David Coulthard reveals the moment Michael Schumacher made him realise that champions are different

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Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard were involved in one of the most memorable collisions in F1 history at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.

Schumacher, leading by over half a minute, was about to lap Coulthard at a sodden Spa when the two drivers crashed. The impact ripped off one of the Ferrari’s front tyres, forcing him to retire from the race.

In the pit lane, a furious Schumacher marched to the McLaren garage to confront Coulthard. This prompted an iconic line of commentary from Murray Walker.

“He’s going for David Coulthard!” Walker exclaimed before team staff intervened. “Look at him! He’s going to have it out with David Coulthard.”

David Coulthard recalls Michael Schumacher’s unapologetic reaction to Spa crash

At the following race in Italy, Schumacher and Coulthard met to review the incident.

The Scotsman accepted his share of responsibility, but felt that Schumacher, who had partly been unsighted by the spray, should take some blame too.

He refused, claiming he’d never been ‘wrong’ about an incident on track. That was when Coulthard knew that champions possess a unique conviction.

Schumacher had already won two titles with Benetton at that point, and he added five more with Ferrari at the turn of the century.

Do you think another driver will ever be able to match Schumacher’s feat?

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“[F1 drivers are] human beings, and human beings make mistakes,” Coulthard said on the F1 Explains podcast in October.

“After [Michael Schumacher & I] crashed together in Spa ’98, and then a couple of weeks later, we were at the Italian Grand Prix and we had a meeting, just the two of us, and he was putting 100% blame on me.

“I was saying, ‘Look Michael, I’ll accept my responsibility, but I didn’t crash into myself, you crashed into me, so you have to accept some of the blame.’

“Michael was like, ‘I don’t see that.’ So I said, ‘Come on, Michael, you’ve got to be wrong sometimes.’ And he went, ‘Not that I remember.’

“At that moment, I realised the difference between champions and guys like me who tried their best. They have absolute belief.”

Two years later, Michael Schumacher made a ‘very nasty’ move against McLaren at Spa

McLaren went on to win the 1998 title through Mika Hakkinen, while Schumacher’s broken leg ruled him out of title contention the following year.

Hakkinen used to follow Schumacher in practice sessions to study his lines and driving technique. His two-year reign would be ended by Die Regenmeister in 2000.

Schumacher infuriated Hakkinen during a battle at Spa that year by making a last-gasp move to defend his position. The Flying Finn called it ‘very nasty’ driving.

Max Verstappen has drawn comparisons to Schumacher given that he too tests the limits of the rules and rarely backs down in the media.