Schumacher started in F1 halfway thought '91. Qualified 7th at Spa, got nabbed by Benetton, yadda yadda. Nobody seems to remember his second season. Here's what he did.
Schumacher was at Benetton, paired with Martin Brundle, who absolutely believes he was as good as Senna in equal equipment. And the results in equal equipment suggest he has at least part of a point. The Benetton was roughly the equal second best car. The Williams was in a different race to the rest of the field, with McLaren and Benetton the best of the rest. McLaren's lineup of Senna and Gerhard Berger, who had won Benetton's first ever race, was without doubt the highest rated driver pairing that year.
And, with only 6 races in F1 before the start of that season, Schumacher finished third in the championship. In a championship where he couldn't have realistically finished higher than third, beating Senna and Berger in near-as-dammit equal equipment, and Brundle in the same car. When the car made it to the finish, he only once finished outside the top four once when third was the best position he could realistically expect to achieve at any race in the equipment he had.
That's how you announce you deserve to keep your drive in F1.
Edited by oetzi, 01 February 2013 - 02:21.