In 1994, Michael Schumacher won the first world title of his career. A historic coronation obtained at the end of a chaotic season, bereaved by fatal accidents and punctuated by controversies.
In the Netflix documentary “Schumacher ’94 – The Birth of a Legend”, which will be broadcast on October 2 on the famous platform, his wife Corinna (57) looked back on this pivotal year and provided personal memories of the start of their relationship.
The latter, however, was not necessarily destined to last. “My mother was totally against it,” says the former rider. At the time, the German driver spent much of his time on karting circuits.
“My mother always said: ”This Schumacher, this Schumacher…””, the fifty-year-old still remembers. Corinna was already familiar with the world of racing since she had previously been in a relationship with Heinz-Harald Frentzen, future Formula 1 driver at Sauber.
The documentary also evokes the terrible weekend at Imola, in April 1994, marked by the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna.
“I wish they wouldn’t run.”
“That’s when we realized for the first time that it was becoming really dangerous,” says Corinna. After the death of the Austrian driver in qualifying, the cancellation of the Grand Prix was also mentioned.
“I wish they wouldn’t run,” confesses the Halver native. “Schumi” shared this sentiment, but ultimately started and won the race. “He cried on the bus and told me he was wondering if he wanted to run the next race,” she adds.
The rest of the 1994 season was just as eventful, with several disqualifications and suspensions for the “red baron”. The latter, however, ended up securing the title in Adelaide, after a clash with Damon Hill. An episode which then contributed to giving him the label of “Schumi the cheater”.
The documentary, however, did not lift the veil on the current state of health of the seven-time world champion, victim of a serious skiing accident in Méribel in December 2013.
