Watch: When Michael Schumacher secured a podium finish despite being stuck in 5th gear

Championship leader Michael Schumacher started the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix on pole and built up a nearly 18 second lead over title rival Damon Hill by lap 20.

The German looked set to further extend his championship lead with a fifth consecutive race victory until his Benetton B194 lost most of its gears. Stuck in fifth gear, Schumacher held off a charging Hill for as long as he could and managed to finish the race in second place.

Being aware that he had enough of a gap behind him to secure a solid finish, Michael Schumacher carried on rather than retiring when the problems hit. Using his experience from sportscar racing, he expertly managed to keep his car from stalling at slow speeds.

Furthermore, Schumacher even pitted for fresh tires and fuel twice during the race and managed to get away from the pit box in fifth gear.

In one of the most closely contested seasons in F1 history, Schumacher’s strong results in Spain helped him ultimately clinch his maiden F1 world title in the controversial season finale.

Meanwhile, Damon Hill ended Michael Schumacher’s domination of the season so far by taking his and Williams’ first victory of the season. The emphatic win came just four weeks after Ayrton Senna’s tragic death at Imola.

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When Michael Schumacher snatched victory away from McLaren with “19 qualifying laps”

The 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix witnessed one of the greatest strategic “masterstrokes” in F1 history. Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher, aiming to bring back championship success to Maranello, was up against the dominant McLaren-Mercedes team led by Mika Hakkinen.

Outqualified by both McLarens, Schumacher was stuck behind David Coulthard for the first half of the race at a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult.

With a comfortable gap to fourth place, Michael Schumacher and Ferrari had nothing to lose. The team chose to go for an aggressive three-stop strategy and pulled off an audacious move that kept McLaren guessing. Schumacher snatched the race lead away from Mika Hakkinen to score his fifth race victory of the season.

Making sure not to alert their rivals, Ferrari pitted Schumacher out from behind the McLarens. His second stint, however, went wrong as he got stuck behind backmarkers. Schumacher pitted again, but this time Ferrari ensured that he re-joined on a clear track.

Michael Schumacher made good use of it to rapidly close his gap to David Coulthard in second place. Being aware that an on-track pass was impossible, he boxed again to finally reveal their original three-stop plan.

McLaren, however, chose not to react to Ferrari, believing Schumacher wouldn’t be able to make up the 25-second gap to Hakkinen in just 22 laps. This gap was crucial for the Finn to complete his final pit stop without losing position.

Unbeknownst to McLaren, the Ferrari was nearly a second faster on race trim. Schumacher set about achieving the impossible task and put in “19 qualifying-style laps” as asked by Ross Brawn, then Ferrari's technical director.

A handling problem on Hakkinen’s McLaren during the closing stages of the race further helped Schumacher. By the time the Finn rejoined the race after his final stop, the German had undercut him to the lead.

In one of the closest championship battles in F1 history, this particular race was memorable for Schumacher’s exceptional driving combined with Brawn’s strategic masterclass.

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