Schumacher’s Pit Lane Win: The Legendary Moment That Shook the FIA’s Rules

Michael Schumacher won F1 race from pit lane and forced major FIA rule change that is still in place

Schumacher’s win brought about significant change at the FIA – with three stewards resigning.

Michael Schumacher once won a Formula 1 race from the pit lane in one of the most controversial incidents in the sport’s history.

During the 1998 season, the German was locked in a Drivers’ Championship battle with McLaren and Mika Hakkinen.

Schumacher, who was attempting to win his first title with Ferrari, was 12 points behind his championship rival heading into the British Grand Prix.

The pair lined up on the front row of the grid at Silverstone, with Hakkinen almost half a second quicker in qualifying.

Part of the Grand Prix was ran in wet conditions, with Hakkinen stretching out a commanding lead over Schumacher heading into the final third of the race.

The Finnish driver would spin into the gravel and lose time, but managed to start his car again despite damage.

A safety car was then deployed due to the increasingly dangerous conditions, and Schumacher passed Hakkinen for the lead shortly after the restart.

Hakkinen slid off the track after the restart, allowing Schumacher through (Image: ITV / FOM)Hakkinen slid off the track after the restart, allowing Schumacher through (Image: ITV / FOM)

Hakkinen slid off the track after the restart, allowing Schumacher through (Image: ITV / FOM)

Then came the controversy.

Schumacher was given a 10-second time penalty for overtaking another car under the safety car period, which is prohibited under FIA rules.

However, back in 1998, procedures were nowhere near as digitally advanced as today, with the stewards delivering a hand-written note to Ferrari detailing the penalty.

There were two major issues, with Ferrari claiming that they didn’t know whether the penalty was a 10-second penalty – which would have been added to Schumacher’s time at the end of the race – or a 10-second stop-and-go sanction.

The German had built up such a significant lead that a time penalty would not have changed the result, but a stop-and-go penalty would force him to pit and lose the lead – in theory.

The key issue was that, when the penalty notice was delivered to Ferrari, there were only two laps of the race remaining.

Technical director Ross Brawn decided that Schumacher would pit on the final lap of the race to serve a stop-and-go penalty, as a precaution.

The German therefore drove into his pit box, and was still serving his penalty as Mika Hakkinen crossed the start-finish line.

However, Schumacher had already taken the chequered flag – because his pit box was positioned after the finish line.

After chaotic scenes in the days and weeks that followed the incident, Schumacher was ultimately allowed to keep his race victory.

The FIA’s International Court of Appeal clarified that he had received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, which would have caused him to finish in second place, or even in third behind team-mate Eddie Irvine.

But they also concluded that the stewards had committed two key errors, with the main error being that they had exceeded the allowed time limit for notifying Ferrari about the penalty.

McLaren claimed Schumacher’s win was ‘illegal’ but their protest against the result proved unsuccessful.

Michael Schumacher (pictured with Ferrari team principal Jean Todt) celebrates after winning the 1998 British GP (Image: Getty)Michael Schumacher (pictured with Ferrari team principal Jean Todt) celebrates after winning the 1998 British GP (Image: Getty)

Michael Schumacher (pictured with Ferrari team principal Jean Todt) celebrates after winning the 1998 British GP (Image: Getty)

In an extraordinary development, all three stewards that were on the panel at Silverstone handed in their licences to the FIA.

The FIA then agreed to adopt a new system whereby the race director would be responsible for informing teams about penalty, as well as displaying steward decisions on the timing monitors.

That system has been developed as technology has improved over the years, but is fundamentally the same rule, with major decisions always appearing on the timing screens as well as in other graphical forms.

Schumacher would go on to lose the 1998 Drivers’ Championship to Hakkinen, having been forced to retire in two of the last three races.

The pair were involved in a tight tussle for the championship again in 1999 but, when F1 returned to Silverstone, Schumacher suffered a broken leg after a brake failure on lap one.

Although the German returned to action before the end of the season, he was out of championship contention and instead played a supporting role in team-mate Irvine’s unsuccessful attempt to topple Hakkinen.

Related Posts

Loose Women star Denise Welch’s three word warning after being scammed for thousands

Denise Welch has opened up about how she was scammed of thousands of pounds after making a huge error – and is warning others not to do…

Kym Marsh suffers another tragic family loss as she shares heartbreaking tribute

Actress Kym Marsh has revealed her family has suffered another devastating death as she paid an emotional tribute on her social media following the loss of her…

David Beckham makes big gesture on social media towards son Brooklyn amid rift

David Beckham showed his support for his eldest son Brooklyn Beckham on social media this week following rumours of a rift between some of the family in…

Clarkson’s Farm star Harriet Cowan claims she is ‘not making any money’ despite show

Harriet Cowan became a hit with Clarkson’s Farm viewers when she stepped in to help Jeremy Clarkson while Kaleb Cooper went away as she revealed the harsh…

Danniella Westbrook confesses her biggest regret as she looks back on her troubled past

Former EastEnders actress Danniella Westbrook says she doesn’t have any career regrets, but drugs will “always” be her biggest regret, as she’s opened up about her past…

Alex Jones fights tears as her rarely-seen husband appears on The One Show

Alex Jones was brought to tears during tonight’s episode of The One Show as her rarely-seen husband Charlie made a surprise appearance as she celebrated 15 years…