Back in 1994, for the third time in six seasons, the Formula 1 World Championship was decided in controversial circumstances after a collision between the two title contenders in the final race.
This time it was Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher who had the coming together as Hill tried to pass Schumacher on the inside. Hill came off worst in the collision, thereby handing the title to Schumacher, the events being described as a racing incident with no further action to be taken.
Autosport’s 17 November 1994 issue went into the accident in trademark forensic detail, quoting Alain Prost, who had experience of similar encounters with Ayrton Senna in 1989 and 1990: “What Michael Schumacher did shows that he is a real driver, a racer. He did it instinctively, he closed the door. It is the only thing he could have done and he did it. It was an aggresive act of defensive driving.”
Schumacher dedicated the title to Ayrton Senna, killed at Imola early in the season, Senna’s team-mate Hill admitting that, “It was very difficult after Imola to enjoy being in a racing car. But time is a healer and given the last two races, when everything mattered, I felt that I’ve been able to drive to the maximum.”
You can find Autosport’s exhaustive end of season round up here.
