Shame on you schumacher

Nope, it's 'healthy debate'!

I'm disappointed it's this comment that takes me over 2000.

 

feel free to join in the debate saint thats why i created it so people could join in with there opinions about michael
-- nothing wrong with a nice healthy debate about the great schumacher --

 

Oh, I totally agree that a championship is won over a season, but I personally believe that given the circumstances that year, Hill was on a very steep learning curve and carrying quite a lot of baggage, so can be forgiven for not sewing up that title.

As for the clash, maybe Hill was naive in thinking that Schumacher would yield given that his car was pretty much crippled... But he had a very short space of time to make that decision. In hindsight, I'd imagine that he would have waited for a cleaner opportunity, but that racing for you. You may believe that it was a racing incident, and that okay. I believe he turned in on him purposefully. He certainly showed that he's capable of it.

As for Schumacher... '94 certainly had it's blemishes. But there's no doubting that the guy's a great. Some people despise him, but he set some incredible records in the sport and will always be up there with the greats in the history books.

 

not sure about the learning curve , he was 33 or 34 at the time and at that age i am not sure if he was ever going to get any better , in fact he appeared to have a weaker season during 95 than he did in his previous 2 seasons ,

i suppose in fairness taking into account the circumstances he made a fairly good fist of things when he took over from senna in 94 ,

i suppose looking at it logically hill deserved the title because benettone and micheal did cheat , so i suppose it was damon"s by default --

 

The main blame for whatever illegal parts was on the Benetton cars is first and foremost Flavio's. Then Benetton's.

 

He may have been in his 30's, but he was still new to F1. He entered the game late in the day at a time when drivers seemed to be starting to enter much younger. 95 wasn't spectacular though... I'll grant you that.

As for Damon's by default... Maybe.. maybe not. There was so much happening that year that it was a bit like F1 had been stuck in a tin can and shaken up. I really wish Hill had won it, but you can't change history. Had Senna not died, I think that he'd have got to grips with the Williams and won the title... but even that's just speculation. I do think that Hill had a good stab at it though and actually made a season of it. He could have just crumbled under the pressure and it have been purely dominated by Schuey.

 

yeh i agree he was only in his third season , but at 33 or 34 could he be classed as a rookie , --- its a tricky one ,

talking about senna , i personally believe senna dying was the best thing that ever happened for damons career ,
after lapping hill in the sister williams at brazil and outqualifying hill by 1.5 secs at 2 of the first 3 races of 94 there was little doubt that senna was going to decimate hill throut the season ,

had that happened knowing frank williams as we know him it would not have surprised me if he had given damon his P45 long before 96 - i am not sure what the options for damon would have been had that happened ---

 

For what it's worth, my opinion is that Hill effectively kept that team together, not only by giving it focus in the face of tragedy, but by continuing to take the car to a new levels with his direction of its development. His work was highly praised by the more technical members of the Williams team; and in particular by those close to and including Patrick Head. This development formed the basis of the car for the following seasons - including 1995 of course - where, at least to some degree, Hill's disillusionment with the 1994 showdown and Frank Williams reluctance to appeal the decision at Adelaide, got the better of him.

But he bounced back to confound his doubters: not least his team Principal (who subsequently, seriously regretted parting company with him)…

 

There was a lot to like about Hill... As you say, he was a solid development driver and played a part in Williams success way before being promoted to a race seat. On top of that he was a true gentleman and for me, one of the nicest guys to grace the sport. He took a lot of flack from some people. Okay, he might not have been a Senna or a Prost, but in many way that's what made him special. He didn't have any of their personality flaws and just got on with an honest job.

 

not sure if hill ever confounded his doubters , he made a pigs ear of things during 95 when schumacher had a competitive car , and his williams FW18 was in a class of one during 96 and had no competition -
----with that kind of one sided advantage he would have been hard pressed not to have won the thing during 96 -

 

yeh good shout bhaji -

there was nothing to dislike about hill ,
he was an honourable driver that played by the rules and had none of the baggage that went with any of the real aces at the time --

 

Why did Coulthard only last one season at Williams is what I wanna know?

 

I don;t wanna turn this in to a Hill thread.. But one of my fave drives of all time was Hill in Hungary '97. I cried when the car started to fall apart and I think I had about 12 heart attacks.

 

Obviously he confounded his most important doubter, as well as any who may have agreed with a well-respected member of the F1 fraternity : Frank Williams did not believe Hill had it in him to win the World Drivers' Championship.

Obviously this doubt was confounded by Hill when he won it.
- - -
Obviously Schumacher had a competitive car in 1994 - even if, as you suggest, it was seriously bending the rules - since it was fighting for the title all through the season, including at the last race where it was leading.

As far as 1995 goes, by his own admission, Hill had a lacklustre year (although still beating his team mate). I have already explained the fundamental reason for this, although it appears you may have missed it.

As usual, all you need to do is read my previous post.

 

he could hardly lose the WDC in 96 as he had no competition that year , how could he possibly lose it if williams were the class of the field as they were ,

as for frank williams - clearly he was never that impressed with hill otherwise he would not have given him his P45 out of the door -,
in all seriousness i believe frank wanted a stronger driver line up to take the fight to schumacher and the improving ferrari for 97 and frank never saw hill being able to do that --

 

Come on PMC, you've gotta do better than that

 

You have to question some of Franks decisions when it comes to drivers... Two that really stand out as Hunas (See Douglas Adams, The Meaning of Liff for explanation of Huna) were Villeneuve and Zanardi... among others.

 

If he wanted a stronger driver lineup... Why on Earth did he pick some of the drivers that he did post 1996? There were some howlers.

 

must admit he slipped up with frentzen , i thought HHF was going to walk 97 ,
brilliant driver but a loose wire floating around in his head somewhere , dont think anybody saw that one coming --

 

I think Frank might have had a loose wire myself.. I still think they were nuts for not keeping Button in the car rather than farming him off.