81st, Dramatic Suzuka Victory: Hill Outpaces Schumacher in Downpour
The world title should long since have been settled, but this was a season scarred by tragedy following the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at Imola, and controversy as teams, Benetton in particular, were accused of flouting the rules.
Michael Schumacher had been disqualified at Silverstone and Spa – and barred from taking part at Monza or Estoril, following his failure to respect a black flag in Britain – so the campaign’s dominant force was effectively competing in 12 races to everybody else’s 16.
As a result, he led the standings by only five points when teams arrived in Japan – where Damon Hill needed to beat the German to be sure of taking the title fight to the Australian finale.
In a proper Japanese deluge, Schumacher led initially and was 6.8sec clear of Hill when the race was red-flagged after 14 laps, Martin Brundle having spun off and struck a course worker – the latest in a string of mishaps, including accidents on the pit straight. The unfortunate marshal suffered a broken leg and the race resumed once he had been treated and the rain eased.