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Michael Schumacher's magnificent eight in Montreal

Editor01.06.2020

In Formula 1, the beginning of June tends to be Canadian Grand Prix weekend, where the circus descends on fabulous Montreal for the race at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit situated on the man-made Ile Notre Dame.

Late in the nineties, and early this century, Michael Schumacher was king of Canada. He won the race no fewer than eight times. His first victory was in his first F1 World Championship winning year in 1994 where he won the 32nd edition of the race driving the Benetton B194.

The next seven times he stood on the top step of the Montreal podium was wearing the red of Ferrari. The German unbeatable in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

1994: The 69-lap race was won from pole position by Michael , driving a Benetton-Ford, with Damon Hill second in a Williams-Renault and Jean Alesi third in a Ferrari. The win, Schumacher's fifth of the season, put him 33 points clear of Hill in the Drivers' Championship.

1997: Michael won ahead of Jean Alesi in the Benetton and Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan. On lap 2, local driver Jacques Villeneuve crashed into the wall on the exit of the final corner. This wall would later be known as the 'Wall of Champions'.

1998: It was won by Michael, however the race is probably best remembered for the crash on the first lap involving Alexander Wurz, Jean Alesi and Jarno Trulli, which resulted in the race being red flagged and restarted, only for another collision to take place between Alesi and Trulli at the same corner, and the race being started once again under the safety car.

2000: Schumacher started from pole position alongside David Coulthard who battled for the lead from the start until the McLaren driver served a ten-second stop-go penalty. Laste in the race rain began to fall causing drivers to make the switch to wet-weather tyres. The Ferrari at the front retained the lead throughout and took the victory over Barrichello.

2002:  Michael won his sixth Grand Prix of the season after fending off the challenges Juan Pablo Montoya, who later retired, and his teammate Rubens Barrichello, whose race strategy cost him a chance of victory and demoted him to third. Fresh off his victory at Monaco, David Coulthard finished second.

2003: Michael took the win, despite nursing an ailing car home towards the ends of the race, with the Williamses of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya right behind him, and the Renault of Fernando Alonso not far behind them. This was the fourth time that the Schumacher brothers had finished 1-2, having become the first siblings to do so at the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix.

2004: The last time Schumi won in Montreal with teammate Rubens second, making for a 1-2 finish for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro as part of a season where Ferrari took the most wins of the season and the driver's championship. This would be the last time that Scuderia Ferrari won in Canada until the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix, at the same circuit.

On the occasion of his final win at the venue, Michael's younger brother Ralf qualified the Williams-BMW on pole but in the race the older of the two triumphed. It was Schumi's 77th career win and one of a remarkable 13 victories he scored in his final championship winning year with Ferrari. Only Lewis Hamilton has matched Michael's eight wins at the venue aptly named after one of Ferrari's greatest heroes - Gilles Villeneuve.

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