Glenn Freeman

Alessi called the car nervous, saying it goes too quickly from a situation where it understeers when you turn in to one where it spins very easily.

It's hard to attack with confidence later in that first season.

Berger said that Benetton didn't like to change anything at first because they were coming from the Schumacher situation and they had so much success with him.

But he said, I just need a different car to what Michael needs.

I was fascinated by these comments, the description of what the drivers found when they got into some Benetons, because to me, this sounds like the classic Michael Schumacher teammate problem of all the cars.

Like one minute you don't think it's turning and then suddenly it's overly pointy.

The problem is now that it's not just the guy in the other car struggling with this.

They've now got two drivers who can't drive it.

In the opening races of the year, Lacey got a couple of podiums, but he had that clumsy, I think clumsy is generous, clumsy collision in Australia that we mentioned at the start or that I did.

And then a ridiculous incident with Mikasalo at the Nürburgring.

You've got to go and look this one up.

I think he's overtaking someone else, but breaks so late that he clatters into Salo as well.

Proper amateur stuff.

Berger had a distant fourth place in the Melbourne season opener, but that was it.

And Benetton's reliability record wasn't so great in the first part of the year either.

This all came to a head with a crisis meeting at Imola where Briatore read the whole team and the drivers, the riot act.

There were reports that Benetton insiders at this point had felt that Schumacher would have won three of the first four races of the year if he was still in the car.

Reflecting on this Imola blow up at the launch of the 97 cars of the following season, Briatore said he didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

As if somebody is not doing their job, you criticise.

If I screw up, I tell you I've screwed up.