Michael Schumacher ‘did not know how to cheat’, but did it ‘badly’ – Jean Todt

Michael Schumacher did not know how to “cheat”, says his former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt. But, Todt saw Schumacher cheat twice, and cheat “badly”.

The first was Schumacher’s infamous 1997 crash with title rival Jacques Villeneuve. The second, parking his Ferrari at Monaco to deny Fernando Alonso pole. Todt said that on both occasions, Schumacher paid the price by way of costing himself the championship. Todt also stressed the power of “emotion”, something which must be properly considered.

Jean Todt on Michael Schumacher controversial incidents

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

At the 1997 title-decider in Jerez, Schumacher collided with Villeneuve.

After a move which attracted widespread criticism, Schumacher was disqualified from the championship.

“’97, we lost the Drivers’ Championship at the last race with his controversial overtaking to Villeneuve, where Michael unfortunately did a mistake,” recalled Jean Todt, the Ferrari team boss at the time, as he spoke on the High Performance podcast.

“But probably, the mistake demonstrated a very strong solidarity, because you see the strength of a group of people when things don’t go well. When all goes well, everybody’s friends.”

Asked if he was branding that a mistake, Todt clarified: “I mean, he crashed into him purposely. But he did it badly.”

Almost a decade later, Schumacher was involved in another controversial incident with a title rival. This time, it was Fernando Alonso.

Schumacher stopped his Ferrari at La Rascasse during qualifying, thus preventing Alonso from improving his time. Schumacher was sent to the back of the grid, while Alonso inherited pole.

Alonso won the race, while Schumacher recovered to fifth from a pit-lane start.

Schumacher ultimately missed out on the title to Alonso by 13 points, as Alonso became a back-to-back champion.

“In fact, Michael, an amazing guy, every time he lost control, he paid it very expensive,” Todt continued. “So it cost him his championship as, incidentally, in 2006, Monte Carlo qualifying with Alonso, where he purposely span.

“He had to live in the back of the grid. It cost him the championship as well.”

Schumacher developed a fearsome reputation on the track, partially due to such tactics, alongside his legendary talent behind the wheel.

Todt insists: “Michael did not know how to cheat.”

But, Todt admits on Schumacher: “He did it, from my knowing, twice. But he did it badly.

“I mean, it would have been easy, he was in first line with Villeneuve at the start. We have examples, two years in a row, between [Ayrton] Senna and [Alain] Prost.

“He just had to brake a bit late or something, that he could have done at the start.

“He chose to do that 10 laps behind the end. It was the wrong choice.”

More on Michael Schumacher from PlanetF1.com

Jacques Villeneuve explains why he was never intimidated by Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher accident: Separating facts from fiction

Todt added: “It was just in emotion.

“That’s why when you judge somebody in action, you must be very indulgent.

“It’s easier around the table to say, ‘You should do that, you should do that’, but when you are in the action, you must understand that your brain is reacting differently.

“When he thought that he was going to lose the championship, because he had to be in front of Villeneuve, he tried to avoid that, and he tried wrongly to do it.

“And he needed support. It was a bad move. It was unnecessary.”

Asked what he said to Schumacher privately, Todt responded: “I mean, honestly, ‘We are going to protect you. We are together’.

“Human mistake. You must accept human error.”

Todt was asked if Schumacher was admonished at all for his actions.

“I mean, honestly, we always think, ‘If it will happen again, what you will do, you should not do that’.

“But again, it’s very difficult to blame emotion. You need to understand emotion.

“And then, he did so many amazing things. So, you have plus and minus. So, you have some minus, but you have so much plus.”

Todt declared that simply, “Michael was emotion”, and pointing to the aforementioned plusses, recalled how Schumacher donated “six or seven million” in aid to victims of the 2005 Asian tsunamis. Schumacher lost one of his bodyguards in that tragedy.

Schumacher went on to win five Drivers’ titles with Ferrari in consecutive seasons between 2000-05. He retired as a record-setting seven-time champion.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next – F1 facts that sound fake: Schumacher gives Ferrari a fright, record McLaren grid penalty