Throughout his 21-year Formula 1 career, Michael Schumacher drove for just four teams. He was known for his loyalty, sticking with each team for a significant period.
His first team was Jordan, though he only raced one Grand Prix with them before moving to Benetton. He made his debut at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix and quickly caught everyone’s attention.
Just a year later, in 1992, he returned to Spa and picked up the first of his 91 career wins. It marked the start of an incredible run that would span over more than a decade.
Early on, Schumacher showed flashes of what he could become. By 1993, he was already mixing it up with some of the bigger names in the sport and making regular appearances on the podium.
Schumacher even found himself at risk of being let go by Ferrari before eventually leading them into their most successful era. Before joining Ferrari, he had several notable contract stories during his time at Benetton.
Why Michael Schumacher once paid £750,000 to see Riccardo Patrese’s Benetton F1 contract
Schumacher learned a clever trick at Le Mans that he deployed against his rivals later in his career, after spending time in sports cars before graduating to the top.
His driving style worked very well in all sorts of cars, and by 1993, he was being paid £1.5 million per year to drive for Benetton.
However, he had a clause in his deal which stated that only three drivers could be paid more than him if they were teammates – Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell.
Riccardo Patrese was alongside him for that season. After McLaren held talks with Patrese about a possible seat and discovered what he was earning, they passed the information on to Schumacher.
The move didn’t have the intended effect. Instead, Schumacher found out through sponsorship deals that Patrese was actually earning more and then gave him £750,000 just to prove it.
Patrese’s relationship with Benetton had already gone south by then so he had nothing to lose. After showing Schumacher the contract breach, the German went straight to Flavio Briatore and soon secured a much bigger deal as a result.
Riccardo Patrese’s career after leaving Formula 1 in 1993
Patrese was 39 when he called time on his Formula 1 career at the end of the 1993 season. A year earlier, he had finished as runner-up in the championship to Nigel Mansell while driving for Williams.
But his move to Benetton didn’t go smoothly. He struggled to click with team boss Flavio Briatore and never really got comfortable with the car, especially after getting used to the dominant machinery at Williams.
Ligier did offer him a full-time seat for 1994, but Patrese turned it down, not wanting another step down. He retired from F1 but did have a chance to return the following year.
After Ayrton Senna’s death, Williams offered him a drive, but Patrese declined. Instead, he took part in the Super Tourenwagen Cup in 1995 before stepping away from racing entirely.
He made one more appearance at Le Mans in 1997 before retiring from racing altogether. His only other comeback was in Grand Prix Masters events for retired drivers back in 2005.
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