Verstappen: Schumi cheated first 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."

why wait 17 years for this?!?!?!?

Because he's bitter that he never won anything. To be fair, Schumacher's car probably did have driver aids, but waiting 17 years to spill the oh-so-cold beans is a bit desperate.

---

GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
"My ambition is handicapped by laziness" - Charles Bukowski

slow news day today aint it :P

elpasho2005f1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>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."


"I couldnt beat him, so he was cheating"

"I beat him at tennis, so should have won at badminton"

Jos answered his own accusation. He said was braking at the limit etc. Yeah, HIS limit.

---

"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

i never understood why the whole grid would conspire to make Schumacher F1's Superstar....

is it a conspiracy?, did everybody contribute to make some random german guy from dtm a superstar and make F1 a super business?, give him 7 F1 titles, give him 800+ millions and stay quiet the whole time?

or was Schumacher a rare driver, one who could take each corner to the limit, beat opposition, dominate, etc..., and the people who have reasons to be bitter and paranoic with Schumacher just make this stuff up?... what makes more sense?

i have my own answer, for me he's been the greatest driver i've ever seen drive a Grand Prix car

There have been reports of Benetton cheating in 1994 for years now

I'm pretty sure it has never actually been proven

Anyway it's hard not to just see a bitter man in that interview

---

Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions

It was proven. LC was found in the car as option 13.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

well this wasn't in the other cars he raced and he still ****ed over his team mates so

Morbid Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It was proven. LC was found in the car as option
> 13.


Their problem was, they couldn't prove whether it was actually switched on and used.

That doesn't matter. LC was not legal, and the car had it. That is proof. And who the hell would be daft enough to spend millions on developing LC (or any other driver aid), stick it on the car for a GP, and then not intend to use it? That doesn't add up at all.

Saying "arhmm... we can't prove it was used" is daft. It is like me pleading innocent to the charge of possessing an illegal weapon, on the grounds that I never used it. It's bullsh!t. Athletes caught with performance enhancing drugs also get the book thrown at them, even if it cannot be proven that they actually used them. Possession is good enough.

Furthermore, that San Marino Grand Prix where the TC was found, Bennetton was fined 100.000 $ "for failing to supply the governing body with access to its systems within the time limits dictated". What do you think they did with that extra time, when they knew they were facing scrutiny? You would be very naive to think that a cheater like Briatore would instruct his crew to twiddle their thumbs and whistle merry tunes.

Finally, that GP was mired by enough tragedy and scandal already. I doubt the FIA was ready to add insult to injury by throwing the book at Bennetton. Senna knew that car was full of cheats. He heard it after being punted off earlier in the season. If you have ever been at a GP back in the TC days, you would know just how easy it is to hear it working. The car trapped the brightest new star in F1 in a massive scandal, and the brightest old star had just died in a scandal at the same event. The FIA had plenty of reason to not fan the fires... So they didn't.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

As far as I remember the Mclaren and Ferrari were also found to have TC coding in their cars electronics but no one complained
I dont undertand why the thought that Benetton simply designed a quality car is never considered, the B194 was an evolution of the 92 and 93 cars and both were pretty handy

---

Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions

What is LC?

Launch Control.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Have a look at around 3.30 into the video and the Aida 1994 start, looks like LC to me comparing the Benetton and the Williams starts.

Ferrari2007 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As far as I remember the Mclaren and Ferrari were
> also found to have TC coding in their cars
> electronics but no one complained
> I dont undertand why the thought that Benetton
> simply designed a quality car is never considered,
> the B194 was an evolution of the 92 and 93 cars
> and both were pretty handy


You are poorly informed.

Ferrari was caught because Nicola Larini admitted by accident during a press conference that he had been running "a sort of traction control device" during one of the practice sessions at the Pacific GP. Nothing was found in the source code requested after the San Marino Grand prix. But Ferrari was still busted for it, and not allowed to run the device again.

Mclaren had a sophisticated gearbox, with a pre-selection method activated by the driver, which optimized gear selection. That allowed for extreme application of engine braking while downshifting and minimized wheel spin between up shifts. The hearing and ruling about the gearbox was scheduled for the same time that the hearing was for Bennettons illegal removal of the filter in the fuel nozzle, which incidentally left Verstappen and four mechanics with burns. You cannot blame the press nor the public for finding that a more captivating story, than drawn out, complex and technical discussions over a gearbox. Again nothing was found in the source code requested after the San Marino Grand prix. McLaren argued to the FIA, that they didn't know that their gearbox was to be considered a driving aid. The FIA accepted that explanation, but McLaren was not allowed to run it again.

Ignoring a black flag (British Grand Prix) and grinding more than the allowed limit off the plank (Belgian Grand Prix), and appealing both those disqualifications probably didn't mitigate the 1994 Bennetton cheating accusations. That John Watson, Allard Kalff, and David Coulthard while commentating the French Grand Prix for Eurosport, pointed out that Michael's impressive start of the race was probably made with launch control didn't help for sure!

The inquiry about the Launch Control feature was one long collection of defensive moves and lies from Bennetton after another. If you so wish, examples can be provided.

Lastly, Michael was YEARS ahead of Verstappen all season. The best he could do was about a 0.9 second split. That is massive. At Hockenheim the split was 3 seconds. Michael was better than Verstappen, but he was NOT 3 seconds better. Mind you, this was the old Hockenheim, which consisted mostly of straights. No way MS was ever going to be 3 seconds faster in similar equipment. He wouldn't even be 3 seconds faster in the same model car, with all the best production parts. Something else was afoot.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2011 04:47PM by Morbid.

That Aida video. The Williams span its tyres and came under threat from behind, therefore Schumacher used LC??

It was one start of many. I could find a Vettel start and compare it with Lewis to say Vettel uses LC can I not?

LC, and TC were on pretty much all cars. The change in regulations came late I believe, and adjusting the car software would have been costly, and I guess lengthy. It was not just the Benno that had software capabilities that could be programmed

---

"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

If you'd bother to read the official summary of the inquiry of the 194, you wouldn't be so naive in your conclusions.

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Morbid can you find that for me?

Sure:

Here is the official press release, summing up the investigation and subsequent proceedings.

[www.motorsport.com]

---

It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Thanks for the link - thats an interesting read. Chet - I think the ease with which the Benetton got going was a bit much to me particularly given the cars of the day and their likelihood to fishtail, lock wheels etc without LC/TC