From GMM
Michael Schumacher has pointed the finger at his first formula one boss Eddie Jordan as he recalled his grand prix debut 20 years ago.
At Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, the seven time world champion is marking the passing of two decades since he burst onto the scene with Jordan.
It was a one-off event as Schumacher, then 22, was snapped up after Belgium by Benetton after qualifying in seventh place.
But his actual race lasted less than a lap when he retired with a broken clutch.
"The story is that we had problems in the warm-up," Schumacher, now racing with Mercedes, wrote in a celebratory column for Auto Motor und Sport.
"I pointed it out at the debriefing and we talked about whether we should change the clutch or not, but Eddie said that would cost too much money. Then it broke," added the German.
Schumacher also recalled how he and his then manager Willi Weber had stayed in a hostel that weekend.
"I remember I was surprised because I had thought 'Yes, I am now in formula one, the premier class'. I was not particularly bothered with the hostel except that it was cold and the heater didn't work," he said.
Weber had negotiated his charge's F1 debut after Jordan regular Bertrand Gachot was jailed for attacking a London taxi driver.
Weber told Jordan that Schumacher knew Spa well.
"I have to clarify the story that we lied about it," Schumacher said. "Eddie had asked Willi if I had raced there before and Willi said yes, because he could not imagine that I had never been there."
Jordan reportedly wanted to draft in the experienced Stefan Johansson, but Schumacher's Sauber-Mercedes sports car team - headed by Peter Sauber - offered $150,000 in sponsorship.
"That was a pretty penny for a single grand prix," Sauber told the SID news agency this week.
The Swiss believes that Mercedes' other hotshoe, Heinz Harald Frentzen, "had a similar amount of talent and perhaps even a little more".
But Schumacher was "a hard worker, very ambitious, mentally strong and also so well prepared physically. It soon became apparent that he was a very special talent", added Sauber.
Michael Schumacher has pointed the finger at his first formula one boss Eddie Jordan as he recalled his grand prix debut 20 years ago.
At Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, the seven time world champion is marking the passing of two decades since he burst onto the scene with Jordan.
It was a one-off event as Schumacher, then 22, was snapped up after Belgium by Benetton after qualifying in seventh place.
But his actual race lasted less than a lap when he retired with a broken clutch.
"The story is that we had problems in the warm-up," Schumacher, now racing with Mercedes, wrote in a celebratory column for Auto Motor und Sport.
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| Photo: WRI2 |
"I pointed it out at the debriefing and we talked about whether we should change the clutch or not, but Eddie said that would cost too much money. Then it broke," added the German.
Schumacher also recalled how he and his then manager Willi Weber had stayed in a hostel that weekend.
"I remember I was surprised because I had thought 'Yes, I am now in formula one, the premier class'. I was not particularly bothered with the hostel except that it was cold and the heater didn't work," he said.
Weber had negotiated his charge's F1 debut after Jordan regular Bertrand Gachot was jailed for attacking a London taxi driver.
Weber told Jordan that Schumacher knew Spa well.
"I have to clarify the story that we lied about it," Schumacher said. "Eddie had asked Willi if I had raced there before and Willi said yes, because he could not imagine that I had never been there."
Jordan reportedly wanted to draft in the experienced Stefan Johansson, but Schumacher's Sauber-Mercedes sports car team - headed by Peter Sauber - offered $150,000 in sponsorship.
"That was a pretty penny for a single grand prix," Sauber told the SID news agency this week.
The Swiss believes that Mercedes' other hotshoe, Heinz Harald Frentzen, "had a similar amount of talent and perhaps even a little more".
But Schumacher was "a hard worker, very ambitious, mentally strong and also so well prepared physically. It soon became apparent that he was a very special talent", added Sauber.