Original subtitles

When I look at it now, of course I see Michael.

I mean, it kind of looks like a face, doesn't it?

When that helmet was out, things got exciting.

That was the start.

The start of something big.

He's won in Brazil, Japan, France and Monaco.

Michael Schumacher is the new star of Formula 1.

Schumi! Schumi!

Racing drivers are born with a gene

that is different from most ordinary human beings.

They have this rage to compete.

Is it such a great life?

Now the black flag is out.

Michael Schumacher is disqualified from the race.

They kept trying to stop him.

1994 was the perfect movie.

Tragedy.

Loss.

Love.

Danger. Excitement. Controversy.

In the case of Schumacher, he was found guilty.

I don't understand what's going on here.

He has been banned for two races.

They're screwing him over. They don't want him to win.

It was a sport defining season.

It changed Formula 1 forever.

We still talk about it today.

Michael knew my heart was with him when he won.

But my heart was with him when he lost too.

My heart is always with him.

That's how it is.

I think a lot of people have a lot to say about him.

But not many know Michael the way I do.

My mother was totally against it.

Yeah, that was funny.

He was always down at the go-kart track, racing with all the other boys.

And Michael would just nudge them out of the way and get through.

He would drive like….

And then…

And it was always quite funny, but my mother used to say,

"Just look at Schumacher".

"On their own go-kart track, anyone who breaks the rules gets thrown out."

"Now he's throwing the other drivers off the track."

My mother always said, "Oh, Schumacher".

Not forget, at the time, Michael was very young

and was an incredible talent.

New for Formula 1.

We are in the beginning to climb the mountain.

And Corinna was there all the time.

And see these two people so in love was fantastic, you know.

I mean, we were twenty one.

What do you do when you're twenty one?

Michael, on the right!

She came from Greece She had a thirst for knowledge

She studied sculpture At Saint Martin's College

That's where I

Caught her eye

She told me that her Dad was loaded

I said, in that case I'll have rum and Coca-Cola

She said fine

And then in thirty seconds time

She said…

Before that I'd covered tennis, football and boxing.

Then you arrive in Formula 1 and realise there's a reason they call it the circus.

Michael, this is Ayrton Senna's home race.

150,000 Brazilians will be cheering him on,

he's the clear favourite.

But I think he'll have his work cut out. Are you confident for tomorrow?

The car was faultless today.

We're well prepared for tomorrow's race,

so I think we've got a very good chance.

My first impression was,

"So this is the superstar, Michael Schumacher."

"And you know what? He speaks the same dialect as I do."

Welcome to the sweltering heat of São Paulo, Brazil

for the opening race of the Formula 1 season.

And driving for Team Benetton, Germany's rising star, Michael Schumacher.

Michael had this presence about him.

This sense of, "I'm here for a reason, and I mean business".

He had so much self-belief.

At least that's how he came across to me at the time.

"One day I'll win races here, and one day I'll be World Champion."

I think a lot of people dream of becoming

a Formula 1 driver.

And for me, it was a dream come true.

My goal is to one day be at the top.

And that's what I'm working towards.

In 1994, it was obvious

that we were in for the most exciting Formula 1 season in years.

The great champion, Ayrton Senna,

against the young upstart, Michael Schumacher.

It was going to be a real battle and everyone thought

it would go all the way to the final race.

Clearly, Michael is driving very well.

And I'm sure it's going to be a long year. A long championship.

Um, with… a good fight, uh, with Benetton.

STEP ON IT, AYRTON!

Senna was Schumacher's idol. I mean, insofar as he had any.

There's not really been another driver before or since, like Ayrton Senna.

And here comes the young Schumacher onto the grid.

He will start the opening race from the front row, alongside Senna.

And I think everyone could sense that this was going to be the great new rivalry.

And one of the problems that happened in the first years of Schumacher's career

was that Senna didn't show respect to Michael.

That was a problem for him. He knew that he was as good as Senna.

And he wanted to prove it to him.

Please clear the grid. Please now clear the grid.

Alesi overtakes Schumacher.

Senna leads.

Alesi, then Schumacher, then Hill, then Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Schumacher in third place.

He needs to stay on the back of Alesi's Ferrari.

70 laps to go at the end of this one,

and it has started on a charge.

Now comes the attack from Michael Schumacher.

And he's through into second place.

Schumacher is now just four seconds behind Senna.

Michael as a driver, it begins and ends with his speed.

He had tremendous feel for a race car.

And the feel came from his days as a boy driving karts.

He could feel the movement of… of a car.

It's like a dance. It's a delicate balancing act.

Schumacher has closed to within one point five seconds of Senna.

As the race begins to unfold in Brazil,

it's clear that Williams and Senna are very fast.

But… so is the Benetton.

It seemed to me

that the difference would come when we got to the pit stops.

The race leaders enter the pit at the same time.

I could see the cars coming down the pit lane.

Senna pulls in, followed by Schumacher.

Be fast, be fast, be safe, be fast.

It's neck and neck. Who will have the better pit stop?

And Schumacher is out ahead of Ayrton Senna

Schumacher rejoins the race ahead of Senna.

He's taken the lead in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Lap twenty one, and Michael Schumacher is in front.

Unbelievable!

At that point, I think Williams were aware,

certainly we were aware,

we are a definite threat to Williams Grand Prix Engineering.

-That… That is Senna! -It's incredible!

Goodness, Ayrton Senna.

Senna has stopped and is out of the race.

No points for the Brazilian.

Victory for Schumacher in Brazil.

Ten championship points, and Germany goes wild.

No points for Ayrton Senna.

Michael's screaming.

He's… He just can't believe it.

He knows now that this is the start of something big.

I think I understood then, that actually that first race of the season,

that's the one that sets your mind.

If you win that first race, it means everything.

Of course it was surprising. It was unbelievable.

Just imagine it.

This young guy from Kerpen comes along,

leaves everyone in the dust

and wins a Formula 1 race.

Those things just…

didn't happen.

Benetton was a fantastic team.

If you want, a revolutionary team,

because it was done by very young people, young engineering

uh, very low budget.

And was the first time somebody breaking the system.

Before, the championship has been Tyrrell, Brabham, McLaren, Ferrari.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we arrive, and we blow up everybody.

So the people was not happy.

I was happy. Michael was happy.

And…

…we don't give a shit what the people thinking about.

Benetton? Who are these…

They're a knitwear company from Italy, aren't they?

What are they doing in Formula 1? Moreover, why are they so quick?

We were just doing things differently.

I think the other teams didn't really respect what Benetton was

and the way we went racing because we were a bit light-hearted.

We weren't the sort of corporate thing that McLaren were, for example.

And we weren't the traditional thing that Williams were.

We… We were different.

We were the newcomers.

They came in as the newcomers, as the underdogs.

With their T-shirts. And that was great.

That was my first team.

We were a happy team, you know? Rock and roll.

And Michael was really…

part of the family.

He had two family, and Corinna was there all the time.

She was part of the team, Corinna.

Uh, she was wearing the gear of the team.

She was really a team player as well.

I'm from Schwalmtal.

I'd never even been as far as Frankfurt. Then all of a sudden, I was in Mexico.

And in Acapulco.

And so on and so forth. And then to do it with someone you love,

that's wonderful, of course.

When you're young and suddenly you get to travel the world like that,

it's amazing.

And once you get into that rhythm, you're living from race to race.

We always used to say, "On to Monza".

"On to Spa."

"On to Budapest."

That was the little world we lived in.

To really understand it, you have to be passionate about it.

You have to live and breathe it. And then it works.

You see Corinna arrive, Michael arrive.

You see Michael arrive, Corinna arrive.

All together, all the race together.

Corinna was a big supporter of Michael.

They were dropped into a totally different world.

You know, to turn up at Formula 1,

even in those days, it was a bit mind-blowing, really.

I felt like protecting them both, really, you know…

Corinna was shy.

She was lovely and homely and…

normal. Yeah.

Stu and Di.

I still remember them. They were really good cooks.

You could always retreat there, and they were a bit like family.

I enjoyed being on that bus. It was like camping.

I'd wait downstairs on the bus.

Or upstairs.

From the front, you could look directly down over the paddock.

[crowd chattering

In those first few years, Formula 1 was a world of wonder to me.

An absolute world of wonder.

There were so many people buzzing around.

It was all incredibly hectic.

But at the same time there was a certain calm and confidence.

Because everyone knew what they were doing and were in sync with each other.

It's not just twenty idiots driving around in circles.

It's exceptional athletes competing at the highest level in their sport.

And engineers showing their craft out on the track.

And it was wonderful.

I can picture Michael now at my kitchen door

with his bag on his back.

"I'm your new driver."

"Okay, come on in." You know?

I think he was totally bemused by it all as well, really.

It happened so quickly for him.

I think he realised he was quite a good driver,

but he hadn't quite got into the thoughts that he was

a really top dog, you know?

Michael was a very calm person,

a very logical person.

I often thought he'd actually be quite a good engineer.

Just he had that sort of mindset.

But when the visor comes down,

a different part of the brain engages.

There's no doubt about it.

When the helmet's on and the seat belts are tight,

he's a racer.

A quick explanation for anyone new to Formula 1.

Qualifying is all about setting the fastest lap

to secure a place at the front of the grid.

He's picked up right where he left off in Brazil.

Schumacher sets the fastest lap on Friday in Aida.

I can't believe it.

I wasn't into motorsport before I met Michael.

It never really interested me.

My father once said to me,

"Would you like to go to a Formula 1 race sometime?"

I said, "Oh no, why would I want to do that?"

I only got into motorsport because of Michael.

He helped me understand it.

Once you really start watching it,

and you see the technology and everything that goes into it,

it's actually great fun.

But in the end, someone else was faster than Schumacher.

Ayrton Senna raced around the track at top speed and stopped the clock

two tenths of a second faster than Schumacher.

It's the Brazilian's sixty-forth career pole position.

And suddenly in qualifying, Senna was ahead and I thought, "Shit".

I was… I was a bit hopeless at this moment because

because we… we tried so many things,

but we… we… we didn't seem to… to achieve something.

Michael lived for the moment.

"Friday qualifying, I want to be quickest."

"Second practice on Saturday, I want to be quickest."

He lived for the moment.

I think those of us who perhaps were a bit more mature

and had been racing a little bit differently.

We knew that the only thing that really mattered was Sunday.

You're under pressure. You have to do so much for your team.

He knew I'd be there for him, even when he wasn't the fastest.

And I think that's exactly the point.

You know there's someone who's there for you unconditionally,

whether you're performing or going through a tough time.

That's what's really important. You need someone who supports you.

Through the good times and the bad.

And so we'd quickly go to the hotel

and get into the bath.

That's where I told him all the news.

I wasn't so bold as to go into the other teams' garages.

But when I was standing outside, I'd sometimes have a look and think

"What's he doing there?"

I think everyone does that.

I didn't understand everything, but I'd tell him whatever I saw.

That was our song.

So if I happen to hear it on the radio, or somewhere,

I always think, "Oh, how lovely."

And if I'm driving, I usually tear up because I find it so beautiful.

But that's just the way it is.

Rush, rush

Hurry, hurry, lover Come to me

Rush, rush

I can feel it I can feel you all through me

Rush, rush

Ooh, what you do to me

Rush, rush

Konnichiwa, and welcome to Aida, Japan.

Once again, it's Ayrton Senna's car number two in pole position,

which means he'll be starting from the front of the grid.

Next to him is Schumacher.

And that's good news for the German fans.

The race is about to begin.

And it is go.

And straight into the lead goes Schumacher.

Olivier Panis has stopped and a spinner there.

That is Senna!

Senna, and he's rammed!

Rammed by Larini!

Ayrton Senna has retired.

He's out of the Pacific Grand Prix in Aida.

My goodness, the drama is starting right at the beginning.

And Michael Schumacher leads.

What a surprise.

Two races into the new season, and young Michael Schumacher leads

the World Championship with twenty points.

Schumacher wins the Pacific Grand Prix for Benetton Ford.

This is a very interesting…

time… uh, of the season.

And one that is, I think, very misreported.

Aida was where the problems really started to emerge

around whether or not there were some issues with the Benetton car.

Senna was convinced there was something not right

about the way that Schumacher's car sounded

when he was standing by the side of the track.

Senna finds himself at the side of the track

and becomes convinced in his own mind

that he's hearing something that resembles to him traction control,

and this would worry him.

What traction control does, is it cuts the cylinders at certain times

to reduce the wheel spin of the rear wheels.

So you always have perfect grip, and you can hear that.

I mean, firstly, Benetton didn't have traction control.

And secondly, if it did have, he couldn't have heard it.

He made the claim afterwards.

That there was something not right about the Benetton.

That it had traction control.

Yes, it was true. But the traction control was sitting in the car.

And his name was Schumacher.

All this suspicion, you know?

Cheating, no cheating.

Because Formula 1 is quite simple. If the…

the big team is winning, no problem.

If the new entry is winning, it's cheating.

You know, it's always like this.

I think because of the way that Benetton had come suddenly to the top,

there was always a bit of suspicion about how they had done that.

People were prepared… Some people were prepared to believe

that there was something strange going on with that car.

I don't think that Senna and Michael were ever going to be the best of friends.

I think there was a grudging respect.

You know, it's like they say, you shouldn't meet your heroes.

Well, maybe it's a little bit like that.

They all realised straight away that Michael

might be more capable than the others.

And they weren't too happy about that because it creates problems.

You have to ask, 20 points, that's a comfortable lead, isn't it?

Well, it's not uncomfortable. I'm definitely happy with it.

But even so, it's completely unrealistic at the moment

to be talking about the World Championship or anything.

One thing's for sure, we won the first two races.

Those are in the bag. No one can take them away from us.

The joy, the points.

And that is, of course, fantastic.

In Japan, he came flying across the finish line in first place.

He's the most sought-after man in the Formula 1 circus.

He's our Formula 1 ace, Michael Schumacher!

Michael Schumacher.

You're third in the World Championship standings.

-For now. -For now.

-Michael Schumacher. -Good evening.

Michael Schumacher!

Does your girlfriend like when you come home with that manly smell of fuel?

The smell of fuel is always masked by the smell of champagne.

Because I always pour champagne over my head after the race.

Has success gone to your head?

What you've told us would normally take ten years to achieve but you're only 23.

It's happened so fast.

Whenever he did an interview, he'd always say, "I want to watch it".

Because back then, he still spoke with a bit of a Cologne accent.

Honestly, why not spray each othe with water and drink the champagne?

Because afterwards I'd be drunk.

And then I'd have a problem.

And then he just kept practising the way he spoke.

Even though, for him, that wasn't really motorsport.

But he knew it came with it.

It was just incredible, because you could really see the excitement building.

"Yesterday was amazing. It was incredible watching him drive."

"Is he really nice? And what about Corinna? What's she like?"

The interest soared. People wanted to know more,

if he'd been to Carnival or to an opening somewhere.

Everything was broadcast.

And suddenly, Germany, the nation of cars

had arrived.

Without me, there would be no Michael Schumacher.

I have to say that.

I paid for everything.

Willi, and no one else.

Ugh, Willi, what a character.

He was almost like a central casting.

You know. Had decided they wanted a German manager

for the first German great driver.

You'd get a guy that looked like Willi Weber.

I had the leading team in Formula Three.

So I was always on the lookout for fast young drivers.

-Michael is fourth! -Yes!

I could see he could overtake people.

But that wasn't what impressed me.

It was the way that he handled the car.

You could clearly see the magic he was working out there on the track.

His control over the car.

It completely convinced me.

So I sent for him. And he came.

I'd never seen him before. Only in a helmet.

Never in the flesh.

And I was taken aback.

There was a kid standing in front of me.

He was nothing like the image I'd formed of him from watching him race.

Nothing at all.

He had this fuzz on his upper lip that didn't suit him at all.

I looked at him and said, "You're Schumacher?" And he said, "Yes".

And I thought, "Well, okay, here he is".

That's when it all started.

We agreed on everything almost straight away.

I think if he'd had the money, he'd have offered to pay me

just for the chance to drive.

Michael didn't want to be famous.

All he really wanted to do was race.

But, of course, it comes with all the other stuff.

And when you're successful, one thing leads to another.

I think many people dream of becoming

a Formula 1 driver.

And a big dream came true for me.

But, as it is in life,

everything has its ups and downs.

Sometimes I have to shut myself off a bit.

And sometimes I have to put on a different face.

Which means Michael Schumacher the driver isn't always Schumacher in private.

I have to protect myself.

He said back then that he had to leave Kerpen.

Sometimes, he'd be sitting in the garden, having a barbecue

and then suddenly there would be visitors who'd climbed over the fence.

They wanted to have a barbecue and a drink with him.

You always said that Michael Schumacher wanted to stay normal.

Now your life is anything but normal.

You've also moved away from Kerpen, and now live in Monte Carlo.

Do you have to do unusual things to be able to live a normal life?

At the time, 18 of the 20 drivers lived in Monaco. So Michael moved too.

For me, it was a big deal, because I didn't really want to leave.

I mean…

If you'd told me back then I'd be overseas so much, I'd have said,

"No way. I'm staying here".

Later on he started getting lots of fan mail and everything.

There was this one girl who would always send him underwear.

And it was quite funny, really. Her name was Jutta.

DEAR MICHAEL

I'd say, "What's with her?"

"Why's she sending you underwear and all this other stuff?"

And any time something came up, he'd go, "Oh, come on, Jutta".

That was his running joke.

Jutta was somehow always there, even though I'd never met her.

She'd only ever written letters.

Yeah, she was a constant.

Best regards to Jutta.

The first thing that struck me about Formula 1 was the noise.

It really blew you away.

It turned out to be useful too.

Once I was covering Imola with my colleague Heiko Wasser.

But we couldn't find the track.

Back then, the road signs weren't what they are today, and there was no Google.

So we rolled down the windows.

Then we followed the noise and found the track.

We were all pretty excited because it was the first weekend

RTL had a roaming camera.

My friend Kai Ebel was the one carrying it around,

doing interviews during the races.

Kai and I talked everything through.

Were we going to keep it serious?

Or loosen things up a bit?

Imola is an absolute classic. A must-have. The home of Ferrari.

You go into it full of excitement.

Then I put my headset on and go live.

I thought, "Now I can crack a few jokes,

grab a cappuccino, and really show people what's going on here".

When you're going through there,

you're trying to move as quickly as you can.

Michael always walked incredibly fast. So I wore flat shoes whenever I could,

just so I could keep up with him.

I'd usually step to one side

because I knew all the photographers would be taking pictures of him.

So you'd hurry through the paddock and then disappear into your "catacombs".

Your bus or your tent.

And then you just hope the race goes well.

Friday was all still very positive, really euphoric.

We did the check, and the director asked, "Can you hear me? Are you there?"

The first sessions are really a rehearsal for us.

Is everything working? Are the comms working?

We weren't on air yet. We knew it all started the next day.

-Testing 1, 2, 3, 4. -Yes, no problem, Fritz.

And we're back on air

with the first qualifying session for the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy.

Jochen, can you hear me?

I can hear you, Fritz.

Entry to the pit straight is slippery. They're all sliding around.

He went round that like he was in a go-kart.

And Senna is now faster than Schumacher by 134 thousandths.

Right now, we're seeing excellent laps. Michael Schumacher.

Oh, nice. Nice drift.

And here comes Barrichello on a good lap.

A really bad crash!

Oh my God. Something terrible has happened.

That's Rubens Barrichello's car,

the Brazilian driving for Eddie Jordan's team.

I could see it on my monitor.

The crash looked very dramatic.

That was a serious accident.

Red flag, of course. The session's been stopped.

Ayrton, you've seen Rubens?

He's all right. He's shocked, of course, but he's all right.

He's okay. He's got some damage to his face.

He was unconscious, initially, when they got to him in the car

and he'd swallowed some blood so they put some tubes down to clear that

and to help him breathe.

I hope he's okay, but maybe you know more?

He has facial injuries and a few cuts.

He had to be put on a ventilator because he was unconscious.

But we're hearing he's doing better. He's now in hospital for futher checks.

Tomorrow will be better.

I was always nervous when he was racing.

But I wasn't worried about him.

The only thing I really worried about was something going wrong with the car.

I never thought anything would happen to him.

Looking back, that whole Imola weekend feels like a bad dream.

The feeling that the Imola weekend was somehow cursed

began really on the Friday

when Rubens Barrichello crashed very heavily in the Jordan.

Everybody was a bit unsettled by that accident

and then that is exacerbated on Saturday when we're experiencing something

we haven't experienced for a very, very long time.

This is Roland Ratzenberger in his first season.

The man from Austria.

The second serious accident of the weekend. That's not good.

Here is a guy, we see it on television, he's getting CPR.

I've never seen that before.

It was clear to all of us that it wasn't going to end well.

The impact was too severe.

It was too head-on and too violent.

You could see right away that he wasn't moving.

Everyone was quiet. It was very quiet.

The drivers think they're invincible.

Yes, there can be an accident.

"It's not going to happen to me."

"It's going to happen to someone else. If it does happen, I'll be all right."

But then suddenly, yeah, that thought is shattered

and it's hard to come to terms with then getting back in the car

and realising that you might be next.

Everyone was in shock.

That was the first time it really hit home that something like this could happen.

At first, you never think it's something that you have to worry about.

You know it can be risky.

Sure, but…

I think when you're that young, you never think anything's going to happen to you.

It's strange.

That was the first time we thought, "Wow this actually is dangerous".

You tended to push it to the back of your mind.

That was the first time that I find myself shaking after accident.

I felt sick. I felt…

I went in the motorhome and I was shaking all over my body.

And then… then the difficult situation was coming.

To say, you're going to drive, or not going to drive

I know there was a discussion.

I would have preferred them to cancel the race.

And I don't think Ayrton wanted to race either.

I think he felt something was wrong. He said,

"Something's not right, we shouldn't be racing".

Michael felt the same. He said, "Yeah, we shouldn't race".

But if they decide to race, then you have to do it.

You're under an obligation, in a way.

You don't really have a choice.

We're here with Bernie Ecclestone, "Mr. Formula 1", the FOCA president.

Bernie, there are some reactions, of course, of the drivers.

Some drivers say probably Imola is becoming too quick for Formula 1

and the cars in Imola are probably too dangerous to drive.

What do you say?

Rubbish. It's complete nonsense.

This was an unfortunate set of circumstances.

Which most… When these fatalities happen…

is… is normally what happens. You know?

It's never as clear-cut as it looks.

I find myself in Bernie Ecclestone's motorhome.

And drivers are coming in and out

because a lot of people are unsettled by what's happened with Ratzenberger.

But there's no question in Bernie's mind that the show must go on.

It was a strange weekend.

Not easy to focus on the race after everything that's happened.

But the fans are looking forward to the event in Imola.

And Ayrton Senna has to deliver.

After two retirements, he's yet to score a point.

A lot of pressure on the Brazilian.

It's clear to me that Senna is really, really unsettled.

He's really uncomfortable in his skin.

I've known him a few years

and I'd never seen him remotely like that before.

He doesn't really want to… to race.

He's having doubts about whether or not he should race.

But he feels he has to race. He feels compelled to race.

So now, with just seconds to go,

the grid is being cleared.

Please clear the grid. Please now clear the grid.

We're ready for the start here in Imola, the first of 61 laps.

The green flag is showing. They're ready to go.

Bruynseraede can press the button.

Now!

And Senna boils away. Schumacher second, Berger third.

You know, it's like a never-ending nightmare now.

This is unbelievable. There's been another crash.

That's the Benetton, it must be JJ Lehto's car.

And also Pedro Lamy in the Lotus.

We should not have been racing that weekend.

I've got no idea that things are going to get worse.

You hear the engine revs rise,

and the San Marino Grand Prix is go again.

And Schumacher's catching up, getting closer. You're thinking,

"Where will be his chance to overtake?"

Senna, followed by Schumacher.

Senna! My goodness!

Senna is off, he's out of the race!

Senna, a serious accident.

He's still in the car.

His head's moved. I think I just saw his head move a little bit then.

The race has been stopped. The red flag is out.

Michael Schumacher has also got out, and he's visibly shaken.

Michael Schumacher has stopped and got out of his car.

Helmet off, grim-faced.

And all is quiet at the Imola circuit.

The crowd has been stunned into silence.

It's rare in life that you find yourself in a situation,

especially with lots of other people,

where things feel out of control.

Out of control in the sense that there are forces at play

that are greater than you are.

Something cursed is happening here.

There's no more information coming from the FIA press office

and, uh, the press centre at the circuit here.

They're not going to give any information on Ayrton's condition

until they know it's official.

At the moment, if we look at the starting grid

the cars are being readied for a restart.

But really, it shouldn't go ahead.

That's also the opinion of Corinna, Michael Schumacher's girlfriend.

She came up to me just now with tears in her eyes and said,

"This is madness".

"They shouldn't be racing here!"

Ayrton Senna is being stretchered away as I talk.

Still unconscious, but, uh,

Senna is, as I speak to you, being put into the helicopter.

I have a statement in my hand

on the condition of Ayrton Senna.

And the statement is that Ayrton Senna suffered severe head injuries

which produced a deep coma.

and the electrical brain test

shows brain death.

Yeah.

Winning that race meant nothing.

We cancelled all the party, the podium,

champagne, and this and that, we cancelled everything.

Michael was obviously very distressed.

And he said, "I don't know what happened to him".

We were actually crying in the kitchen.

He said, "I don't want to do this anymore".

I can remember him saying that.

Whether he can remember saying it, I don't know, but he said,

"I don't want to do this".

"Why? Why did that happen to Ayrton?"

He was really touched about this situation, about, uh, Ayrton.

He was beside himself.

Everything just was… went into slow motion in a way afterwards.

The… The paddock was just silent.

I'll never forget the way he came into the motorhome

and sat down on the steps and cried.

He was completely distraught. He was beside himself.

No one could calm him down.

He told me, quite honestly,

that he was thinking about whether he'd even race again

in the next Grand Prix.

But the worst was really the two weeks after this.

Once I really have… have to… had to accept that it is…

That he is dead. I mean, this…

This was…

just something crazy.

Was it easy to… to drive again?

No.

I mean In Silverstone, I went there and…

You suddenly saw many things with different eyes.

I went around with a road car in Silverstone through the circuit

and I just thought, "This is a point you could be dead".

"This is a point you could be dead."

And I thought, "Crazy. You always tested here,

you always raced here, but there are so many points

you can crash and you can be immediately dead".

That's the only thing I was thinking of.

But when I went then in the car,

fortunately, I… I seemed to… to…

to be in… in this immediately and drive it,

not… not thinking anything of this any more.

You know where your limit is, but sometimes you try to push your limit.

And in this moment, I certainly didn't do this.

I knew my limit and I drove in my limit and I didn't try anything.

But I had to find out if this limit I used to know

is still a quick limit or if not.

I mean, at the time, people thought I'm… I'm completely cold

and, uh, have no emotions.

I got back in the car and drive.

But, I never express, I mean,

I don't express my feelings when I win, and I don't express on the other side.

I'm… I'm just that type of person.

But people that know me, they know what I am feeling.

But he never actually said to me,

"I don't know if I can still do this".

Do you think he was protecting you?

I think so.

Because for the people watching,

it's often even harder than it is for the ones that are out there doing it.

So we had this bench where we'd always sit whenever anything happened.

That's where we'd talk things through.

It was important to us not to end up snapping at each other or anything.

We never really did though, because…

At the beginning,

when I got louder, he got quieter.

And that was really clever.

There's strength in staying calm.

I thought, "He's handling this well".

Because when he'd get quiet and say, "Can we talk normally now?"

I'd say, "Yes, we can".

And just like that, he'd bring me back down.

Honestly, if I'd said, "I don't want you to race".

You can't stop a real racer from driving.

I wouldn't have stood a chance.

If someone else had taken that path and wasn't like Michael,

I wouldn't have gone along with it.

I only have one life.

And I'd only share that with someone I knew 100% was worth it.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have done it.

Not for God, not for money, not for kind words.

None of that mattered to me.

If you're with someone that you look forward to seeing every day,

that's something special.

And that's how it was.

Michael chose not to attend Senna's funeral.

Some drivers did, some drivers didn't.

There was a feeling perhaps, that

he wouldn't be welcome,

but I don't know whether that was true or not.

But I think Michael's decision not to go

also speaks to this side of him,

which is that he understands that he has emotions in him

that he can't necessarily always control.

He's a very sensitive person.

But he had to build a protective, hard shell around himself.

And Michael's overriding feeling was

that he must not ever allow his weaknesses to be seen.

Sometimes you can't go on, and you have to give up.

But I think one thing makes all the difference

and that's your mindset.

Michael was good at focusing on one thing and shutting everything else out.

He was a master at that.

When he was focused, he was completely in the zone.

And I think that helped him.

I was empty. Empty.

Didn't know what to think, didn't know what to feel.

I was happy about the… the… my own achievement,

but Senna was not there, so it was not the same.

That's Schumacher's sixth win of the season already.

Right now, Michael is driving like he's from another planet.

After all the devastating things that had happened,

there was finally some light again.

And you felt good because

you'd achieved something positive.

That was a nice feeling.

after that difficult time.

The championship seems almost decided.

Who can stop Schumacher and Benetton?

The fact was, Benetton and Michael Schumacher were so dominant

that people started asking, "How are they doing this?"

If someone wins all the time,

you start looking.

Why's he suddenly so fast? What's he done?

Your reaction, please, to all this controversy over…

Benetton has some sort of system that is not legal.

There are rumours circulating that you have been using

banned electronic systems.

In other words, traction control.

It's very easy to cast suspicions around in Formula 1.

And the feeling was that the Williams team, McLaren team

and Ferrari were part of that, you know, to undermine Benetton.

I think Michael has made one bad start all year.

I don't know if they were using traction control.

I can't prove it.

Senna had already been saying, two, or maybe three months before,

while he was still alive,

"I'm racing against an illegal car that doesn't comply with the regulations".

There's been so many incidents

where people have interpreted the regulations to suit their self

rather than what the regulations were written for.

And traction control was one of those things.

I feel that we have everybody against us, you know?

Because if Benetton was winning the world champion in Formula 1

that was downgrading everyone else

because Benetton was a T-Shirt maker.

So to have this group of people winning a race

and trying to win the championship.

Nobody like it.

Have some teams been cheating in Formula 1 this season?

Well, we found in Benetton's software…

…an automatic start program.

But as far as we know, it wasn't used this year.

I don't understand what's going on here.

Because we can't do any more

than prove that we're not using traction control.

I mean, I'm sorry.

All I can say is that the other teams are apparently just jealous.

And they can't handle our success.

They didn't need to actually prove that they were using traction control,

because if you think about it,

they did all the damage to Benetton and to Michael with suspicion.

For Michael, all of it was difficult because it just wouldn't stop.

Glorious weather at Silverstone,

the home of British Motor Racing.

This is what Britain has been waiting for.

Then at Silverstone, the man he was up against was Damon Hill.

His rival was no longer Ayrton Senna.

Suddenly, it was Damon Hill, an Englishman.

So Senna's passed away and Formula 1 is left with a situation

where you have Michael Schumacher, he needs a rival,

and Damon Hill steps up

to try and take on Michael in the championship.

It's the old "the Brit against the German."

Silverstone was always difficult for us. I mean the English, Damon…

We were practically in the lion's den.

What started in Silverstone was the beginning

of the competitive unravelling of Michael Schumacher's championship.

And really, before going into Silverstone,

he had the world championship pretty much exactly where he wanted it.

It was very unlikely that anyone was going to be able to catch him

in the second half of the championship.

And really, it started with a… a stupid mistake,

really, on Michael's part.

He did something really quite trivial,

but actually it snowballed into something really quite serious.

Please clear the grid. Please now clear the grid.

The formation lap gets underway.

Michael Schumacher immediately overtakes pole-sitter Damon Hill.

Very unusual, you just don't do that.

During the formation lap,

Michael Schumacher momentarily overtook Damon Hill's Williams.

"Why did he do that?" We're all sitting there looking at this.

"What… What's he doing?"

You know, you don't do this.

But Michael did it very obviously,

and to this day, I don't really know why.

I mean, to do it once is strange,

but to do it twice, is just out of order.

Schumacher overtakes Damon Hill again on the formation lap.

A clear breach of the Formula 1 regulations.

Everyone has to stay in their position.

How should I put it?

There are days when nothing goes right.

And it was one of those days.

And I'm 100% sure that it traces back to Imola.

That something reminded him or overwhelmed him.

Or didn't feel right.

From Imola on, Michael was different.

There was something inexplicable about it.

He knows exactly what he's doing.

He's not some beginner who would overtake on the formation lap.

I mean, come on.

We're just hearing that Michael Schumacher

has been given a five-second penalty

for illegally overtaking on the formation lap.

But where it really went wrong was when the penalty was issued,

Flavio and the team decided that this was incorrect

and they were going to argue it with the stewards.

It was not correct. It was completely wrong.

And so then, of course, the whole house of cards comes down

and they send a black flag out.

Now let's see.

Here he comes around the corner and there's the black flag. Definitely.

And it's for car number five.

That means Michael Schumacher is out of the race.

A black flag in Formula 1 is the same as a red card in a football match.

The player has to leave the field.

There's no argument. It has to happen.

And Michael doesn't do it.

He doesn't do it because the team instructs him not to do it,

but it's still his decision.

And Michael just keeps driving, and the team carries on

as if nothing's happened.

And we're thinking, "Hey, they've told him to come in".

He says he didn't see the flag.

The mirror was fogged up or, I don't know, maybe it was adjusted wrong,

he could only see birds.

The FIA, of course, didn't find that very amusing.

It was the first time people said, "My God, what kind of team is this?"

"And what kind of driver is that?"

We'll take him to task. We need to punish him.

One of the problems Michael had with '94 was that things he did,

he never got away with any of them.

whereas he always felt that Senna had got away with a lot in the past

and other teams were getting away with a lot in the past.

And yet somehow, Benetton was always getting nailed

for every single little thing that kept coming up.

That's what was really going on, was trying to teach an upstart a lesson.

In the case of Schumacher,

he was found guilty of ignoring the black flag.

He loses in any event, his points from the British Grand Prix,

because having been shown the black flag, he should have stopped

and that would have been an end of his race.

In addition to that, he has been banned for two races.

This was not a court, this was a dictator.

The dictator has decided we are disqualified.

We are disqualified. Simple as that.

Everything in FIA was fabricated before.

No defence.

Whatever lawyer you have, you have no defence.

They make the rules. That's just how it was.

In the end, what can you say? They suspended him.

It's tough when you get suspended.

When you realise the sand's slipping through your fingers

and you can't hold onto it.

I think if you're going to punish them,

they need to know they've been punished.

People need to be careful

because they start to believe they can walk on water.

And they drowned.

We're all obviously very disappointed with the decision.

It's definitely…

much harsher than I expected.

But we'll have to live with it.

And of course,

it's hard for the German fans

in Hockenheim.

Who were expecting me to race.

They'll certainly be very disappointed.

People used to go to Mallorca for their summer vacation.

Now they go camping for two weeks at Hockenheim.

I'm not joking. They spend their annual vacation there.

Isn't that wonderful?

-Isn't it noisy by the highway? -No.

We sleep well. We're used to it.

The kids have been coming since they were three.

It's lovely. Beautiful.

Hockenheim is crazy every year.

Sabi and Willi!

You could barely to the track because there were thousands of people

at the entrance wanting autographs.

Taking photos and so on.

Then you get there and it feels like Woodstock.

A whole makeshift Schumacher village has sprung up.

Schumi is the greatest Sha-la-la-la-la-la

Schumi is the greatest Sha-la-la-la-la-la

Every tent is decorated with Schumacher flags.

Every few metres, there's a cardboard cutout of Schumacher.

Ohh, how beautiful it is!

Shower, kiddie pool, it's unbelievable.

Yes, it's our Schumi.

I liked anyone who liked Michael.

It just made sense to me. I thought, "Yeah! That's great!"

"Now you've got it, exactly."

I had so much fun. I thought it was great.

Everyone felt connected to him, or like he was an old friend.

"Oh, I know him from way back."

"Oh, I know him really well."

That was Michael Schumacher.

He was one of us.

And another good thing is that he's very normal around people.

-Yeah, I agree. -I just like him.

He's a likeable guy. He's genuine.

And I hope he stays that way.

Olé, super Michael S!

Olé, super Michael S!

Olé, super Michael S!

German Formula 1 fans had been looking forward

to a big day at Hockenheim.

Now the event could turn into a fiasco,

as their idol has been suspended for two races.

They're trying to screw him over.

They don't want him to be world champion. That's how I see it.

Mansell did it once too.

Ignored a black flag.

And only got a one-race ban. And he gets two.

What can you say?

It's a disgrace!

Many German fans had built some fairly big and impressive bonfires

around the circuit perimeter and were threatening to set them afire

if Michael wasn't attending the Grand Prix.

They've all come to Hockenheim to see Michael Schumacher.

If he doesn't race, then what a letdown.

You just can't do that.

You know, if he's not racing Hockenheim,

we had the revolution of the people.

We had the people in the forest, put the wood together in the forest.

Put the fire in the wood, was a big casino.

The big question is.

"Will Schumacher race at Hockenheim next weekend?"

He has been informed, as has his lawyers,

that if they lodge an appeal before the German Grand Prix,

he can then race at the German Grand Prix,

and he can continue to race with all the normal rights of a driver,

until the appeal is heard.

Michael Schumacher's decision to appeal the Paris ruling

and his two-race suspension is not without risk.

The Benetton driver can now race at Hockenheim.

But his appeal could result in an even harsher penalty.

The expectations were always there, especially at Hockenheim.

And Michael really wanted to do something good for the fans.

They loved it.

And I don't think he wanted to take that away from them.

Even if it meant risking a harsher penalty later on.

Jubilation and relief in Hockenheim.

Local hero Michael Schumacher will, after all,

race in the German Grand Prix on Sunday.

Schumi! Schumi! Schumi! Schumi! Schumi! Schumi! Schumi!

Oh, we got goosebumps right away.

Thank God. Hey, man!

He's driving for the fans.

He's putting his world championship title on the line.

Just so he can drive for the fans.

You couldn't ask for more.

To be able to experience this crowd, this sea of flags.

To feel this atmosphere

and to be able to give something back to the people.

It's just fantastic.

And Katayama pulls away a little early, and there's a collision.

And a McLaren goes flying off.

Just twelve of twenty-six cars are left in the race.

An incredible development here.

I've never seen anything like it.

That just waving ocean sea of flags.

Flares being set off by the fans in the grandstands.

We didn't really need the telemetry to see where Michael was.

You could just see the flares

were just following the car around the track.

Michael is on Berger's tail. He wants to get past him.

He keeps probing and he's in the slipstream.

He almost got alongside him earlier, but it didn't work out.

Pit stop for Michael's teammate, that's Jos Verstappen.

Currently in fifth.

We have to get out, the Benetton pit is on fire!

We have to leave.

I see this fire engulf the car, engulf my teammates,

and suddenly notice that my arms are on fire.

All of this is unfolding in sort of click, click, click.

Absolute slow time in my own mind.

Everything was… and everybody

was virtually engulfed in flames.

You could see people running around, and, uh… and it was chaos.

There were people trying to rip their overalls off that were burning.

There were people calling out, "Medic, medic!"

Absolute pandemonium.

Of course, while all this is unfolding,

Michael is still in the race.

Schumacher trails Berger by around twenty seconds

and they're lapping at almost the same pace.

Smoke from Schumacher's car.

Yes, you can hear it clearly.

That doesn't sound healthy at all, and that's the end for Michael.

Who would've thought it?

He's banging his helmet in frustration.

That's a shame.

He wanted to give the 150,000 fans here

and of course, everyone watching at home,

the first German victory in a German Grand Prix.

Second-placed Michael Schumacher enters the pits.

That's it for Michael Schumacher at the German Grand Prix.

At his home race, of all places.

That's where this happens.

The relationship I have to the fans is something special.

I… I like to give them something.

I like to give them something back.

I like to be positive for the people.

They come there to enjoy their weekend.

They come there to see their driver winning the race or doing their best,

and they support me by doing that.

And that's something I'm very thankful for,

and… I want to give them something back for that.

You're completely fired up.

You have to give it everything beforehand,

and then something like that happens, the engine blows up,

and you think, "Oh God". But Michael just said,

"This isn't going to change my mindset or what we're trying to do".

"We're going to keep fighting."

So they all rolled up their sleeves and carried on.

One of the many changes that had been made to the cars

after Imola to try and slow them down

was what was colloquially known as "the plank".

And the FIA brought in a regulation that said that this… plank,

which was 10 millimetres thick,

uh, shouldn't wear down below nine millimetres.

And at the end of the race, cars are inspected

in what's called scrutineering.

And of course, one of the things they did this time

was to measure the plank,

and they found that in an area it was under nine millimetres.

Now, during the race, Michael had made a mistake

at one of the quicker corners.

And Michael Schumacher spins.

He'd gone over the kerbs and that had put some gouges in the plank.

We were arguing, well, actually, you know, that's what had worn the plank down.

The Belgian Grand Prix. And the string of scandals won't let up.

At his favourite track in Spa, the German easily dominated the race.

But five hours later, Schumacher was disqualified once again.

In some areas, the wooden plank under his Benetton

was one point six millimetres too thin.

And you just think, "Oh, not again".

You know… how… how can this still be happening to us?

We knew. We knew beyond any doubt

that Michael had won that race absolutely 100% fair and square.

And I remember him saying, "This is such nonsense".

You only have to drive over something once

and that's it.

Rival Damon Hill takes the points for the win.

And the World Championship, which had seemed all but certain,

is wide open again.

Schumacher out!

The stewards of the Belgian Grand Prix have decided to inflict

a penalty on Mild Seven Benetton Ford and the driver Michael Schumacher

of exclusion from the event.

That really upset me.

Because I thought it was so unfair.

Then the next day, the newspaper comes out with "Cheating Schumi".

And they were so proud of themselves.

I thought it was so typical of us Germans.

We've got our hero, and then we start tearing him down, looking for faults.

Of course it's difficult.

You're standing in front of him saying, "Come on, Michael, you're so successful".

"So what's all this about?"

And then someone asks, "So, tell us, how bad are things for you right now?"

With a smile.

And that's when he would clench his jaw.

When that happened

and you could see movement here, when he'd clench his jaw,

then I knew things were starting to get serious.

He said, "First of all, they always ask me the same questions".

"Second, no matter what I do, it's never right."

"So either I'm a robot, or I'm arrogant."

What hasn't been written, read, heard and seen

about Cheating Schumi.

Yes, it bothered him.

He was bothered, and who wouldn't be?

It was sometimes really intrusive. And inconsiderate.

Sometimes Michael would say, "You know what?"

"Let's not read anything for three days."

With all of these moments happening around specific incidents,

whether it be the plank, whether it be the refueling,

whether it be the traction control,

all these things that are kind of chipping away

at Benetton and the team.

And Michael keeps finding himself having to go to these formal FIA hearings

and put a tie on and behave in a certain way.

All of which he absolutely hates.

Michael Schumacher and his team, Benetton, versus the FIA.

The saga continued yesterday in Paris.

Michael, you came into this feeling quite optimistic.

After this, let's say, scandalous ruling,

your mood must be at rock bottom.

I don't want to talk about my mood right now.

The point is that a decision has been made.

And I have to accept it.

If we deduct the points and those from Belgium,

four out of sixteen races are gone.

That's a fact and that…

And it looks like I'll have to try and win the World Championship with twelve races.

To find yourself going from a situation

where you've got the World Championship absolutely in your control

in the first half of the season, to it being completely out of your control

and feeling like it's being taken away from you,

is a really, really uncomfortable feeling for Michael.

And something he has to kind of wise up to and come to terms with.

He now realises he's part of a big game

and there are ways to play it, and there are ways not to play it.

I mean, he was… he was a young guy from Kerpen

who had got himself to the top of the tree in Formula 1

and had to deal with situations like this

without any of the tools for dealing with them.

I'm a person who… who can't live with lies.

And… what I have found out this year, that…

there are a lot of things like this around

and… I'm… I'm not really happy with this,

but that's life, and either you get used to it

or you have a problem.

But I'm certainly disappointed.

Everybody, somebody is quick, you think immediately he's cheating.

And I think that shouldn't be the attitude.

I think that

Michael was actually seeing the championship slipping away from him.

And he was seeing this massive lead that he'd had

just being eroded and eroded and eroded.

I tried to relieve the tension by telling him,

"We've still got many years ahead of us".

From what I remember,

it was, uh… it was, for Michael…

I mean, it was a dream to win a championship.

I mean, it was… Michael wanted to be a world champion

when he was five years old.

Why does a kid,

because he didn't have enough money, pull old tires out of the trash,

put them on, and drive with them?

That's really a character trait.

It was always about competing…

with maybe less equipment than everyone else.

So, really, you want to win. Sure.

But you also want to win the right way.

Because anything else will be held against you.

Everything comes out in the end.

Racing drivers are a different breed.

They have this rage to compete.

Uh, It's like a fire, it's like a flame,

uh, that pushes them to do what they do.

Obviously, it's extremely difficult, it's extremely dangerous,

but that's part of the attraction.

The more difficult something is, the greater the satisfaction

that they get from it.

Your first championship, I think, is probably the one

that's psychologically the most difficult.

It's a sort of, "I could win the world championship".

"Am I going to be in this position to do it again?"

And therefore, the pressure of winning that first championship

or the pressure of maybe losing that first championship,

must be immense.

The main important thing is that you, you, you…

That you have to have the motivation yourself.

When… When I had to find my motivation,

then, then it was, um, just… for myself.

To… To get myself out of the deepness I have been in

and, um, and get very strong.

He used that time to train because he wasn't allowed to race.

Four hours a day, sometimes four or five.

Damon Hill wins the Italian Grand Prix

and another race out for Michael Schumacher.

Damon Hill, he's done it, he's won.

And with that, there is just one point between Hill and Schumacher

with 3 world championship races remaining.

You got a message for your main opponent, Michael Schumacher?

Uh, yes, I have actually.

Michael, um, come back as soon as possible.

But, uh… You know, we're missing you, believe me.

When Michael rejoined us in Jerez in Spain,

he came back to us looking more refreshed.

Toned, leaner,

more eager to drive than ever before.

But what became apparent to me was, once again,

more evidence of Michael's ability to turn a potential negative

into a positive.

He was a master at motivating people and inspiring them,

making everyone believe…

that they could only do it together.

He was loved by the team.

And he was loved by the team because he cared about the team.

He was a part of the team.

And very often, I think a lot of drivers don't feel that they're part of the team.

They feel that they are the important part.

Where are my guys?

And of course that… that level of care

just meant everything to those who were working with him.

Because none of us had worked with a driver

who had that sort of personality before.

Michael came back in the car after, um… to want… to race.

And, uh… He was a leader like usual. He was a…

He was really a leader.

He is born for race.

He's, uh…

He want to win. He was a winner.

That was the story, of course.

The story was England versus Germany.

Good versus evil.

For the English media, it was brilliant.

"High Noon in Jerez", The Duel",

"The Full-Throttle Finale," "Psychological Warfare".

There has been no shortage of headlines in the build-up to the third-to-last race

of the 1994 Formula 1 World Championship.

It hasn't been this exciting in years.

Schumacher, beautiful start!

Schumacher looking absolutely unbeatable.

Konnichiwa and welcome to the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka.

Michael Schumacher could become world champion today

if he scores at least five more points than his great rival Damon Hill.

I think for the first time that season, I saw Michael…

I wouldn't go as far as say panicking.

But definitely his approach was a little bit different.

His mindset was a little bit different.

He was concerned, there's no doubt about it.

Damon had everything to play for.

Michael had everything to lose.

Please clear the grid. Please now clear the grid.

Suzuka in '94 turned into

just a catastrophe in terms of weather.

Rain, accidents on track…

During the race, I was having to talk to Michael a lot.

And I got the impression during that race that Michael wasn't really with me.

And it's the first time I'd ever felt that.

The normal, very calm, very calculating,

very understanding, very humane Michael

wasn't there that day.

And it was compounded perhaps by the fact that

Damon actually drove the race of his life that day.

Damon Hill wins the Japanese Grand Prix!

Then Hill wins, and suddenly the championship is wide open.

You could see Damon Hill growing more confident.

While Schumacher was increasingly unsure of himself.

Michael!

Michael!

Michael!

We arrive in Australia, it was the last race.

Last chance to be world champion.

And naturally, sure, everybody has a lot of pressure.

I told Michael, "I'm sure Damon Hill have the same pressure we have".

"It's not only us with the pressure."

Michael had missed four races, for one reason or another.

Naturally, that gave the competition a boost.

But then you have to try to turn it around again, that's the thing.

Either it works, or it doesn't. It was a fifty-fifty chance.

It's more important to be there when things aren't going well.

When everything's good, it's nice if you're there.

But that's when you're not needed as much.

It's something Bernie Ecclestone would have dreamed of.

You've got a rivalry for the championship.

One point separating Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill.

Australia.

We were really…

…all so nervous.

And that is the first time in my memory

that anything like that has happened as dramatically to Michael Schumacher

with the car being very badly damaged.

Major rebuild job for the Benetton team.

And of course, psychologically, that is bound to affect Michael Schumacher

when he goes out tomorrow.

It is unusual for him to have an accident.

And I guess I'm thinking, you know,

"Is the pressure getting to him?"

But we all make mistakes.

Michael didn't make many of them.

All I'm feeling is,

"What have we got to do to win this championship?"

We have a one point lead.

It's meaningless.

CITY OF KERPEN ERFT DISTRICT

In the history of German television,

I don't think so many Germans had ever gathered in front of their TVs

that early in the morning.

I think it was five o'clock or something in Germany.

Schumi is on at five.

So we don't miss it.

Schumi! Schumi! Schumi!

Schumi! Schumi!

Decision day.

For the first time since 1986,

the Formula 1 world champion will be decided

in the sixteenth and final race.

And with that, welcome to the fifth continent.

Welcome to Adelaide, Australia.

The atmosphere was electric.

Who will win? Who will come out on top?

And the stars were aligned for Damon.

Adelaide in 1994 was probably

one of the most stressful races I've ever been involved in.

As an engineer, you understand mathematics.

You understand probabilities.

You understand that there are so many ways

things can go wrong and that you can lose a championship.

You realize that the 15 races before didn't count for anything.

This is a one race shootout.

Michael has to finish ahead of Hill.

That's all that matters in this race.

He has to defend his one-point lead over Hill.

He doesn't have to win.

He can finish fifth, so long as Hill finishes sixth.

That's all that matters.

I think the whole team felt the pressure.

Mansell at the front, Michael next to him, and in third place, Damon Hill.

Australia is go!

Damon Hill on the left, Schumacher leads.

Schumacher leads on the first corner.

Michael is through!

Schumacher leads Mansell and Hill has also passed Mansell.

Damon Hill is closing on Michael Schumacher,

no doubt about that.

And you can see how close Hill is behind Michael Schumacher.

The way they were lined up, driving one behind the other the whole time.

Hill was actually quicker, while Schumacher was defending.

You could tell Hill had the pace. He was actually quicker.

Michael is fighting. He can't pull away from Hill,

which isn't a good sign.

We could not find an advantage

to help Michael.

The Williams car, Damon Hill,

were absolutely the same as us.

Everything we did.

They did.

Michael comes into the pits.

What about Damon Hill? Yes, they're coming in together.

This is terrific excitement!

Now, who will have the quicker pit stop?

Schumacher has to get out quick, otherwise Hill takes the lead.

No, it works.

Schumacher comes out ahead, but Hill is already back out as well.

For several laps now, Damon Hill has been

right on Michael Schumacher's tail.

This is the battle for the world championship.

Damon Hill keeps closing in on Schumacher.

You're thinking, "No, not now. Don't let him past".

It's that long straight. He's got a very powerful engine.

Can we do it?

And there's trouble!

Schumacher is off!

Oh! Out goes Schumacher!

Contact between Schumacher and Hill, and Schumacher's out.

The German is out of the Australian Grand Prix.

An incredible development!

Schumacher comes to a stop.

Damon Hill only has to keep going to be World Champion of 1994.

But can he keep going?

At that moment, I saw Michael standing by the fence

and I felt sorry for everyone.

Damon obviously extremely worried.

The question is, how long is it going to take them

to repair whatever damage there was?

You see, he's been in the pits for about 16 seconds now.

An issue with the track rod,

with the wishbone.

If they're both out, Michael Schumacher is World Champion.

It doesn't look like he'll be able to continue.

Damon Hill climbs out.

Damon Hill retires from the Australian Grand Prix.

Then you see someone whisper something in his ear,

and he grabs his head. He can hardly believe it.

And then he realises he's World Champion.

And so do we, up in the commentary box.

We're World Champions!

The 1994 World Championship

has been won by Michael Schumacher.

Then it suddenly became so…

Then you think, "This can't be real", you can't believe it.

Everyone was so happy.

Everything became… so light.

Schumi, Schumi!

In the end, you know…

it was justice.

And, um, God was watching from… from the sky

and, uh, and, uh…

helped us to be World Champion as well.

It was crazy.

It all seemed so far away that you couldn't really believe it.

It's funny, you know, when you look at, uh, Michael

at the start of 1994 and you look at Michael at the end

and you see someone who,

although they don't look like they visibly aged very much,

you can see in his eyes

a driver who's aged probably five or ten years in one season.

Almost like a child who's had his eyes kind of opened

to the realities of the world

and the brutal environment that he… he inhabits.

But at the same time, coming out on top.

If people still want to say,

"This was like this", or, "That wasn't right".

Michael had twelve races and the others had sixteen races.

That says it all.

He did a great job.

And, as we know, there's a lot more to come

Michael Schumacher became the most successful German driver

in F1 history.

He became a seven-time world champion.

1994 was the birth of the legend.