Schumacher v Coulthard - Spa 98
Discussion
with the BBC showing vid clips from past Spa F1 races the Schumacher/Coulthard crash was included in the clips. The one that left Schumacher on 3 wheels and he tried to get into the Williams garage.
Schumacher claimed Coulthard caused it on purpose, didn't he? But the telemetry from Coulthard's showed he did no wrong.
My memory is a bit hazy but it was a pretty big controversy at the time, wasn't it?
Any links or views to the details of the incident?
Schumacher claimed Coulthard caused it on purpose, didn't he? But the telemetry from Coulthard's showed he did no wrong.
My memory is a bit hazy but it was a pretty big controversy at the time, wasn't it?
Any links or views to the details of the incident?
Drive Blind said:
with the BBC showing vid clips from past Spa F1 races the Schumacher/Coulthard crash was included in the clips. The one that left Schumacher on 3 wheels and he tried to get into the Williams garage.
Schumacher claimed Coulthard caused it on purpose, didn't he? But the telemetry from Coulthard's showed he did no wrong.
My memory is a bit hazy but it was a pretty big controversy at the time, wasn't it?
Any links or views to the details of the incident?
I used to watch F1 with a largish group of mixed fans, the whole range. There were some Ferrari supporters and some MSch fans as well as others. The crowd varied in number but for Spa and GB we normally had everyone who was not on holiday, so around 15-18.Schumacher claimed Coulthard caused it on purpose, didn't he? But the telemetry from Coulthard's showed he did no wrong.
My memory is a bit hazy but it was a pretty big controversy at the time, wasn't it?
Any links or views to the details of the incident?
All the other people were really sad nerds.
None of us thought Coulthard deliberately caused the accident, although some thought he was at fault. The information that came out later tended to support what we all thought. Even our MSch fans agreed.
We all enjoyed the threat of a punch up in the pits.
We hear the rumour that MSch reckoned that Coulthard had done it deliberately and for the next race we banned anyone from mentioning MSch. It was, we felt, uncalled for.
That said, it wasn't Coulthard's greatest race, and that from a career which was, I felt, largely mediocre. I was never a big fan of his.
When MSch took out Frentzen at the Canadian GP (another where the room was always crowded) the following season, we all jeered at the MSch supporters, suggesting he'd say Frentzen did it on purpose. So when he moaned about Hill, there was much rejoicing in the non-red section.
The race is being shown in full right now on Sky Sports F1.
It is clear that Coulthard did slow however I have never thought that he deliberately set out to nobble Michael. Too me it was a racing accident which, thankfully, probably wouldn't happen today.
From the coverage you can see Michael has his hand in the air - presumably to get David to let him go,through - however it seems futile as David wouldn't have been able to see it.
Michael appeared to turn slightly to the left however he then seems to straighten up which is when he clobbered the back of the McLaren.
I doubt if David even knew just how close Michael was to the McLaren. The spray was just too bad.
Just one of those things on a very odd Sunday afternoon.
It is clear that Coulthard did slow however I have never thought that he deliberately set out to nobble Michael. Too me it was a racing accident which, thankfully, probably wouldn't happen today.
From the coverage you can see Michael has his hand in the air - presumably to get David to let him go,through - however it seems futile as David wouldn't have been able to see it.
Michael appeared to turn slightly to the left however he then seems to straighten up which is when he clobbered the back of the McLaren.
I doubt if David even knew just how close Michael was to the McLaren. The spray was just too bad.
Just one of those things on a very odd Sunday afternoon.
Basically it was a misunderstanding between the two made worse by the rain and spray.
DC admitted he was in the wrong. He said he lifted off the throttle on the racing line intending Schumi to make the effort to get round him but this was misinterpreted by Schumi akin to brake testing.
DC admitted he was in the wrong. He said he lifted off the throttle on the racing line intending Schumi to make the effort to get round him but this was misinterpreted by Schumi akin to brake testing.
fatboy69 said:
The race is being shown in full right now on Sky Sports F1.
It is clear that Coulthard did slow however I have never thought that he deliberately set out to nobble Michael. Too me it was a racing accident which, thankfully, probably wouldn't happen today.
From the coverage you can see Michael has his hand in the air - presumably to get David to let him go,through - however it seems futile as David wouldn't have been able to see it.
Michael appeared to turn slightly to the left however he then seems to straighten up which is when he clobbered the back of the McLaren.
I doubt if David even knew just how close Michael was to the McLaren. The spray was just too bad.
Just one of those things on a very odd Sunday afternoon.
Wasn't he told on radio to slow? If memory serves he ignored the first order and then it was repeated.It is clear that Coulthard did slow however I have never thought that he deliberately set out to nobble Michael. Too me it was a racing accident which, thankfully, probably wouldn't happen today.
From the coverage you can see Michael has his hand in the air - presumably to get David to let him go,through - however it seems futile as David wouldn't have been able to see it.
Michael appeared to turn slightly to the left however he then seems to straighten up which is when he clobbered the back of the McLaren.
I doubt if David even knew just how close Michael was to the McLaren. The spray was just too bad.
Just one of those things on a very odd Sunday afternoon.
entropy said:
Basically it was a misunderstanding between the two made worse by the rain and spray.
DC admitted he was in the wrong. He said he lifted off the throttle on the racing line intending Schumi to make the effort to get round him but this was misinterpreted by Schumi akin to brake testing.
I think DC admitted this a few years later and said that it was his fault.DC admitted he was in the wrong. He said he lifted off the throttle on the racing line intending Schumi to make the effort to get round him but this was misinterpreted by Schumi akin to brake testing.
Link here
Edited by greygoose on Thursday 21st August 08:05
entropy said:
Basically it was a misunderstanding between the two made worse by the rain and spray.
DC admitted he was in the wrong. He said he lifted off the throttle on the racing line intending Schumi to make the effort to get round him but this was misinterpreted by Schumi akin to brake testing.
That seems a balanced view well after the event. At the time, you can understand Schumi's fury. The McLaren/Ferrari battle for the championship was at its peak and of all the cars to take MS out when being lapped it was his protagonist's number two... DC admitted he was in the wrong. He said he lifted off the throttle on the racing line intending Schumi to make the effort to get round him but this was misinterpreted by Schumi akin to brake testing.
Drive Blind said:
Schumacher claimed Coulthard caused it on purpose, didn't he? But the telemetry from Coulthard's showed he did no wrong.
From memory, I don't think that Schumacher was angry (to put it mildly) because he thought the Coulthard had done it deliberately but because the collision could have resulted in serious injury or a fatality. The accident occurred on a fast part of the track and there was a big difference in speed between the 2 cars. Given the very poor visibility DC should not have been anywhere near the racing line if he was going to lift off and let MS through.Oddly I was only listening to a Motorsports podcast from last year
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/f1/junes-audio-p...
with Coulthard yesterday in the car were he spoke about that incident at great lengths and then last night sat down to watch the race on Sky.
The spray was huge and David's view was Michael wouldn't have been able to see what side of the track Coulthard was on. Coulthard made the instant decision that the one place Schumacher would expect him to be is on the racing line - so that's the line he took.
Moments before the incident Ferrari are at the McLaren garage asking them to get DC out of the way. It would appear as a result DC did lift, something he said in hindsight he wouldn't do again, and MS hit.
That race was insane the seeing again last night I'm surprised it wasn't red flagged before this as anyone who wasn't on Goodyear tyres struggled to stay on the track. Ignoring the initial first lap carnage cars were flying off left, right and centre.
It was shocking at the time but personally more because MS carried on driving. The initial lap carnage was far more shocking. I wouldn't put blame on either DC or MS. It was a racing incident in atrocious weather.
Also don't agree about DC being a poor driver. He was a great racer who could go wheel to wheel with anyone. He just couldn't do it over a single lap nor lead. He always needed to chase.
Everyone else seems forget the Fisi/Nakano crash later on in the same race on the exact same piece of track. No one accused Fisi or deliberately causing Nakano to crash into him even though it was identical.
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/f1/junes-audio-p...
with Coulthard yesterday in the car were he spoke about that incident at great lengths and then last night sat down to watch the race on Sky.
The spray was huge and David's view was Michael wouldn't have been able to see what side of the track Coulthard was on. Coulthard made the instant decision that the one place Schumacher would expect him to be is on the racing line - so that's the line he took.
Moments before the incident Ferrari are at the McLaren garage asking them to get DC out of the way. It would appear as a result DC did lift, something he said in hindsight he wouldn't do again, and MS hit.
That race was insane the seeing again last night I'm surprised it wasn't red flagged before this as anyone who wasn't on Goodyear tyres struggled to stay on the track. Ignoring the initial first lap carnage cars were flying off left, right and centre.
It was shocking at the time but personally more because MS carried on driving. The initial lap carnage was far more shocking. I wouldn't put blame on either DC or MS. It was a racing incident in atrocious weather.
Also don't agree about DC being a poor driver. He was a great racer who could go wheel to wheel with anyone. He just couldn't do it over a single lap nor lead. He always needed to chase.
Everyone else seems forget the Fisi/Nakano crash later on in the same race on the exact same piece of track. No one accused Fisi or deliberately causing Nakano to crash into him even though it was identical.
Agent Orange said:
Oddly I was only listening to a Motorsports podcast from last year
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/f1/junes-audio-p...
with Coulthard yesterday in the car were he spoke about that incident at great lengths and then last night sat down to watch the race on Sky.
The spray was huge and David's view was Michael wouldn't have been able to see what side of the track Coulthard was on. Coulthard made the instant decision that the one place Schumacher would expect him to be is on the racing line - so that's the line he took.
Moments before the incident Ferrari are at the McLaren garage asking them to get DC out of the way. It would appear as a result DC did lift, something he said in hindsight he wouldn't do again, and MS hit.
That race was insane the seeing again last night I'm surprised it wasn't red flagged before this as anyone who wasn't on Goodyear tyres struggled to stay on the track. Ignoring the initial first lap carnage cars were flying off left, right and centre.
It was shocking at the time but personally more because MS carried on driving. The initial lap carnage was far more shocking. I wouldn't put blame on either DC or MS. It was a racing incident in atrocious weather.
Also don't agree about DC being a poor driver. He was a great racer who could go wheel to wheel with anyone. He just couldn't do it over a single lap nor lead. He always needed to chase.
Everyone else seems forget the Fisi/Nakano crash later on in the same race on the exact same piece of track. No one accused Fisi or deliberately causing Nakano to crash into him even though it was identical.
Fisi hit Nakano not tother way round http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/f1/junes-audio-p...
with Coulthard yesterday in the car were he spoke about that incident at great lengths and then last night sat down to watch the race on Sky.
The spray was huge and David's view was Michael wouldn't have been able to see what side of the track Coulthard was on. Coulthard made the instant decision that the one place Schumacher would expect him to be is on the racing line - so that's the line he took.
Moments before the incident Ferrari are at the McLaren garage asking them to get DC out of the way. It would appear as a result DC did lift, something he said in hindsight he wouldn't do again, and MS hit.
That race was insane the seeing again last night I'm surprised it wasn't red flagged before this as anyone who wasn't on Goodyear tyres struggled to stay on the track. Ignoring the initial first lap carnage cars were flying off left, right and centre.
It was shocking at the time but personally more because MS carried on driving. The initial lap carnage was far more shocking. I wouldn't put blame on either DC or MS. It was a racing incident in atrocious weather.
Also don't agree about DC being a poor driver. He was a great racer who could go wheel to wheel with anyone. He just couldn't do it over a single lap nor lead. He always needed to chase.
Everyone else seems forget the Fisi/Nakano crash later on in the same race on the exact same piece of track. No one accused Fisi or deliberately causing Nakano to crash into him even though it was identical.
Nakano was slowing to turn into the bus stop and Fisi came up way to fast and rammed into him, i think Fisi was on his way into the pits hense not slowing for the corner ?
RDMcG said:
"F1 Spa 1998 Schumach..." This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Formula One Management. Yay for Bernie!
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