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Michael Schumacher was renowned for his utmost professionalism in the cockpit of an F1 car, but former rival Jacques Villeneuve always felt like the seven-time world champion raced him differently from his other rivals.
The 1990s can be categorised by Michael Schumacher’s status as the man to beat, and his fierce rivalries with anyone who threatened his title as the best driver on the grid.
While the German legend only won two of his seven F1 titles during the final decade of the old millennium, he was still a championship contender in the majority of the seasons he competed in, often staking his claim for the top step of the podium on any given Sunday.
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Jacques Villeneuve explains why his relationship with Michael Schumacher was always ‘odd’
During an appearance on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve touched upon his relationship with the seven-time world champion during their time together as rivals.
After being asked how well he got on with Schumacher, the Canadian replied, “We never rubbed along. It’s an odd one because we never actually socialised in all the years I was in F1, and he was my main competitor. So that’s really a strange one.”
Then asked if their cold relationship was a result of the intense rivalry they shared, Villeneuve replied, “I’m not sure. Maybe because the Villeneuve name was still linked to Ferrari as well, maybe that had an effect.
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“Because in Italy, you had fans that were for him and Ferrari, and fans that were also for me, and that unbalanced things a little bit. Also, because he knew that I didn’t care, that I wasn’t impressed or afraid of him, and he wasn’t used to that.
“That’s why in the battles I had with him, it didn’t always go good for him, because I just held strong. And I noticed the same thing when I was at BAR afterwards, he would really take his time.
“There was some kind of, I don’t know if it’s respect or not being sure what was going to happen, but he knew that I would just fight him, and that was it.”
Michael Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 F1 standings for an incident with Jacques Villeneuve
The events of the 1997 F1 season finale remain as one of the most controversial endings to a title fight in history.
The weekend began in remarkable fashion, with three different drivers setting identical times in qualifying. Martin Brundle was convinced that the timings were dodgy that day, but thus, Villeneuve took pole over Schumacher due to him setting his flying lap first.
However, the real controversy took place during the closing stages of the race. As the Canadian hunted the championship leader down, an opportunity presented itself on lap 48.
He went for the move, only for Schumacher to instantly close the door on him, leading to the Ferrari’s drivers retirement from the race.
It had shades of Damon Hill’s skirmish with the German in 1994, but, fortunately for Villeneuve, his Williams F1 car was able to finish the race and crucially score enough points to leapfrog Schumacher in the standings.
Schumacher offered his congratulations to Villeneuve in the aftermath, but that didn’t stop the FIA from cracking down on the Ferrari star’s antics. He was swiftly disqualified from the standings, which moved Heinz-Harald Frentzen into the runners-up spot.
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