<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Needless to say, the anticipations were very high at the start of the season. The F310 proved relatively quick but also had teething reliability issues. Irvine and Schumacher did manage to finish on the podium several times. As development continued, which included the addition of a raised nose, the F310 became quicker and reliable resulting in Schumacher's first victory for Ferrari at Spain. He won again in Belgium and Italy, and ended the year third in the standings, with Ferrari second.
For Schumacher, the development curve had not been steep enough and on his insistence Benetton technical geniuses Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn were hired to replace Barnard. They did not join Ferrari in time to create a new car from scratch so instead they evolved the existing car into the F310B. Among the most obvious changes was a new nose, which was taller again. The engine was tweaked to produce more power, while a new seven-speed gearbox was also introduced.
The revisions paid off and Schumacher started on pole three times and scored wins in Monaco, Canada, France, Belgium and Japan. The German was in the running for the championship until the final round of the season. In a desperate attempt to keep Williams-Renault driver Jacques Villeneuve behind him, he controversially ran him off the road. The move backfired as Schumacher was disqualified from the Championship altogether. His points did count for the constructor's trophy where Ferrari placed third again. << Prev Page 2 of 2