Rivalries exist in every sport, whether it’s Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic or Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier. In Formula 1, the late 80s and early 90s were dominated by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
That changed in the mid-1990s when Prost retired and Senna’s life was claimed at Imola in 1994, with the baton being passed on to Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill.
Hill inherited his position at Williams under difficult circumstances after Senna’s death, while Schumacher was the upcoming talent racing for one of F1’s most scandal-ridden teams, Benetton.
Their infamous collision in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix at Adelaide has been written into F1 legend, after it effectively sealed the first of seven titles for Schumacher.
The German was leading the race when he made a mistake and collided with a barrier, enabling Hill to draw alongside and attempt an overtake. Hill only needed to finish ahead of Schumacher to secure the title, but Schumacher had other ideas.
He blocked Hill’s attempt by causing a collision with his front suspension, causing Benetton to leap into the air and stop at the adjacent barrier. Hill continued but, after pitting, found that his front suspension was too damaged to continue.
A relieved Schumacher could be seen on the sidelines celebrating his title victory, but Hill would later get his revenge in a move at the 1995 British Grand Prix.
Damon Hill seeks revenge on Michael Schumacher after Adelaide
Hill and Schumacher were once again in a battle for the title in 1995, and the Briton was seeking some retribution after feeling cheated out of the 1994 championship.
Trailing Schumacher by nine points in the Drivers’ Championship after eight rounds of the season, Hill knew he needed to swing the points in his favour.
After 42 laps of the race, Schumacher was comfortably ahead by 1.5 seconds on a one-stop strategy, having jumped Hill who was on a two-stop.
But with Hill on fresh tyres, the 1.5s gap was quickly trimmed down to 0.5s two laps later. The Williams driver was close on Lap 46 and made a move when Schumacher appeared to leave the door open at the old Priory section of Silverstone.
Sensing a move, Hill lunged up the inside, only for Schumacher to begin his turn-in as they approached the apex. Hill locked his brakes and his front right smashed into the side of Schumacher, taking both of them out of the race.
Michael Schumacher calls Damon Hill ‘really stupid’ for British GP 1995 crash
It was an ambitious move from Hill, but overhead camera footage from the TV helicopter showed that Schumacher had left him a lot of room.
It was only as he spotted Hill making the dive that he slowed sooner than usual and attempted to take the corner, by which point the Williams driver had committed and was always heading to the scene of the accident.
An irate Schumacher got out of his car and told Hill exactly what he felt before a marshal intervened. Speaking to the media afterwards, he didn’t hold back.
“I think what Damon did was totally unnecessary. In fact, it was really stupid,” said Schumacher (via F1.com).
“I know Damon wanted to win his home Grand Prix badly, but it was a crazy manoeuvre. There was no room for two cars and there is no place to overtake there. Even if you brake in the first part and you turn in, it is almost impossible – if I hadn’t been there I think he would have gone straight into the gravel.”
Hill felt he was in the right and was clearly still irked by the 1994 title showdown: “I was a racing driver doing what racing drivers do – which is to try and get past the bloke in front and win. The fact is, you’ve got an alternative of a rock and a hard place. He refuses to finish second to anyone.”
The stewards would eventually determine that there was “equal blame on both parts” and issued a suspended one-race ban for Hill.