1994 BRAZILIAN GP

INTERLAGOS BENETTON B194

7 By the start of the 1994 season Schumacher had won just two grands prix, and he kicked off the year by triumphing in a head-to-head with

Ayrton Senna on the three-time world champion’s home soil in Brazil.

Senna’s Williams led away from pole at the green light, while Schumacher had to deal with the fast-starting Ferrari of Jean Alesi before hounding Senna for the lead as they left everyone else for dust.

With refuelling returning to F1 for

1994, Schumacher’s Benetton team managed to jump Senna in the pits on lap 21, and he controlled the gap from there, extending it during the second round of stops.

Schumacher’s pace eventually forced the great Senna into an error in the difficult Williams FW16, which was not a patch on its predecessors that had convinced Senna he needed to leave Mclaren to join the dominant force in

F1. Williams would need a chunk of the season to get on top of the driver-aids ban for ’94, and Senna spun out on lap 56 in Brazil, leaving Schumacher to take victory by a lap over Damon Hill.

“I was right at the limit and then I got caught out,” said Senna. “There was nothing wrong with the car. I was pushing too hard – it was my mistake.”

Schumacher said: “I never really felt under pressure. I could control the gap when necessary, just by pushing a bit harder. Everything felt so easy. I felt sorry for the spectators – I know they’d come here to see a Senna win, but I wanted something different.”