The Circuit de Catalunya has been the home of some iconic Formula 1 moments over the years.
From Pastor Maldonado’s win in 2012 to Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s crash in 2016, it has seen triumphs, disasters, and everything in between.
Naturally, Michael Schumacher has played his fair share in the history of the circuit.
In 1993, for instance, Schumacher finished third behind Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, the only time the three F1 legends ever shared the podium.
Yet it was the following year’s Grand Prix in Spain that was an even bigger accomplishment for the seven-time world champion, achieving one of the greatest feats the sport has ever seen.
Michael Schumacher finished second at the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix despite having only one gear available to use
Driving for Benetton, Schumacher had qualified on pole for the Grand Prix, beating the Williams of Damon Hill by more than half a second.
After getting away well, disaster struck at the first pitstop, a gearbox issue leaving the German with just fifth gear available to him.
Despite that, Schumacher kept his car running without stalling, rejoining still leading the race.
While powerless to keep Hill behind, Schumacher nonetheless set respectable lap times across the rest of the Grand Prix, finishing 24 seconds behind the Briton in second place.
It was a masterful drive, one that Schumacher himself was elated with.
Speaking in his interview after the Grand Prix, he said: “It was a bit difficult to run with [just] fifth gear through the corners, but I managed to find good lines and keep up the lap times.
“I’m still very happy to get these points. Second position, under these circumstances, I feel very happy.”
‘Lucky that it was stuck in fifth’ – Benetton’s Willem Toet on Michael Schumacher’s performance
Schumacher rightly received plaudits for his performance, both in the immediate aftermath of the race and in the years that followed.
One of those to credit him was Willem Toet, Benetton’s aerodynamics chief at the time.
As reported by The Mirror, when discussing the events of that day, Toet explained the issue Schumacher had with his Benetton, saying: “Red oil was visible at the rear of the car. Red oil.
“That’s hydraulic oil, and Benetton were using that to actuate gear changes.”
Toet continued: “The car was stuck in fifth gear. Fifth gear – imagine trying to start from the traffic lights in fifth gear in your road car. Quite a challenge.”
“Michael managed it masterfully. It was actually lucky that it was stuck in fifth gear – sixth would have been too slow to accelerate out of the slower corners, and fourth would have been too slow on the straights to allow for competitive lap times.”
Toet concluded: “Michael finished second to Damon Hill with one gear only for more than 60% of the race. Personally, I thought it was amazing. He even had enough gap [to third] to slow down for the last laps in an attempt to save the car.”
Schumacher would go on to win the 1994 World Championship by a single point ahead of Hill, adding to the mystique of his drive in Spain.