Damon Hill reacts to claim Michael Schumacher ‘should be stripped of F1 title’
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Damon Hill has cheekily joked that he could seek the help of Felipe Massa to strip Michael Schumacher of the world title he controversially won in 1994. The legendary German driver went into the final race of the season one point ahead of Hill in the standings and ended up winning thanks to a collision that saw them both retire.
The pair came together on lap 36 of that year’s Australian Grand Prix, with Schumacher being blamed for causing the incident by many observers. The stewards judged it as a racing incident, though, allowing him to clinch the title at Hill’s expense.
It went down as one of the most controversial finishes to a season in F1 history, only being surpassed by Max Verstappen’s polarising triumph over Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix two years ago. It was recently claimed by legendary F1 journalist Peter Benoit that Hill should be retrospectively awarded the 1994 title in a move that would see Schumacher stripped of the prize almost 30 years later.
In an interview with Blick, Benoit was asked where Schumacher ranks among the all-time F1 greats. He responded by stating: “As a six-time world champion, he definitely belongs in the top five. Of course, I know that he was world champion seven times, but the 1994 title should actually be taken away from him because he only won it because of his foul on Damon Hill.”
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Hill has since weighed in by suggesting that he could push for the title to be reversed by teaming up with Massa, who is currently fighting a legal battle to be awarded the 2008 title which was won by Lewis Hamilton. The Brit posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Slightly surprised to discover this. Has anyone got Massa’s phone number?”
Schumacher was leading the decisive race in 1994 until he made contact with the wall under his own steam, suffering damage to the right side of his car. He went on to turn into Hill as the Brit attempted to take the lead, knowing that he was powerless to prevent him from sailing past unless he did so.
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The German driver was immediately taken out of contention thanks to the damage as Hill soldiered on before eventually retiring when it became apparent that his car was no longer able to race properly. It meant that Schumacher held on to clinch the title, although Hill went on to make amends by winning the prize for himself two years later.
Hill previously revealed that his relationship with Schumacher was virtually non-existent before his former rival’s skiing accident a decade ago, saying: “I didn’t have much to do with Michael, not because of any other reason. I’d retired from racing and he was still racing and when we were racing we were sort of rivals.
“I don’t think he was really interested in getting any relationship going. It’s a shame. I would have liked to have known him better but that might not happen now. It’s just really bad what happened to Michael.”
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