Michael Schumacher\u2019s career-making drive at Spa in 1991 almost didn\u2019t happen, had another driver felt a little bit braver.<\/p>\n
Schumacher made his F1 debut in a now infamous appearance at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, in a one-off drive for Eddie Jordan\u2019s eponymous team, but it could have been a very different story had Bernd Schneider taken a career risk.<\/p>\n
Bernd Schneider opens up on Jordan F1 drive snub<\/p>\n
Four-time DTM Champion Bernd Schneider failed to move fast enough to take the Jordan seat available for that weekend in Belgium, a seat which Michael Schumacher slotted into as Jordan needed a quick replacement for Bertrand Gachot following the French driver being jailed for an altercation with a taxi driver.<\/p>\n
That weekend turned out to be the making of Schumacher, a rising star of the Mercedes sportscar programme, as he qualified seventh for his debut race. While his Grand Prix came to an early end on the first lap with a busted clutch, Schumacher had done enough to convince Flavio Briatore of his potential, and he was signed to the Benetton team for the following race.<\/p>\n
But Schumacher\u2019s debut race might not have happened had former Zakspeed F1 driver Bernd Schneider moved just a little quicker when the opportunity to drive arose.<\/p>\n
Schneider had raced for Erich Zakowski\u2019s Zakspeed team in 1988 and \u201989, but failed to make any impression in the underpowered backmarker team. Indeed, so poor was the Zakspeed that Shneider only started nine races across the two years, due to an inability to get the car qualified.<\/p>\n
By 1991, Schneider had already largely moved on from F1, having started to build a career in the IMSA series with Porsche, but then the call from Eddie Jordan came.<\/p>\n
\u201cJordan called me, \u2018Hey, Bernd, you can drive at Spa, 300,000 bucks,’\u201d Schneider recounted on an episode of\u00a0Beyond the Grid.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was already on the plane to the US, because I had two double races in the US. And he said, \u2018You have to come back, and you can drive it, but you have to pay 300,000. I made the same offer to Schumacher, the one who pays first gets the drive\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schumacher\u2019s backing from Mercedes, with whom he raced through the Sauber sportscar programme, meant he could answer Jordan more quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMercedes guaranteed the money to him,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not Wili Weber [Schumacher\u2019s manager]; he made the deal. But Mercedes said, \u2018Okay, if you\u2019re not finding the money, we\u2019re going to pay for it\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, I was not so unhappy, because I was a bit scared. If I\u2019m not performing well in the Jordan at Spa, maybe I\u2019m out of everything, because I could not do the race in IMSA with Porsche, and then maybe I lose the drive there.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if I\u2019m not performing well as Michael did, I also have no cockpit afterwards. So I was a bit scared, and this was the reason I answered him a few days later, and then Schumacher was already confirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schumacher was driving for Zakspeed\u2019s DTM team, which was in partnership with Mercedes, using a 190E, at the time of the Jordan call, and it was Schneider who was then called upon to step into the seat vacated by his compatriot\u2019s move into F1.<\/p>\n
This proved the start of a hugely successful partnership between Shneider and Mercedes, immediately becoming a frontrunner in the series before winning the title in 1995.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael did DTM in those days. Michael replaced the French driver, and he did four DTM races with ZakSpeed Mercedes in those days,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo then Michael signed the contract for Benetton, and he could not drive any more DTM.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorbert Haug [head of Mercedes motorsport] called me and said, \u2018Hey, can you replace Michael and DTM for the last four races?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was contracted to Porsche and to Ford, I asked them for permission to drive for Mercedes. They said, \u2018No problem, you can do the last four races in DTM\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came back to ZakSpeed again, and I did quite well. Mr. Haug said, \u2018You have to stay with us, and I won\u2019t let you go. I won\u2019t let you drive the Porsche again\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a close friend of Manfred Winklehock, and he said, \u2018I don\u2019t want you to get hurt, or something happens, you\u2019ve got a wife and, yeah, don\u2019t do this anymore\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he pronounced me at Hockenheim that I was going to drive for Mercedes.\u201d<\/p>\n
More on Michael Schumacher and F1 history<\/p>\n
Michael Schumacher accident: Separating facts from fiction 12 years on<\/a><\/p>\n