Schumacher had qualified in second position but his race started to fall apart the second
the lights went off. He did not make a good start and the twin McLarens of David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen assumed a strong one two at the head of the race. To add insult to injury Irvine decisively pushed Schumacher aside going into Copse, forcing the German down into fourth place.

Schumacher was tucked up behind Irvine in the run down to hangar straight and as the pair entered Copse, disaster befell Schumacher. Instead of gently sweeping to the right Schumacher’s Ferrari ploughed straight off the track, it’s front brakes locked tightly. The Ferrari entered the gravel trap at around 90-mph it’s rear wheels still driving it forward. The Ferrari plunged into the tyre barrier at a slightly reduced speed of sixty-six miles per hour.

The tyre barrier consisted on a depth of three, un-tethered tyres. At the time this was one of the last remaining un-tethered tyre barriers in Formula One. As the Ferrari hit the barrier the tyres were scattered, allowing the monocoque of the Ferrari to torpedo into the retaining wall behind the barrier, the impact ripped the front off the Ferrari’s monocoque.

Schumacher caught his breath and attempted to get out of the car. After an effort he slumped back into the car’s seat. The car was quickly surrounded my marshals who shielded Schumacher form prying eyes with blankets. Schumacher waved to the crowd, as he was stretchered to the ambulance before he was air lifted to Northampton hospital.

Schumacher had sustained a double fracture below his right knee and it took a ninety-minute operation to pin the fracture to help repair the clean breaks. ” I know I’m going to be out of action for two or three months and I realise that I’ve absolutely no chance of the championship this year. But I’m confident that I’ll be back driving a Ferrari before the end of the season.”

It was a cruel irony for Schumacher that his accident had occurred under a red flag. The race had been stopped due to Jacques Villeneuve and Alessandro Zanardi stalling their car’s engines on the grid. Both Hakkinen and Coulthard had been
informed by radio but no information was relayed to the Ferrari pits. “I had to touch the brakes to avoid David going into Becketts on the first lap and
it is possible that Michael touched me and damaged his front wing,” recounted
Irvine. “All I know is that he came flying past me all locked up. I think
he just out braked himself.”

On examination of the available data it transpired that Schumacher’s car had suffered
a rear brake malfunction and the accident was due to this rather than a driver error, (as many thought at the time.) A Ferrari spokesman, (Claudio Berro) made the situation clear, “The results from the telemetry are very clear. The braking of on the rear wheels of Schumacher’s car was zero. All this talk about steering and throttle problems is just not right. The result is clear and now we have to find the cause.” The cause was a faulty bleed nipple in the rear braking system.

Schumacher was forced to return for the last two races of the season by Ferrari. Many felt he was not as helpful as he could have been in the final race. How could blame him? Would you want your teammate to become World Champion?

Click here to get the full story and picture board
of the crash, including driver quotes and evidence.

Original story by Tris

Crash Details
Approximate speed of crash.	Impact approximately 66 mph / 106 Kph.
Damage caused.	The front half of the Ferrari monocoque was shorn from the car.
Who / what was to blame	Failure of a bleed nipple in the rear bake Failure of a bleed nipple in the rear bake hydraulics.
Anyone hurt?	Schumacher sustained a double fracture below his right knee and a cut foot.
Any action against those involved?	No.