16/08/2025 14:45
As was often the case during his time with the Scuderia, Michael
Schumacher would often make a mockery of his F1 rivals with some
kind of absurd strategy. There was the famous 2004 French GP,
where he used a four-stopper to defeat Fernando Alonso's Renault,
where the 'sprint style' racing between pit-stops moulded perfectly
to Schumacher. But perhaps the most iconic of all the
Schumacher-Ferrari masterstrokes came on this day, August 16th, in
1998, during the Hungarian Grand Prix. Ferrari had to try
something. In qualifying at the Hungaroring, the McLarens of Mika
Hakkinen and David Coulthard took a comfortable one-two on the
grid, and all things being equal in the race, it meant Schumacher
would likely finish third behind his title rivals. Enter Ross
Brawn, Ferrari's strategy guru. His mission, much easier said than
done. "Michael, you have 19 laps to pull out 25 seconds. We need 19
qualifying laps from you." Brawn had committed to a three-stopper
pre-race, but it was crucial not to alert McLaren until the last
possible moment to protect the plan. Schumacher pitted for the
first time on Lap 25 - nothing out of the ordinary there, and
rejoined in fourth behind the leading McLarens, who responded
accordingly, with Jacques Villeneuve briefly interloping. But by
the end of Lap 43 of 77, the plan was out in the open. Schumacher
was only fuelled for 6.8s, nowhere near enough to put enough in the
tanks for the rest of the race. McLaren did not respond with
Hakkinen, seemingly believing Schumacher could not make up the 25
seconds he needed for the third stop in less than 20 laps. After
Hakkinen's lengthy stop to brim his tanks, he faded away with
handling problems and became a mobile chicane to Coulthard in the
sister car. The Scot lost six laps behind Hakkinen before being
waved through, as he tried to set off in pursuit of the leader, but
carrying a lot more fuel. A brief off for Schumacher handed
Coulthard some time back, but at the end of Lap 62, Schumacher
pitted for a splash and dash, rejoining comfortably in the lead for
a famous, iconic victory. Game. Set. Match. Schumacher. But not
the championship, he would lose that to Hakkinen, who fell away to
a lapped sixth on an afternoon Schumacher pulled off one of F1's
greatest drives.
