Feb 28, 2008
Starting under the shadow of Ayrton Senna’s death, 1995 was a tough season for drivers, teams and even the FIA. The Argentine GP was a new introduction to the season and was to be the opening race, but there were doubts about the track’s readiness and this put a hex on the next few races as well. Almost as if it were contagious, Brazil, Japan, Spain and Italy also came under a cloud of doubt about readiness. Japan was reeling from the effects of a major earthquake while Brazil was yet to fully recover from the loss of Ayrton Senna. Both these factors were major in shuffling about the schedule of the season. As it turned out, Brazil hosted the opening race followed by Argentina, San Marino and Spain. The Pacific GP to be held at the TI circuit in Aida, Japan, was pushed ahead from April to October due to the earthquake in Japan. While the FIA battled to get the schedule in order, there were other struggles notably with teams. Lotus had bowed out of F1 after 1994 and the only new entrant was Forti. FIA bosses were trying hard to bring back Larousse who had also quit F1, but financial struggles did not let them complete their bid. There was also talk of DAMS Formula 3000 making its F1 debut, but they were interested in buying Larousse and running the team. Eventually, none of the permutations worked out. With a total of 13 teams and 36 drivers over 17 races, this was one of the busiest years on the circuit! Rule changes in 1995 were also imminent. The engine capacity had been reduced to 3.0L from 3.5L in an attempt to control speeds on the track. Safety regulations were strengthened and a side protection was introduced for the cockpit with the opening also being increased compared to 1994. On the track, larger run-off areas were introduced to allow for correction and reduce the chances of a crash. All this, of course, was prompted by the accidents that claimed the lives of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger. Once the season got underway, however, it was a Michael Schumacher year. In what would be his last season with Benetton, Schumacher stamped his authority as defending world champion and beat Damon Hill of Williams by a comfortable 33 points in the final tally. Benetton also bagged the Constructor’s Championship easily outracing Williams and wresting the crown that the British team had won in 1994. 1995 as a race year was perhaps red-flagged from the beginning and this reflected during the races as well! As many as four races were red-flagged in the first lap of the race while seven were badly affected by rain. This wasn’t an easy year and it was almost as if F1 were still mourning the loss of Ayrton Senna. Of all the cars, the Benetton was the best of the year and although Schumacher’s team-mate Johnny Herbert complained about the handling of the car, it was believed that the car was made to suit Schumi’s needs! Since 1994, a rivalry was brewing between Schumacher and Hill and a lot of accidents and incidents had happened for which Hill was held largely responsible. Another such collision ensued in Italy where the two collided leaving Herbert to claim his second win of the year. Jean Alesi and Nigel Mansell were the veterans on the track by this time and although Alesi won his one and only race this season, Mansell’s return was all too brief. He managed only two races in a car that had to be made bigger to fit him and although he wanted to drive with Williams, David Coulthard beat him to that spot. Schumacher won his second title but it was a season that was jinxed. The death of Senna was far too fresh in everyone’s minds and there was hardly a race without mention of the star driver. Never before has a season been conducted under one driver’s shadow. And perhaps it never will be.