The Michael Schumacher drama which is now affecting Daniel Ricciardo

Not many F1 fans know that the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board (CRB) was set up after Michael Schumacher signed for Benetton in 1991 despite having a contract with Jordan - the team he made his grand prix debut with.

Those events are having an impact on the futures of Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri.

Alpine and McLaren are involved in a battle over Piastri’s services for next year, with both teams thinking they have a legal contract to have him in the car for next year.

It all started when Sebastian Vettel announced his shock retirement from F1 ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Shortly after the race at the Hungaroring, Fernando Alonso announced his surprise switch to Aston Martin, paving the way for Piastri to be the two-time champion’s replacement.

However, in comical fashion, once Alpine announced Piastri, the Australian hours later, announced that he would not be driving for the team, hinting that he would be joining another team.

Speculation was rife but it soon transpired that Piastri would be McLaren’s preferred replacement for Ricciardo, whose underperformance has made the Woking-outfit want to cut ties one-year early.

As a result of all this drama, Alpine have been in contact with the CRB, while team boss Otmar Szafnauer has even threatened to go to High Court over it.

How this saga will play out is unclear and ultimately it will come down to the CRB’s verdict. 

Looking back to 1991, Schumacher starred on his F1 debut with Jordan, qualifying an impressive seventh.

His race was cut short despite running in fifth due to a clutch failure but the young German quickly made a name for himself.

As a result, Benetton was interested in signing him for 1992, although that was soon fast-tracked to the next race at Monza.

Benetton - headed by Flavio Briatore - were prepared to pay off current driver Roberto Moreno.

Benetton were able to sign Schumacher but had more trouble in ousting Moreno.

Due to how the contract was written by Jordan, it didn’t hold up in court, thus losing F1’s latest hot prospect.

For Benetton, Moreno had a valid contract and accepted a pay off of around $500,000.

Schumacher would then make his debut for Benetton at Monza after impressing the team in a prior test, while Moreno drove for Jordan.

The drama of 1991 ultimately saw the introduction of the CRB which is having an impact in 2022.