Schumacher, 30 years ago the first magic in red: what a triumph at Montmeló

Ferrari, 30 years ago Schumacher’s dance in the rain It’s 2 June 1996, and while the Italian Republic celebrates 50 years, in Catalonia the winter gives a final and belated blow with low temperatures and a storm on the Montmeló circuit. The Spanish GP is therefore held on a track drenched by a deluge that has rarely appeared on a race weekend, at least in recent decades. Certainly, today one would not even remotely think of racing in those conditions. The real cyclone, however, is called Michael Schumacher. Fresh from two world titles with Benetton, the expectations on the German at the start of his adventure at Ferrari are very high. The F310 is a slow and unreliable car, and only the Kaiser manages to push it to the limit. Not always with the desired results: for example two weeks earlier, after taking pole in Monte Carlo, Schumacher hit the wall on the first lap of the craziest GP ever. The one who arrives in Catalonia, therefore, is an angry pilot, burdened by murmurs about the mistake in the Principality. And he writes history at Montmeló, with his first victory in Ferrari. And what a victory… After having conquered third position on the grid under a scorching sun – but 1″ from Damon Hill’s pole position – the rain met Schumacher, giving him the opportunity to show off his boundless talent under the water. The track is a swimming pool and Kaiser swims there 4″ faster than the others: he can even allow himself a slow start, which brings him to P6 on the first lap, but already on the eighth lap he is close to Jacques Villeneuve and Jean Alesi, while Hill collects off-track runs in series: at the third strike, he retires. On the following lap – the 12th – Schumacher made the decisive attack on Villeneuve, making an appointment on the podium: 45 seconds to Alesi, 48 to the Canadian, in a car full of ailments and problems, the penultimate of John Barnard and the last in the version with the low nose.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-06-03 02:01:00