Glenn Freeman

In 1996, he said Benetton had had to adapt to having two top-line drivers on equal billing within the team.

braun said it's the first time we've had two top drivers capable of winning races on performance and we've had to improve our performance in supporting both drivers like simmons braun said that benetton hadn't given the drivers a car they can really get into so we haven't seen the best of them but he was confident that the 1997 car would be one they could work with and push a bit more he

He said that by mid-season in 96, things were so much better than the first few races.

Although he also felt the Imola crisis talks were overplayed as every team that is not winning is in crisis.

And when you don't win, you have to understand why.

Ben, I want to come back to this point about running two race winning drivers, other than the fact that that sounds like a bit of a dig at Johnny Herbert, who did win two races in 95.

Is it basically an admission, though, that until 96, Benetton had operated as a team that only really focused on one of its cars, which I guess is maybe a bit of comfort for all those guys who sat across the garage to Schumacher from 92 to 95.

Yeah, so you sort of end up with Berger almost being, if he was cast as a number two, he's just a very expensive one.

Yeah.

Which doesn't quite fit the formula.

Now, 1996 ends with Benetton third in the Constructors' Championship, a long way behind Williams, as everybody was that year.

And then losing out to Schumacher and Ferrari, perhaps painfully, by two points.

And the year also marked its first winless season since 1988.

Simmons said that was tough to take, even if a year with 10 podium finishes in 96 was hardly disgraceful.

Although he accepted it took longer than expected for Benetton and its new drivers to develop an understanding.

Braun said the main issue was that the start of the season was more difficult than the drivers or the team imagined.

He said things were much better by mid-season.

But in that early part of the year, Benetton's priorities kept changing because where you concentrate your resources is triggered by your results.

Berger agreed that the start of the year was the hardest bit, saying the car was late.

There were problems in the beginning and there was not much time to see the driving style of Jean and I and work the car around us.