to Mallorca for their summer vacation.
Now they go camping
for two weeks at Hockenheim.
I'm not joking.
They spend their annual vacation there.
[laughing]
Isn't that wonderful?
-[reporter] Isn't it noisy by the highway?
-No.
We sleep well. We're used to it.
The kids have been coming
since they were three.
It's lovely. Beautiful.
[Wasser] Hockenheim is crazy every year.
[man] Sabi and Willi!
[Wasser] You could barely to the track
because there were thousands of people
at the entrance wanting autographs.
Taking photos and so on.
Then you get there
and it feels like Woodstock.
A whole makeshift Schumacher village
has sprung up.
Schumi is the greatest
Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Schumi is the greatest
Sha-la-la-la-la-la
[Wasser] Every tent is decorated
with Schumacher flags.
Every few metres,
there's a cardboard cutout of Schumacher.
Ohh, how beautiful it is!
[Wasser] Shower, kiddie pool,
it's unbelievable.
Yes, it's our Schumi.
[Corinna] I liked anyone
who liked Michael.
It just made sense to me.
I thought, "Yeah! That's great!"
"Now you've got it, exactly."
I had so much fun. I thought it was great.
[Weber] Everyone felt connected to him,
or like he was an old friend.
"Oh, I know him from way back."
"Oh, I know him really well."
That was Michael Schumacher.
-He was one of us.
-[music ends]
And another good thing is
that he's very normal around people.
-Yeah, I agree.
-I just like him.
He's a likeable guy. He's genuine.
And I hope he stays that way.
Ol, super Michael S!
Ol, super Michael S!
Ol, super Michael S!
German Formula 1 fans had been
looking forward
to a big day at Hockenheim.
Now the event could turn into a fiasco,
as their idol has been suspended
for two races.
They're trying to screw him over.
They don't want him to be world champion.
That's how I see it.
Mansell did it once too.
Ignored a black flag.
And only got a one-race ban.
And he gets two.
What can you say?
It's a disgrace!
Many German fans had built
some fairly big and impressive bonfires
around the circuit perimeter
and were threatening to set them afire
if Michael wasn't attending
the Grand Prix.
[Ebel] They've all come to Hockenheim
to see Michael Schumacher.
If he doesn't race, then what a letdown.
You just can't do that.
You know, if he's not racing Hockenheim,
we had the revolution of the people.
We had the people in the forest,
put the wood together in the forest.
Put the fire in the wood,
was a big casino.
The big question is.
"Will Schumacher race at Hockenheim
next weekend?"
He has been informed, as has his lawyers,
that if they lodge an appeal
before the German Grand Prix,
he can then race at the German Grand Prix,
and he can continue to race
with all the normal rights of a driver,
until the appeal is heard.
[reporter] Michael Schumacher's decision
to appeal the Paris ruling
and his two-race suspension
is not without risk.
The Benetton driver
can now race at Hockenheim.
But his appeal could result in
an even harsher penalty.
[Corinna] The expectations were
always there, especially at Hockenheim.
And Michael really wanted
to do something good for the fans.
They loved it.
And I don't think he wanted
to take that away from them.
Even if it meant risking
a harsher penalty later on.
Jubilation and relief in Hockenheim.
Local hero Michael Schumacher
will, after all,
race in the German Grand Prix on Sunday.
[fans chanting] Schumi! Schumi! Schumi!
Schumi! Schumi! Schumi! Schumi!
Oh, we got goosebumps right away.
Thank God. Hey, man!
He's driving for the fans.
He's putting his world championship title
on the line.
Just so he can drive for the fans.
You couldn't ask for more.
[pensive music playing]
[Michael in German] To be able to
experience this crowd, this sea of flags.
To feel this atmosphere
and to be able to give
something back to the people.
It's just fantastic.
[engines roaring]
[Ebel in English] And Katayama pulls away
a little early, and there's a collision.
[Wasser] And a McLaren goes flying off.
Just twelve of twenty-six cars
are left in the race.
An incredible development here.
[engine roaring]
[Matchett] I've never seen
anything like it.
That just waving ocean sea of flags.
Flares being set off by the fans
in the grandstands.
We didn't really need
the telemetry to see where Michael was.
You could just see the flares
were just following the car
around the track.
[commentator] Michael is on Berger's tail.
He wants to get past him.
He keeps probing
and he's in the slipstream.
He almost got alongside him earlier,
but it didn't work out.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Wasser] Pit stop for Michael's teammate,
that's Jos Verstappen.
Currently in fifth.
[indistinct shouting]
[Ebel] We have to get out,
the Benetton pit is on fire!
We have to leave.
[Matchett] I see this fire engulf the car,
engulf my teammates,
and suddenly notice
that my arms are on fire.
[music becomes pensive]
All of this is unfolding
in sort of click, click, click.
Absolute slow time in my own mind.
Everything was and everybody
was virtually engulfed in flames.
You could see people running around,
and, uh and it was chaos.
[Matchett] There were people trying to rip
their overalls off that were burning.
There were people calling out,
"Medic, medic!"
Absolute pandemonium.
Of course, while all this is unfolding,
Michael is still in the race.
[commentator 1] Schumacher trails Berger
by around twenty seconds
and they're lapping
at almost the same pace.
[engines roaring]
[commentator 2] Smoke
from Schumacher's car.
Yes, you can hear it clearly.
That doesn't sound healthy at all,
and that's the end for Michael.
Who would've thought it?
He's banging his helmet in frustration.
That's a shame.
He wanted to give the 150,000 fans here
and of course, everyone watching at home,
the first German victory
in a German Grand Prix.
Second-placed Michael Schumacher
enters the pits.
That's it for Michael Schumacher
at the German Grand Prix.
At his home race, of all places.
That's where this happens.
[Michael] The relationship I have
to the fans is something special.
I I like to give them something.
I like to give them something back.
I like to be positive for the people.
They come there to enjoy their weekend.
They come there to see their driver
winning the race or doing their best,
and they support me by doing that.
And that's something
I'm very thankful for,
and I want to give them
something back for that.
[Corinna] You're completely fired up.
You have to give it everything beforehand,
and then something like that happens,
the engine blows up,
and you think, "Oh God".
But Michael just said,
"This isn't going to change my mindset
or what we're trying to do".
"We're going to keep fighting."
So they all rolled up their sleeves
and carried on.
One of the many changes
that had been made to the cars
after Imola to try and slow them down
was what was colloquially known
as "the plank".
And the FIA brought in a regulation
that said that this plank,
which was 10 millimetres thick,
uh, shouldn't wear down
below nine millimetres.
And at the end of the race,
cars are inspected
in what's called scrutineering.
And of course,
one of the things they did this time
was to measure the plank,
and they found that
in an area it was under nine millimetres.
Now, during the race,
Michael had made a mistake
at one of the quicker corners.
[Wasser] And Michael Schumacher spins.
[Symonds] He'd gone over the kerbs
and that had put some gouges in the plank.
We were arguing, well, actually, you know,
that's what had worn the plank down.
[commentator] The Belgian Grand Prix.
And the string of scandals won't let up.
At his favourite track in Spa,
the German easily dominated the race.
But five hours later,
Schumacher was disqualified once again.
In some areas,
the wooden plank under his Benetton
was one point six millimetres too thin.
And you just think, "Oh, not again".
You know how
how can this still be happening to us?
[Matchett] We knew.
We knew beyond any doubt
that Michael had won that race
absolutely 100% fair and square.
And I remember him saying,
"This is such nonsense".
You only have to drive over something once
and that's it.
[commentator] Rival Damon Hill
takes the points for the win.
And the World Championship,
which had seemed all but certain,
is wide open again.
[man] Schumacher out!
[FIA rep] The stewards of the Belgian
Grand Prix have decided to inflict
a penalty on Mild Seven Benetton Ford
and the driver Michael Schumacher
of exclusion from the event.
That really upset me.
Because I thought it was so unfair.
Then the next day, the newspaper comes out
with "Cheating Schumi".
And they were so proud of themselves.
I thought it was so typical of us Germans.
We've got our hero, and then we start
tearing him down, looking for faults.
Of course it's difficult.
You're standing in front of him saying,
"Come on, Michael, you're so successful".
"So what's all this about?"
And then someone asks, "So, tell us,
how bad are things for you right now?"
With a smile.
And that's when he would clench his jaw.
When that happened
and you could see movement here,
when he'd clench his jaw,
then I knew things
were starting to get serious.
He said, "First of all, they always ask me
the same questions".
"Second, no matter what I do,
it's never right."
"So either I'm a robot, or I'm arrogant."
[reporter] What hasn't been written,
read, heard and seen
about Cheating Schumi.
[Corinna] Yes, it bothered him.
He was bothered, and who wouldn't be?
It was sometimes really intrusive.
And inconsiderate.
Sometimes Michael would say,
"You know what?"
"Let's not read anything for three days."
-[music ends]
-[camera shutters clicking]
[Allen] With all of these moments
happening around specific incidents,
whether it be the plank,
whether it be the refueling,
whether it be the traction control,
all these things
that are kind of chipping away
at Benetton and the team.
And Michael keeps finding himself
having to go to these formal FIA hearings
and put a tie on
and behave in a certain way.
All of which he absolutely hates.
Michael Schumacher and his team,
Benetton, versus the FIA.
The saga continued yesterday in Paris.
[reporter] Michael, you came into this
feeling quite optimistic.
After this, let's say, scandalous ruling,
your mood must be at rock bottom.
[in German] I don't want to talk about
my mood right now.
The point is that
a decision has been made.
And I have to accept it.
[reporter in English] If we deduct
the points and those from Belgium,
four out of sixteen races are gone.
[in German] That's a fact and that
And it looks like I'll have to try and win
the World Championship with twelve races.
[Allen in English] To find yourself
going from a situation
where you've got the World Championship
absolutely in your control
in the first half of the season,
to it being completely out of your control
and feeling like
it's being taken away from you,
is a really, really uncomfortable feeling
for Michael.
And something he has to
kind of wise up to and come to terms with.
He now realises he's part of a big game
and there are ways to play it,
and there are ways not to play it.
I mean, he was
he was a young guy from Kerpen
who had got himself to the top
of the tree in Formula 1
and had to deal with situations like this
without any of the tools
for dealing with them.
[pensive music playing]
[Michael] I'm a person who
who can't live with lies.
And what I have found out
this year, that
there are a lot of things like this around
and I'm I'm not really happy with this,
but that's life,
and either you get used to it
or you have a problem.
But I'm certainly disappointed.
Everybody, somebody is quick,
you think immediately he's cheating.
And I think that
shouldn't be the attitude.
[Symonds] I think that
Michael was actually seeing
the championship slipping away from him.
And he was seeing
this massive lead that he'd had
just being eroded and eroded and eroded.
I tried to relieve the tension
by telling him,
"We've still got many years ahead of us".
From what I remember,
it was, uh it was, for Michael
I mean, it was a dream
to win a championship.
I mean, it was
Michael wanted to be a world champion
when he was five years old.
[calm piano music playing]
[Corinna] Why does a kid,
because he didn't have enough money,
pull old tires out of the trash,
put them on, and drive with them?
That's really a character trait.
It was always about competing
with maybe less equipment
than everyone else.
So, really, you want to win. Sure.
But you also want to win the right way.
Because anything else
will be held against you.
Everything comes out in the end.
[music becomes pensive]
[Allen] Racing drivers
are a different breed.
They have this rage to compete.
Uh, It's like a fire, it's like a flame,
uh, that pushes them to do what they do.
Obviously, it's extremely difficult,
it's extremely dangerous,
but that's part of the attraction.
The more difficult something is,
the greater the satisfaction
that they get from it.
[Symonds] Your first championship,
I think, is probably the one
that's psychologically the most difficult.
It's a sort of, "I could win
the world championship".
"Am I going to be in this position
to do it again?"
And therefore, the pressure
of winning that first championship
or the pressure of maybe losing
that first championship,
must be immense.
[firework whizzing]
[Michael] The main important thing
is that you, you, you
That you have to have
the motivation yourself.
When When I had to find my motivation,
then, then it was, um, just for myself.
To To get myself out of the deepness
I have been in
and, um, and get very strong.
[Corinna] He used that time to train
because he wasn't allowed to race.
Four hours a day, sometimes four or five.
[commentator] Damon Hill wins
the Italian Grand Prix
and another race out
for Michael Schumacher.
[Wasser] Damon Hill,
he's done it, he's won.
And with that, there is just one point
between Hill and Schumacher
with 3 world championship races remaining.
[Ebel] You got a message for
your main opponent, Michael Schumacher?
Uh, yes, I have actually.
Michael, um,
come back as soon as possible.
But, uh
You know, we're missing you, believe me.
[Matchett] When Michael rejoined us
in Jerez in Spain,
he came back to us looking more refreshed.
Toned, leaner,
more eager to drive than ever before.
But what became apparent to me was,
once again,
more evidence of Michael's ability
to turn a potential negative
into a positive.
He was a master at motivating people
and inspiring them,
making everyone believe
that they could only do it together.
[Symonds] He was loved by the team.
And he was loved by the team
because he cared about the team.
He was a part of the team.
And very often, I think a lot of drivers
don't feel that they're part of the team.
They feel that
they are the important part.
[in German] Where are my guys?
[Symonds in English]
And of course that that level of care
just meant everything to those
who were working with him.
Because none of us
had worked with a driver
who had that sort of personality before.
Michael came back in the car after,
um to want to race.
And, uh He was a leader like usual.
He was a [chuckles]
He was really a leader.
He is born for race.
He's, uh
He want to win. He was a winner.
[Ebel] That was the story, of course.
The story was England versus Germany.
Good versus evil.
For the English media, it was brilliant.
[tense music playing]
[Wasser] "High Noon in Jerez", The Duel",
"The Full-Throttle Finale,"
"Psychological Warfare".
There has been no shortage of headlines
in the build-up to the third-to-last race
of the 1994 Formula 1 World Championship.
It hasn't been this exciting in years.
[commentator] Schumacher, beautiful start!
Schumacher looking absolutely unbeatable.
[overlapping excitable chatter]
[Wasser] Konnichiwa and welcome
to the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka.
Michael Schumacher could become
world champion today
if he scores at least five more points
than his great rival Damon Hill.
[Symonds] I think for the first time
that season, I saw Michael
I wouldn't go as far as say panicking.
But definitely his approach
was a little bit different.
His mindset was a little bit different.
He was concerned,
there's no doubt about it.
Damon had everything to play for.
Michael had everything to lose.
[announcer] Please clear the grid.
Please now clear the grid.
[Matchett] Suzuka in '94 turned into
just a catastrophe in terms of weather.
Rain, accidents on track
[Symonds] During the race,
I was having to talk to Michael a lot.
And I got the impression during that race
that Michael wasn't really with me.
And it's the first time
I'd ever felt that.
The normal, very calm, very calculating,
very understanding, very humane Michael
wasn't there that day.
And it was compounded
perhaps by the fact that
Damon actually drove
the race of his life that day.
[commentator] Damon Hill wins
the Japanese Grand Prix!
[Ebel] Then Hill wins, and suddenly
the championship is wide open.
You could see Damon Hill
growing more confident.
While Schumacher
was increasingly unsure of himself.
[fan] Michael!
Michael!
Michael!
[cheering and applause]
[pensive music playing]
[Briatore] We arrive in Australia,
it was the last race.
Last chance to be world champion.
And naturally, sure,
everybody has a lot of pressure.
I told Michael, "I'm sure Damon Hill
have the same pressure we have".
"It's not only us with the pressure."
[engines revving]
[music becomes suspenseful]
[Corinna] Michael had missed four races,
for one reason or another.
Naturally, that gave
the competition a boost.
But then you have to try
to turn it around again, that's the thing.
Either it works, or it doesn't.
It was a fifty-fifty chance.
It's more important to be there
when things aren't going well.
When everything's good,
it's nice if you're there.
But that's when you're not needed as much.
[Allen] It's something
Bernie Ecclestone would have dreamed of.
You've got a rivalry for the championship.
One point separating
Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill.
Australia.
We were really [sighs]
all so nervous.
[music becomes dramatic]
[music fades]
[siren blaring]
[pensive music playing]
[commentator] And that is the first time
in my memory
that anything like that has happened
as dramatically to Michael Schumacher
with the car being very badly damaged.
Major rebuild job for the Benetton team.
And of course, psychologically,
that is bound to affect Michael Schumacher
when he goes out tomorrow.
It is unusual for him to have an accident.
And I guess I'm thinking, you know,
"Is the pressure getting to him?"
But we all make mistakes.
Michael didn't make many of them.
All I'm feeling is,
"What have we got to do
to win this championship?"
We have a one point lead.
It's meaningless.
[music becomes sombre]
CITY OF KERPEN ERFT DISTRIC[Wasser] In the history
of German television,
I don't think so many Germans
had ever gathered in front of their TVs
that early in the morning.
I think it was five o'clock
or something in Germany.
[fan] Schumi is on at five.
So we don't miss it.
[crowd chanting] Schumi! Schumi! Schumi!
Schumi! Schumi!
[commentator] Decision day.
For the first time since 1986,
the Formula 1 world champion
will be decided
in the sixteenth and final race.
And with that,
welcome to the fifth continent.
Welcome to Adelaide, Australia.
[Corinna] The atmosphere was electric.
Who will win? Who will come out on top?
And the stars were aligned for Damon.
[Symonds] Adelaide in 1994 was probably
one of the most stressful races
I've ever been involved in.
As an engineer,
you understand mathematics.
You understand probabilities.
You understand that there are so many ways
things can go wrong
and that you can lose a championship.
You realize that the 15 races before
didn't count for anything.
This is a one race shootout.
[Wasser] Michael has to finish
ahead of Hill.
That's all that matters in this race.
He has to defend
his one-point lead over Hill.
He doesn't have to win.
He can finish fifth,
so long as Hill finishes sixth.
That's all that matters.
[fans whistle and boo]
[fans cheering]
-[dull thud]
-[air horns echoing]
[music fades out]
[suspenseful music playing]
[Symonds] I think the whole team
felt the pressure.
Mansell at the front, Michael next to him,
and in third place, Damon Hill.
-[rhythmic clapping]
-[cheering]
[commentator] Australia is go!
Damon Hill on the left, Schumacher leads.
Schumacher leads on the first corner.
[cheering]
[commentator 2] Michael is through!
Schumacher leads Mansell
and Hill has also passed Mansell.
[engine roaring]
[commenator 1] Damon Hill is closing
on Michael Schumacher,
no doubt about that.
[commentator 2] And you can see how close
Hill is behind Michael Schumacher.
The way they were lined up, driving
one behind the other the whole time.
Hill was actually quicker,
while Schumacher was defending.
You could tell Hill had the pace.
He was actually quicker.
[commentator 2] Michael is fighting.
He can't pull away from Hill,
which isn't a good sign.
[Matchett] We could not find an advantage
to help Michael.
The Williams car, Damon Hill,
were absolutely the same as us.
Everything we did.
They did.
[commentator 2] Michael
comes into the pits.
[commentator 1] What about Damon Hill?
Yes, they're coming in together.
This is terrific excitement!
[commentator 2] Now,
who will have the quicker pit stop?
[chanting]
[Wasser] Schumacher has to get out quick,
otherwise Hill takes the lead.
No, it works.
Schumacher comes out ahead,
but Hill is already back out as well.
[commentator 2] For several laps now,
Damon Hill has been
right on Michael Schumacher's tail.
[commentator 1] This is the battle
for the world championship.
[Ebel] Damon Hill keeps
closing in on Schumacher.
You're thinking,
"No, not now. Don't let him past".
[Symonds] It's that long straight.
He's got a very powerful engine.
Can we do it?
[engine accelerates]
[commentator 1] And there's trouble!
Schumacher is off!
Oh! Out goes Schumacher!
[commentator 2] Contact between
Schumacher and Hill, and Schumacher's out.
[commentator 1] The German is out
of the Australian Grand Prix.
[commentator 2] An incredible development!
Schumacher comes to a stop.
[sighs]
[commentator 1] Damon Hill only has
to keep going to be World Champion of 1994.
But can he keep going?
[Corinna] At that moment,
I saw Michael standing by the fence
and I felt sorry for everyone.
[commentator 1]
Damon obviously extremely worried.
The question is,
how long is it going to take them
to repair whatever damage there was?
You see, he's been in the pits
for about 16 seconds now.
[commentator 2]
An issue with the track rod,
with the wishbone.
If they're both out,
Michael Schumacher is World Champion.
[instinct shouting]
[tense music rises]
-[indistinct voices]
-[clattering]
[indistinct chatter]
[distant engine noise]
[music becomes pensive]
[Wasser] It doesn't look like
he'll be able to continue.
Damon Hill climbs out.
[commentator1] Damon Hill retires
from the Australian Grand Prix.
[excited cheering]
[music becomes positive]
[Wasser] Then you see someone
whisper something in his ear,
and he grabs his head.
He can hardly believe it.
And then he realises he's World Champion.
And so do we, up in the commentary box.
We're World Champions!
[commentator 1]
The 1994 World Championship
has been won by Michael Schumacher.
[applause]
[Corinna laughs]
Then it suddenly became so
Then you think, "This can't be real",
you can't believe it.
Everyone was so happy.
Everything became so light.
[rhythmic clapping]
[chanting] Schumi, Schumi!
In the end, you know
it was justice.
And, um, God was watching from
from the sky
and, uh, and, uh
helped us to be World Champion as well.
It was crazy.
It all seemed so far away
that you couldn't really believe it.
[Allen] It's funny, you know,
when you look at, uh, Michael
at the start of 1994
and you look at Michael at the end
and you see someone who,
although they don't look like
they visibly aged very much,
you can see in his eyes
a driver who's aged
probably five or ten years in one season.
Almost like a child
who's had his eyes kind of opened
to the realities of the world
and the brutal environment
that he he inhabits.
But at the same time, coming out on top.
If people still want to say,
"This was like this",
or, "That wasn't right".
Michael had twelve races
and the others had sixteen races.
That says it all.
He did a great job.
And, as we know,
there's a lot more to come
[triumphant music playing]
Michael Schumacher became
the most successful German driver
in F1 history.
He became a seven-time world champion.
[air horn honking]
[cheering]
[fans cheering]
1994 was the birth of the legend.
[enigmatic synth music playing]
[music ends]