Many people know of the fame and success of Micheal Schumacher. Yet, his start in Formula One is less known, despite it being a scandalous arrest that started it all.
Bertrand Gachot was a Belgian French F1 driver, who was signed for Jordan during their debut season in 1991. He lined up alongside Italian Andrea de Cesaris, where the team had a surprisingly competitive start to the year.
(Photo credits: Phillip van Osten)
However, soon before the Belgian Grand Prix, Gachot was sentenced to prison due to an altercation with a taxi driver in London. The incident had occurred the year previous, on the 10th of December 1990. The Jordan driver was involved in a traffic incident with a taxi, which led to an altercation. During this, Gachot sprayed CS gas (tear gas) at the taxi driver, in attempt to defend himself.
This led to his arrest, and he was charged with actual bodily harm (ABH) and possession of a prohibited weapon. Yet, he was able to continue driving in Formula One for the next season, as his trail was shortly before the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix. At his trail, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, making him unavailable for the race in Spa.
A replacement for Gachot at Jordan was needed desperately. Team owner, Eddie Jordan, called upon a young 22-year-old Michael Schumacher. The German driver was racing in the World Sportscar Championship and was currently signed to Mercedes-Benz as a junior driver. Jordan needed a solution fast. The Mercedes team paid Jordan $150,000 to help support his debut race in Formula One.
(Photo from: @Adelaidegrandprix on Instagram)
At this time, Schumacher was practically unknown to the wider F1 community but was highly rated within junior motorsport as he won the German Formula 3 Championship. This decision by Eddie Jordan changed the future of Formula One.
Despite never racing around the circuit in Belgium, the rookie learnt his way around via a fold-up bicycle. As qualifying day rolled around, the German shocked the Paddock as he qualified seventh, ahead of his new teammate de Cesaris. By this point, he had caught the eye of many F1 bosses.
His success in qualifying was unfortunately not translated for the race on Sunday. Due to a clutch failure, Schumacher’s Jordan was forced to retire on the first lap of the race. Regardless of his placing, the rookie driver had already impressed team boss Flavio Briatore enough, as he wanted to recruit Schumacher for the remainder of the season at Benetton.
Briatore got what he wished for, with the young driver taking up a full-time seat with the Enstone-based team. This once again left Jordan one driver down.
(Picture from: www.waivio.com)
They signed Roberto Monero to replace the defected driver. He only lasted two races, before Eddie Jordan replaced him with Alessandro Zanardi, who completed the remaining three races of the 1991 season.
Gachot was released from prison after serving two months and surprisingly made his way back into Formula One. He attempted to retake his seat at Jordan but was denied due to Zanardi’s signing. He later found a seat at Larousse, replacing an injured Eric Bernard for the Australian Grand Prix.
Whilst chaos ensued for Jordan, Benetton swiftly profited from the signing of Schumacher. He later went on to become one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time, winning two championships with the team, and a further five with Ferrari. Though many remember him by his success and incredible wins, not many remember the scandal that surrounded his first entry in F1.
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