Silverstone, England, 1994

Benetton Formula enjoyed a good start to the racing season. Schumacher was the fastest driver. As well as the fastest starts, Benetton also had the fastest pit stops. No one could match Briatore's men for speed.

By the time of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Schumacher and Benetton had six wins and one second place from seven races. During the British race, Schumacher was shown the black flag and ordered to return to the pits. He initially stayed in the race and later claimed not to have seen the flag. It appeared at times that the car was driving Schumacher, rather than Schumacher driving the car. He was banned for two races and Benetton paid damages for not immediately handing over computer equipment to the international motor sports authority.

Schumacher's next race was in Germany. Events there stayed in the minds of many who witnessed it. Schumacher was running second when the other Benetton driver, Jos Verstappen, came into the pits to refuel. He was in his car, surrounded by mechanics, when the fuel caught fire. For four seconds, car, driver, and mechanics were covered in flames. This was seen by millions of people on television.

Verstappen and the Benetton crew had an amazing escape. The driver and five mechanics suffered only small burns. All the equipment was taken away for inspection, and the inspectors found that a piece of the fuel pipe was missing, which slightly increased the speed of refueling. The team managers were ordered to appear in front of the authorities, although Briatore continued to protest that they had done nothing wrong.

At the same time, in Great Britain, a company had finally discovered the secret of the Benetton computer system.

If the system was working, it would allow Schumacher to make a perfect start. As soon as he hit the gas, the computer would decide the correct engine speeds. This would be a serious sporting crime, as serious as Olympic runners using drugs.

The Benetton team managers said that the banned program had not been used; it was still on their computer after the ban because it was difficult to remove it. The authorities were not persuaded and made their worries public, but they took no more action against the Benetton team.