Legitimacy of Michael Schumacher’s first title questioned by veteran journalist shortly after Felipe Massa did the same to Lewis Hamilton

As former F1 driver Felipe Massa raises his pitchfork against Lewis Hamilton's first world championship and the controversial 2008 F1 Singapore GP, Michael Schumacher's first world championship is also targeted by a respected journalist.

All the way back in 1994, Schumacher was racing for his first F1 world title of his career. However, the season was not the easiest for him as former F1 driver Damon Hill was right behind him in terms of points.

The 1994 F1 Australian GP was the last race of the season, before which Schumacher was only one point ahead of Hill.

During the race, Michael Schumacher collided with the wall, which allowed Damon Hill to take the lead. However, the German driver returned and overtook the Williams driver. A few corners after this, Schumacher collided with Hill. While the Benetton driver's race ended then and there, Hill tried to continue but had to retire from the race as well.

Since both title contenders were out of the race, the one-point difference remained the same, crowning Michael Schumacher the 1994 world champion.

It was not Damon Hill himself who spoke anything about Schumacher's first world championship and how it was unfairly won by the German. Instead, it was another respected journalist named Roger Benoit.

In a recent interview with Blick, Benoit praised Schumacher for being one of the best drivers in F1 but stated that he only won six of the world championships fairly. Later, he mentioned the crash with Hill and how his first world championship must be taken away from him.

“As a six-time World Champion, he certainly belongs in the top five. Of course, I know that he was World Champion seven times. But the 1994 title should actually be taken away from him, because he only won it because of his foul on Damon Hill,” Benoit said.

This is similar to what Felipe Massa is currently claiming. Since the crash of Nelson Piquet Jr. in the 2008 F1 Singapore GP was intentionally orchestrated by Renault, Massa was unable to score decent points, which turned the tables on his title battle with Lewis Hamilton.

Massa is hence trying to sue F1 and the FIA for knowing the crashgate and still allowing the race to be valid.

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Aston Martin sporting director on discovering Michael Schumacher's talent in 1991

Although Michael Schumacher is currently considered the best F1 racing driver, he was already turning heads when he was a new kid in the paddock. In 1991, Jordan GP tested him around the Silverstone circuit and was surprised to see the pace of the young Schumacher.

Aston Martin's sporting director Andy Stevenson was part of the Jordan GP team at the time.

Reminiscing about Schumacher's test at Silverstone in an interview with Bild, he stated:

“After two or three laps [at Silverstone], he was already faster than anything we had achieved before. He was hitting lap times after lap times. I distinctly remember saying to a friend after the test session, ‘We’ve just tested a future world champion.’ It was completely obvious. He made the car dance through the chicanes.”

Finally, Michael Schumacher got the golden opportunity to race with the team at the 1991 Belgian GP.