Irvine lost his sense of humour when the front turning vanes on his car were proved to be illegal after a complaint from a rival team member to Charlie Whiting, who investigated the complaint and upheld it. Schumacher’s car was passed. But just how do you spot a 15 millimetre difference in a racing car in the space of a few seconds? And how did it happen?
Although this turning vane was a Maranello development, John Barnard had his own theory on the first question. ‘I suspect that there was a picture somewhere in a magazine which had a front shot of the car. There are always set pieces on a racing car which act as reference points. You know the width across the front wheels, the size of the front tyres and so on, so you can very quickly scale up the other parts of the car. If you look at enough Formula One cars you tend to know where everything finishes. If something looks high you tend to get a rule out and start measuring it and you scale it and then you say, “I think that front turning vane is illegal.” The next stop is to go to Charlie Whiting and ask him to check it. If it is outside the legal limit, you’re in trouble and that is what happened.’
Ascanelli was his usual blunt self concerning the second question. ‘The fact is that before going to France, the car was never put together at Maranello, it was put together in France and it was never checked. It shouldn’t have happened, there were many mistakes from many points of view and you pay for it on the circuit. In 12 years of motor racing, I’ve faced many legality problems and this wasn’t the worst, but it still shouldn’t have happened.’
On race day, there was the unusual event of having a Ferrari on pole position and a Ferrari last on the grid, due to Irvine’s disqualification for the illegal turning vane. That wasn’t to last long. On the warm-up lap, Schumacher’s engine blew up in a puff of smoke and his race was over before it had even begun. He didn’t even have time to pull over before the Italian media picked up their poisoned pens and went to town. It was a black day for the Italian racing giants. Schumacher climbed out of the car with a thunderous expression on his face. He later admitted, ‘When I got out of the car, I was so angry I could have hit someone.’
To make matters worse for Ferrari, Irvine dropped out after five laps with gearbox problems. The Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport called the French Grand Prix a funeral procession, rather than a race. True to form the media soon started to call for heads to roll, and at the top of their list was Jean Todt. However, unlike in the past Ferrari was determined to keep its problems in house and not make public sacrifices. Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo was hot on the phone to Todt as soon as the Ferraris were out of the race. He was bitterly disappointed, but reconfirmed his faith in Todt and the team. They would sort out their problems by working hard and sticking together.
Back at Maranello, the inquest started. It was found that the engine problem was caused by incorrectly machined piston heads. Of course, it wasn’t to be found only on that engine and the mechanics had to work day and night to check all the other engines. There is an inspection department at Maranello which makes spot checks on all items. It would be impossible to check every single part and would require at least 40 people working full time. This would cost a fortune and would be impractical. The pressures in Formula One mean that things can and do go wrong. The problem was that things were going wrong in a fairly catastrophic manner.
Ascanelli was as pragmatic as ever. ‘Every time I wake up I struggle because we are not winning. But the important thing is to keep on trying. I believe that if we concentrate on doing the best job and don’t worry about the pressure, sooner or later we will win. Personally, I’d like to achieve it sooner!’
A VISIT FROM THE BOSS
THE TENSION WAS ALMOST TANGIBLE
The pressure was on. The legendary Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli was due to visit the team at the British Grand Prix, as was Luca di Montezemolo. There was no room for mistakes. Being placed under this kind of pressure would be enough to make even the most experienced mechanic nervous. After all, Agnelli is one of the most influential men in Italy, far more important than the transitory prime ministers who come and go at regular intervals. And Montezemolo is his man and their chief.
It is in this type of situation that Schumacher comes into his own. His focused, Teutonic nature allows no interruptions during Grand Prix weekends. He refuses to do any interviews outside of the official FIA interviews which take place at prearranged times over the race weekend. He undertakes only minimal sponsorship activities such as brief appearances for Shell and Asprey to meet their guests. His attitude is that he is paid to race and win, and his energy must be concentrated on this task.
To this end he does not allow disturbances in the garage, and that includes the presence of bosses. If he thinks Agnelli or Montezemolo are making people nervous he will ask them to leave. Exuding the determination and confidence of a double World Champion, no one questions him. As John Barnard has said, ‘Schumacher’s ability to impose calm on the team has been vital.’ Never more so than at Silverstone.
The team stayed at The Saracen’s Head hotel in Towcester, which has been team headquarters for a number of years. The only problem is that it overlooks the road. Schumacher was not impressed. He arrived at the reception desk to complain about the noise. The receptionists were equally unimpressed by the double and current World Champion. They had regular guests who had already booked in to quieter parts of the hotel. A stand off situation was reached, which was only relieved when the Italians (as ever) found a compromise and moved another couple of people around to allow Schumacher to have a quiet room in which he could sleep.
It was at Silverstone that Edward Asprey realized what it meant to be part of the most glamorous, adored team in Formula One. ‘I was walking through the gates to the paddock, when a young boy came up and thrust his autograph book at me, along with a picture of Ferrari for me to sign. I was taken aback and said, “But I’m not part of the actual team.” He just said, “But you’re part of Ferrari”, and I realized what it meant to be part of the mystique, power and image that is Ferrari.’
At 10.50 am on the Friday morning, Montezemolo walked into the Ferrari garage and greeted everyone. At 11.10 am, 10 minutes into the practice session, Claudio Berro and Giorgio Ascanelli took their places on the pit wall. There was still no sign of Gianni Agnelli, who was having trouble getting through security! Bernie Ecclestone and co. introduced a new system for the 1996 season, which involved everyone with pit and paddock passes going through a machine turnstile, into which they would swipe special cards, like credit cards, which recorded their arrival and departure. It was designed, with valid reasons, to stop people from handing passes through the fence once they had got into the paddock. But it was having an off day.
Eventually, Agnelli was allowed through and he walked onto the pit wall at 11.20 am with his VIP party. Todt remained in place studying the monitor in front of him. The tension in the air was almost tangible. Agnelli is rather like an agnostic Pope, in that he has absolute power. This is demonstrated by his ability to manipulate and achieve his will through quiet manoeuvres, rather than the usual Latin way of noisy, overt demonstrations of police escorts and loud exclamations. A presence such as his is rare to see. Even the normally, contentious media are respectful and quiet, and uncritical.
After his few, succinct words, he duly faded into the mists, leaving Montezemolo to take over. Montezemolo ate with the team on Friday evening and stayed until after the qualifying session on Saturday. He was also determined to impose calm and order on the team. Despite the problems, everyone was looking to the future and Schumacher was a key element. ‘We are extremely pleased with Michael Schumacher and it is important to know that he is pleased with Ferrari. I’ve told Todt to start to talk to him about renewing his contract. I like the idea of having Schumacher for three years.’ In the end Schumacher signed a four-year contract up to and including 1999.
At Silverstone Schumacher