Editing Michael Schumacher (section)

====1991–1993: Maiden points, podiums and wins====
Schumacher finished the {{F1|1991}} season with four points out of six races. His best finish was fifth in his second race, the {{F1 GP|1991|Italian}}, in which he finished ahead of his teammate and three-time World Champion [[Nelson Piquet]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=1991 F1 World Championship {{!}} Motorsport Database|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/championships/1991-f1-world-championship/|access-date=9 February 2024|website=Motor Sport|archive-date=20 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220181205/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/championships/1991-f1-world-championship/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Knuston|first=Dan|date=14 September 2006|title=Knutson: Schumacher as hard on teammates as anyone|url=https://www.espn.co.uk/racing/news/story?series=6&id=2587932|access-date=9 February 2024|publisher=ESPN|archive-date=30 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230201931/https://www.espn.co.uk/racing/news/story?series=6&id=2587932|url-status=live}}</ref> He also outqualified Piquet four times out of five in the season run-in, and scored only half a point less than him in the time they were together.<ref name="Gibson 2016"/><!--<ref>{{Cite web|title=1991 Driver Standings: Michael Schumacher|url=https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1991/drivers/MICSCH01/michael-schumacher.html|access-date=30 August 2021|publisher=Formula One|archive-date=30 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830141737/https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1991/drivers/MICSCH01/michael-schumacher.html}}</ref>-->

[[File:Michael Schumacher 1992 Monaco.jpg|thumb|right|Schumacher driving for [[Benetton Formula|Benetton]] in at the {{F1 GP|1992|Monaco}}. In 1992, he achieved the first of his 91 wins.]]
At the start of the {{F1|1992}} season the Sauber team, planning their Formula One debut with Mercedes backing for the following year, invoked a clause in Schumacher's contract that stated that if Mercedes entered Formula One, Schumacher would drive for them. It was eventually agreed that Schumacher would stay with Benetton; [[Peter Sauber]] stated that "[Schumacher] didn't want to drive for us. Why would I have forced him?"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Domenjoz|first=Luc|title=Michael Schumacher: Rise of a genius|publisher=Parragon|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7525-9228-2|page=38|orig-year=2002}}</ref> The year was dominated by the [[Williams FW14B]] of [[Nigel Mansell]] and [[Riccardo Patrese]], featuring powerful [[Renault in Formula One|Renault]] engines, [[semi-automatic gearboxes]], and [[active suspension]] to control the car's ride height.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Autocourse 1992–93|publisher=Hazleton Publishing|year=1992|isbn=978-0-905138-96-1|editor-last=Henry|editor-first=Alan|page=50}}</ref> In the conventional [[Benetton B192]], Schumacher took his place on the [[podium]] for the first time, finishing third in the {{F1 GP|1992|Mexican}}. Through what has been described as a tactical masterstroke,<ref name="Gibson 2016" /> he went on to take his first victory at the {{F1 GP|1992|Belgian}}, in a wet race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which by 2003 he would call "far and away my favourite track".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kehm|first=Sabine|title=Michael Schumacher: Driving Force|publisher=Random House|year=2003|isbn=978-0-09-189435-1|page=14|url=https://archive.org/details/michaelschumache0000schu/page/n17/mode/2up|url-access=registration}}</ref> That also marked as the last [[Formula One car]] to win a Grand Prix while sporting a H-pattern [[manual gearbox]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Aggarwal|first=Pranav|date=3 January 2018|title=Remarkable Moments from Michael Schumacher's career|url=https://www.essentiallysports.com/most-remarkable-michael-schumacher-career/|access-date=11 February 2024|website=EssentiallySports|archive-date=25 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025104755/https://www.essentiallysports.com/most-remarkable-michael-schumacher-career/|url-status=live}}</ref>

From the [[1992 Portuguese Grand Prix]] to the [[1998 Monaco Grand Prix]], Schumacher was not beaten by his teammate when both cars finished. 1992 was also the first of many times that Schumacher beat his teammate through a full season, and [[Martin Brundle]] was fired as a result. Benetton team boss [[Flavio Briatore]] later regretted this decision, saying that he had underestimated the ability of both his drivers.<ref>{{Cite web|date=15 August 2021|title=1990s F1 Drivers Ranked|url=https://f1-analysis.com/2021/08/15/1990s-supergrid/|access-date=10 February 2024|website=F1 Analysis|archive-date=5 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205075740/https://f1-analysis.com/2021/08/15/1990s-supergrid/|url-status=live}}</ref> Schumacher finished third in the Drivers' Championship in 1992 with 53 points, three points behind runner-up Patrese and three in front of the Brazilian [[Ayrton Senna]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=1992 F1 World Championship {{!}} Motorsport Database|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/championships/1992-f1-world-championship/|access-date=9 February 2024|website=Motor Sport|archive-date=15 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215111833/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/championships/1992-f1-world-championship/|url-status=live}}</ref><!--<ref>{{Cite web|title=1992 Driver Standings|url=https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1992/drivers.html|access-date=30 August 2021|publisher=Formula One|archive-date=22 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922151924/https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1992/drivers.html}}</ref>--> According to [[Jo Ramírez]], a close friend of Senna, the Brazilian considered Schumacher "the next big threat, way ahead of all the other drivers around at the time".<ref name="Howell 2003">{{Cite web |last=Howell |first=Norman |date=2 March 2003 |title=So Michael, where did it all go wrong? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/mar/02/features.sportmonthly2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717111417/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/mar/02/features.sportmonthly2 |archive-date=17 July 2023 |access-date=17 July 2023 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>

The [[Williams FW15C]] of [[Damon Hill]] and [[Alain Prost]] dominated the {{F1|1993}} season as well. Benetton introduced their own active suspension and [[traction control]] early in the season, last of the frontrunning teams to do so.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Grand Prix Results: Monaco GP, 1993 <!--|work=Grand Prix Encyclopedia-->|website=GrandPrix.com|url=http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr538.html|access-date=6 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109030251/http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr538.html|archive-date=9 November 2006|postscript=. Benetton first raced traction control at the [[1993 Monaco Grand Prix]], having introduced active suspension at the [[1993 European Grand Prix]] (Domenjoz (2002) p. 40). Williams had first raced an active system in 1987 and used it throughout 1992 (Autocourse (1992) p. 50), while McLaren and Ferrari both introduced active cars in the final races of the 1992 season (Autocourse (1992) pp. 42, 80).}}</ref> Schumacher won one race, the {{F1 GP|1993|Portuguese}} where he beat Prost,<ref name="Beer 2020">{{Cite web|last=Beer|first=Matt|date=11 October 2020|title=Schumacher and Hamilton's best, worst, oddest and wettest wins|url=https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/schumacher-and-hamiltons-best-worst-oddest-and-wettest-wins/|access-date=9 February 2024|website=The Race|archive-date=8 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208163435/https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/schumacher-and-hamiltons-best-worst-oddest-and-wettest-wins/|url-status=live}}</ref> and had nine podium finishes; he retired in seven of the other 16 races. He finished the season in fourth, with 52 points,<ref>{{Cite web|title=1993 F1 World Championship {{!}} Motorsport Database|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/championships/1993-f1-world-championship/|access-date=9 February 2024|website=Motor Sport|archive-date=15 February 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230215092216/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/championships/1993-f1-world-championship/|url-status=live}}</ref><!--<ref>{{Cite web|title=1993 Driver Standings|url=https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1993/drivers.html|access-date=30 August 2021|publisher=Formula One|archive-date=30 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830141735/https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1993/drivers.html}}</ref>--> beating Patrese as teammate, so much so that Briatore and his team thought that Patrese was washed up and that they had no problem with their car.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Taylor|first=Simon|date=7 July 2014|title=Lunch with... Riccardo Patrese|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-2010/84/riccardo-patrese/|access-date=10 February 2024|website=Motor Sport|archive-date=10 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210035819/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-2010/84/riccardo-patrese/|url-status=live}}</ref>