F1's biggest scandals: Schumacher fights 'cheating' allegations to win first title

The 1994 F1 season is perhaps the most consequential in the history of the world championship. 

Ayrton Senna would enter the season as the last man standing of the quartet that was F1's golden generation of the late 1980s and early 1990s, with Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell all either retired, or in the latter's case, racing in IndyCar. 

That era's Max Verstappen, if you like, was one Michael Schumacher, the young German hotshot who was the spearhead of the next generation, which also included the likes of Mika Hakkinen, Rubens Barrichello, and fatefully, David Coulthard. 

The loss of Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in round three of the season was compounded two weeks later at Monaco when Karl Wendlinger was placed in an induced coma following a high-speed practice crash. 

In response to this, then-FIA president Max Mosley, to his credit, rammed through a series of safety modifications to the cars, including the 'plank' underneath to raise the ride height and improved cockpit head protection that could have saved Senna. 

Today, we see the legacy of those raised cockpit sides, introduced in 1996, as the halo, which has saved the lives of Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and most famously, Romain Grosjean. 

Schumacher would eventually emerge from the tragic, chaotic, and controversial season as the first German world champion - having been banned from two races and winning the title after a collision with Damon Hill in the finale. 

But, allegations of cheating hit the team throughout the season, in that it was using illegal driver aids, with the infamous 'Option 13' central to the claims that Schumacher's first title was a tainted one.

Schumacher's controversial first title

Ahead of the new season, the FIA decided to ban the automatic driver aids which had erupted in the previous two seasons.

For 1994, traction control, launch control, active suspension and automatic gearboxes were all banned, with the idea of putting more emphasis on the driver than the car.

But even Senna himself warned that the new breed of machines was tricky to handle and that, "It's going to be a season with lots of accidents, and I'll risk saying that we'll be lucky if something really serious doesn't happen."

In the Brazil opener, leader Senna and chaser Schumacher both pitted on lap 21, but quicker work from the Benetton crew got the latter out first. Senna would later spin-off at Juncao, bringing to an end his vain pursuit.

Next time out at Aida for the Pacific GP, Senna was punted out at Turn 1 by Mika Hakkinen and Ferrari stand-in Nicola Larini, who had claimed to the Italian press that he used traction control during practice. The claims were quickly quashed by both the team and driver.

However, after his DNF, Senna turned detective, staying trackside to hear if any of the cars, and specifically the B194 of Schumacher, were running any driver aids. 

He returned to the paddock suspicious that the Benetton was not legal, but before he could take the matter up officially, he would be killed whilst leading at Imola two weeks later to the day.

After Imola, the FIA requested the engine software of the top-three finishers from the San Marino GP - Schumacher, Hakkinen and Larini. 

Perhaps to clearly show 'it wasn't us, guv", Ferrari quickly handed over its codes, but Benetton and McLaren only did so after the deadline imposed - both copping a $100,000 fine each.

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Option 13

After investigating the black boxes, the FIA revealed in July 1994 that Benetton did have launch control in the engine software, but that it was not immediately detectable.

The FIA found that the system could only be activated when a laptop was plugged into the car, with the menu of options initially not displaying launch control. To find it, one had to scroll down to 'Option 13'.

Whilst Benetton admitted the presence of the software, it claimed that Schumacher could not activate it himself during races, instead only via software tricks.

One loophole for Benetton was that although the regulation forbade the use of launch control, it said nothing about the presence of the software by which it might have been used.

Ultimately, the FIA could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Schumacher had used the system, especially at Imola and in a lightning start from third to the lead at the French GP, and so the team was cleared.

For their trouble, McLaren was also cleared for using a semi-automatic gearbox system. 

But the trouble wasn't over for Benetton.

At the German GP, with a suspended Schumacher racing under appeal after his black flag shenanigans at Silverstone, another incident impacted his team-mate, who for this race was Jos Verstappen. 

Refuelling had been re-introduced for 1994, with teams looking to shave off as much time as possible in their stops.

To do this, Benetton removed a fuel rig filter that controlled the rate fuel was pumped into the tanks, but at Hockemheim, a fuel spill ignited a blaze that engulfed Verstappen and the pit crew in flames.

Fortunately, serious injury was avoided, although Benetton was again hauled in front of the FIA for this breach. 

It would be found the night before the hearing that the manufacturer of the fuel rigs, Intertechnique, had allegedly told teams to remove the fuel filter - thus clearing Benetton of the charge.