Race
Following his appearance at the previous round in France , Nigel Mansell had returned to his CART commitments in America, so David Coulthard returned in the second Williams to partner Hill. On the formation lap, Schumacher overtook Hill twice (once when leaving the dummy grid, and then once more further round the lap), before dropping back to take his second place on the grid for the start. David Coulthard stalled on the grid at the start, forcing him to start from the back of the grid – he fought back to finish 5th. This prompted another formation lap, on which Eddie Irvine 's car broke down. Again on this second formation lap, Schumacher overtook Hill twice. The Peugeot V10 engine in Martin Brundle 's McLaren MP4/9 failed on the second start in a huge fireball. On lap 14, Michael Schumacher was handed a five-second stop-go penalty for overtaking Hill on the first formation lap. He failed to serve the penalty by lap 21, and as a result was shown the black flag, requiring him to stop immediately at the pits. Schumacher did not acknowledge the black flag and was shown it again on both of the next two laps, he later claimed that he had not seen it. Benetton told the race officials that there had been a misunderstanding over the 5-second stop-go penalty, an... Mika Häkkinen and Rubens Barrichello collided while battling for 4th place at the final corner. Barrichello pulled his damaged car into the pits, without realising that he was on the final lap. This allowed Häkkinen to limp over the finish line before Barrichello reached it, despite his car being more severely damaged. Behind them, Ukyo Katayama scored what proved to be his final point. The stewards fined Benetton $25,000 and gave the team and their driver Michael Schumacher a severe reprimand for ignoring Schumacher's five-second stop-go penalty and the subsequent black flag. On 26 July, the FIA World Motorsport Council increased the penalty to a $500,000 fine for the team and a two race ban for Schumacher. The WMSC also disqualified Schumacher from his second place at the British Grand Prix. The penalty was upheld on appeal on 30 August.
Race Result
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 Time | Q2 Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | 1:26.894 | 1:24.960 |
| 2 | 5 | Michael Schumacher | Benetton-Ford | 1:26.323 | 1:24.963 |
| 3 | 28 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 1:26.738 | 1:24.980 |
| 4 | 27 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:26.891 | 1:25.541 |
| 5 | 7 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Peugeot | 1:27.983 | 1:26.268 |
| 6 | 14 | Rubens Barrichello | Jordan-Hart | 1:27.890 | 1:26.271 |
| 7 | 2 | David Coulthard | Williams-Renault | 1:27.698 | 1:26.337 |
| 8 | 3 | Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell-Yamaha | 1:27.936 | 1:26.414 |
| 9 | 8 | Martin Brundle | McLaren-Peugeot | 1:28.224 | 1:26.768 |
| 10 | 6 | Jos Verstappen | Benetton-Ford | 1:29.142 | 1:26.841 |
Championship Standings After This Race
The Paddock Breakdown
Barry · Gary · KatGary — 33 · Three Fantasy F1 leagues
The air at Silverstone hung thick with the scent of burning rubber and simmering resentment. That Benetton, a Ford-powered beast boasting 678 horsepower – a frankly obscene amount for the era – was practically begging for trouble. Schumacher's formation lap transgression wasn't simply a lapse in judgment; it was a calculated gamble, a desperate attempt to unsettle Hill and, frankly, bleed Williams of their strategic advantage. Don't underestimate the significance of those Peugeot-supplied engines; they'd been subtly recalibrated this weekend, pushing the McLaren's top speed just enough to make a difference.
The drizzle hadn't dampened the usual pre-race tension, merely slicked up Silverstone's already treacherous surface. Sixty laps, that's what they'd promised – a grand spectacle. But the numbers, you see, were already screaming a different story. Schumacher's lead, a comfortable 66 points, suddenly felt… precarious. Consider this: only *two* races had been completed, and he'd already ceded the lead to a driver who'd spent the entire season trailing.
Kat — 30 · Technical journalist
The rain hadn't bothered Hill, not a whit. Watching Schumacher's face – a carefully constructed mask of indignation – as the stewards delivered the verdict, you sensed a simmering resentment. Six points gone. More than that, a crucial momentum shattered. Word is, Flavio Briatore was practically apoplectic, convinced it was a deliberate attempt to destabilize his driver. The whispers now circling Silverstone suggest a conversation took place between Benetton and Ferrari, a tentative alliance born of mutual frustration. A dangerous game, this. Especially when you consider the looming shadow of FISA's scrutiny.
The rain hadn't bothered Schumacher, not a drop. He'd been meticulously studying the track's slick patches, a cold, calculating assessment etched onto his face. A flicker of something – annoyance, perhaps – crossed his features as the marshals wrestled with the dampness. You could practically taste the tension radiating from him, a palpable thing, fueled by the looming threat of that stop-go penalty. Let's be honest, the Benetton camp weren't thrilled with the stewards' interpretation of the rules, and the whispers about a possible protest were already swirling like the mist over Silverstone. A calculated risk, certainly, but one that threatened to unravel his entire season.