Schumacher 'cheated first world title'

Michael Schumacher's 1994 team-mate Jos Verstappen has accused the German of winning his first world championship with the help of illegal electronic aids.

Dutchman Verstappen claims that while the Benetton he raced almost two decades ago conformed to the rules, the sister car driven to the title by Schumacher was fitted with secret systems which illegally assisted his driving.

"I know what happened when we were together at Benetton," Verstappen is quoted as saying by Nusport.

"People think I'm looking for excuses, but I know that his car was different from mine.

"I always thought it was impossible. I braked at the limit and took the corners as hard as possible, so how could Schumacher do it? There was something wrong.

"There were electronic driver aids. It was never mentioned, but I'm convinced about it and, when I later asked Flavio Briatore, he replied 'Let's not talk about it'. So I know enough now.

"Like everyone else, Michael is also dependent on his car," he added. "For most people he was a god, but he is no superman - in a go-kart he never beat me."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/08122011/58/schumacher-cheated-first-world-title.html

Jos Verstappen, remember him?

Sour grapes by Verstappen for being Schumacher's whipping boy.

Sour, sour grapes. Pathetic

Id tend to agree about Jos Verstappen not being on par with Shumacher and thus he was beaten by him - therefore its simply sour grapes.

But then on the other hand, i could easily believe schumacher was involved in such controversy - the only thing with me not quite buying jos's story is the fact its not ferrari instead of Benetton.

Plus whys it taken him so long for him to say anything?

Bonjourno!

In 20 years time will Mark Webber be saying the same about Vettel???

Alessandro Ciambella wrote:Bonjourno!

In 20 years time will Mark Webber be saying the same about Vettel???

I agree Alessandro, good one

Alessandro Ciambella wrote:Bonjourno!

In 20 years time will Mark Webber be saying the same about Vettel???

Hmm. If Schumacher won his first title with Benetton illegally, is Verstappen saying the second title was legit (or was he not around to know - I can't remember now)?

Being serious again, while I wouldn't rule it out completely, you have to say its highly unlikely. Verstappen may have had the edge over Schumi in karts, but theres a reason Michael went on to win 7 titles and is still racing, while Jos retired from F1 some time ago.

Sour grapes from 'Jos The Boss'. Schumacher won the very next year in 95' with Herbert as is teammate and there was no complaints, although Schumacher's racing style led him to taking out Damon Hill on numerous occassions in 95. Jos Verstappen had only raced for Bennetton in 94' the previous year in races 1-2 & then I think 12-16 (I think) and was totally outclassed by Schumacher so this outburst is hardly suprising. Although you cannot entirely rule out the accusation, the fact Verstappen never won a race in Formula 1 says it all about the 'truth' behind his poor performances in relation to Michael.

Also Shumi did have assistance with tyre developed around the ferrari, a submissive team mate and team orders.

reeks of sour grapes..

Critical_mass wrote:Also Shumi did have assistance with tyre developed around the ferrari, a submissive team mate and team orders.

But then you could say Alonso won the title in 2006 primarily thanks to the effect of running the tuned mass damper. After it was banned post french grand prix, alonso only managed to win a single race for the remainder of the season. This is F1, accusations about rival machinery has and will continue to be a focal point of debate amongst the sport.

This may well sound like sour grapes and I agree Schumacher was much better than Verstappen. however the whole of F1 knew that Benetton were running an illegal traction control system, the FIA even found it. Senna was certainly convinced by it so I think that this revelation is nothing new. Schumacher was an exceptional driver but there is no doubt in my mind that he has been helped significantly by this and the "Ferrari International Assistance".

Well, it's F1, it's only cheating if you get caught.
Benneton having software for traction control on a car after this had been banned
renault using the mass damper
Braun's blown diffuser
Red Bull having movable aero with the bendy front wing (and several teamd having pushed the loophole on flexibility of the rear wings over the last several years)
Hasn't it been claimed inthe past that Brabham were running an illegal (over capacity) engine for Piquet's first title?

Nothing new under the sun...

dummy_half wrote:Well, it's F1, it's only cheating if you get caught.
Benneton having software for traction control on a car after this had been banned
renault using the mass damper
Braun's blown diffuser
Red Bull having movable aero with the bendy front wing (and several teamd having pushed the loophole on flexibility of the rear wings over the last several years)
Hasn't it been claimed inthe past that Brabham were running an illegal (over capacity) engine for Piquet's first title?

Nothing new under the sun...

F1 has always been controversial, especially when it comes to debating the legality of the dominant cars.

At that time Brabham were probably the most innovative team so it came with the territory. I remember the 'fan-car' which won it's first race and then got banned immediately after. During 1981, Piquet's first championship year, rumours circulated of illegal underweight Brabham chassis. Jacques Laffite was among those to claim that the cars were fitted with heavily ballasted bodywork before being weighed at scrutineering, however they were never found guilty.

John

Like I said - only cheating if you get caught (and penalised). I'm pretty sure scrutineering is a lot more rigorous than it was 30 years ago, so just lobbing a couple of lumps of lead into the car to make it pass the weight wouldn't work now.

Lotus also had a very innovative car banned around 1978 didn't they?

Recent years have been about explioting any possible loopholes in the regulations, hence the issues with the blown diffusers / double deck diffusers and Red Bull's compliant but clearly deforming front wing (it passes the static tests, so is legal to the letter of the rules, but quite obviously contravenes the intent of the regulations).

This Verstappen guy believes during Kart's is equal to driving F1 cars, says it all.