Usually the best driver moves to the team which has the best car in order to fulfill his winning ambitions. It has always happened like that and it will always happen, nothing strange about it. This is also the reason why the choice of Michael Schumacher in the summer of 1995 caused a lot of discussion. At the time, there were those who thought that the German – twice world champion at the time – would ruin his career in a team, Ferrari, which had not won the Drivers’ World Championship since 1979 and that for four years could at most aspire to the role of third force in the championship. Why did Michael Schumacher not go to Williams? Listening to the former technical director Patrick Head, the choice was precisely of the Grove team: Williams would not have considered signing Michael in 1995. And later, once the winning Ferrari cycle had begun, Williams did not have enough to put on the plate and convince the German to change teams.
“I don’t know why, but I’ve never talked to him about a possible arrival in Williams. Whether or not Frank did it, I don’t know. I remember having a brief conversation with Michael, but it was in Japan after he won the world championship in the early 2000s and we had glasses of whiskey in front of us. It wasn’t a very organized chat! But we certainly did not talk about the races of ’94 or ’96. I think we were just being stupid” – these are the words of Patrick Head for ‘Beyond the Grid’ Podcast – “Michael was the most extraordinary driver. He was the point of reference for every team he drove for, he was a huge opponent. And he was fierce, just think about what he did in Monte Carlo in qualifying in 2006. Maybe his sporting side wasn’t as strong as many people would have liked him to be, but he was a very strong driver, and I respect him.” – co-founder and former Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team Patrick Head concluded.
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