“You Hit the Wrong Part of Him, My Friend” – Brundle Bashed Michael Schumacher Amid Infamous Disqualification in 1997

There are quite a few on-track actions that Michael Schumacher might now regret committing to because there had he not made such maddening heat-of-the-moment decisions, who knows, the German could well more than a 7-time world champion.

Of course, the 1994 Damon Hill incident in Adelaide is arguably the most controversial race for Schumacher. Not only did he take himself out of the race but also took along Hill as well, who was on the verge of winning his first world championship title.

But, there is another such incident to this list – the 1997 Jerez moment with Jacques Villeneuve. Only in this case, Schumacher’s move horribly backfired, as the German had to helplessly watch his Canadian rival lift his only world championship title in 1997.

Also, who could ever forget Martin Brundle’s commentary, as he watched Schumacher and Villeneuve come together! “That didn’t work Michael. You hit the wrong part of him, my friend. I don’t think that’ll cause Villeneuve a problem,” he said.

So, let’s have a throwback to this episode, shall we?

How the Michael Schumacher-Jacques Villeneuve crash unfolded

Marching into the final race of the season at the European Grand Prix, the title fight was right on the edge, with 1 point separating the championship leader, Schumacher, and his title rival, Villeneuve. The latter took a crucial pole ahead of the German.

However, it turned out to be not as crucial, as Schumacher managed to snatch the lead well before the first corner of lap 1. Things were quiet, as even the pit stops hardly led to any swap in positions. But, the turning point of the race arrived on lap 48 when Villeneuve found himself less than a second behind Schumacher.

The lap began, and the Williams was getting ever close, and the pressure was certainly piling up on the then 2-time world champion. Villeneuve found a better exit out of turn 5, and crucially, it was a long straight in the run-up to the right-handed turn 6.

Villeneuve was close enough and pulled off an almost perfect dive around the inside of Schumacher, going into turn 6. The German had no choice but to repeat the 1994 Hill moment. But, the attempt ended up damaging his own side pod while Villeneuve escaped with damages to the mounts of his car’s battery.

His car was around 5 seconds off-pace, but in the end, all he lost was the two places to the McLaren duo of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard; A small price to pay in order to win the championship. Finally, Villeneuve celebrated with his title with the champagne while controversy yet again consumed the Ferrari legend.

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