Michael Schumacher made his Formula One debut at the end of the 1991 season for the Benetton-Ford team, replacing Roberto Moreno for the final six races of the season. Competing with then team driver and three-time Formula One World Champion Nelson Piquet, Schumacher would show early promise, finishing 5th at the Italian Grand Prix and 6th at both the Portuguese Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix.

For 1992, Michael Schumacher would return for what would be his first full season in Formula One, racing under #19 and becoming the primary driver for Benetton. With Piquet’s retirement at the end of the 1991 season, his seat was filled for 1992 by British racing driver Martin Brundle coming over from the Brabham-Yamaha F1 team. Brundle would race under #20. At the start of the 1992 season the Benetton-Ford team did not have their new cars ready, forcing them to use 1991 cars for the first three races of the season. The cars were powered by a 600-horsepower, naturally aspirated, 3,498-cubic-centimeter Ford HBA5 V-8, longitudinally mounted and backed by a Benetton transverse six-speed manual gearbox. It featured a carbon fiber monocoque and front and rear double wishbone pushrod suspension.

For 1992, minor upgrades were made to the suspension and bodywork, and the Pirelli tires used in 1991 were replaced with Goodyear. The 1991 cars, including chassis number B191-08, would go on to provide a very effective stopgap before the B192 was ready for the 1992 Spanish Grand Prix.

1992 SOUTH AFRICAN GRAND PRIX

The 1992 Formula 1 season was kicked off at the South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami. Schumacher would qualify 6th, with his best lap coming in Q2 at 1:17.635, behind Ferrari’s Jean Alesi. Brundle would qualify 8th, nearly a second slower than Schumacher. Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna would fight for pole with Mansell edging out Senna by over seven-tenths of a second.

At the 1992 South African Grand Prix Michael Schumacher piloted this very car, chassis number B191-08, in the race. In an exciting first lap which saw Riccardo Patrese overtake Senna for 2nd, Gerhard Berger dropped to 6th with Ferrari’s Jean Alesi and Schumacher moving up to 4th and 5th places, respectively. These positions would hold through lap 38, when in lap 39 Schumacher passed Alesi, who would later withdraw from the race after lap 40 with engine problems. Schumacher’s best lap of the race would come on lap 66; his average pace of 193.623 km/h gave way to a 1.19.224 lap time. Mansell and Patrese would finish 1-2 for Williams, positions they held for the entirety of the race. Senna, the reigning 1991 World Drivers' Champion, retained 3rd for the entire race, holding off Schumacher who would finish 4th. Schumacher’s finish earned him three points toward that year’s Drivers’ Championship and three points for Benetton-Ford toward the Constructors’ Championship.

1992 MEXICAN GRAND PRIX

For the second round of the 1992 Formula One season, the Mexican Grand Prix, Martin Brundle was handed the reigns of chassis number B191-08, according to Autocourse 1992. Brundle would qualify an impressive 4th behind teammate Michael Schumacher, and ahead of McLaren-Honda team drivers Berger and Senna. Nigel Mansell would once again secure pole with teammate Riccardo Patrese behind him in 2nd.

In an exciting start, Mansell and Patrese would retain their 1-2 qualifying positions while Schumacher would drop back to 5th, with Senna taking 3rd and Brundle remaining in his 4th-place qualifying position. By lap three Schumacher had passed Brundle, establishing 1-2-3-4-5 positioning that would remain in place for the next 10 laps. By lap 12 Schumacher and Brundle moved into 3rd and 4th places, respectively, with Senna retiring from the race with transmission problems. Brundle’s best lap behind the wheel of this car at the Mexican Grand Prix came in lap 38, his average pace of 199.724 km/h giving way to a 1.19.688 lap time. Brundle would remain in 4th through lap 42, when he was passed by Berger. Brundle would retire after 47 laps due to engine problems. Mansell and Patrese would once again finish 1-2 for Williams, with Schumacher and Berger finishing 3rd and 4th.

1992 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX

The 1992 Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix marked the final team use for chassis number B191-08, with Martin Brundle once again behind the wheel for the race according to Autocourse 1992. Brundle would qualify 7th behind Ferrari’s Jean Alesi and teammate Michael Schumacher, with his fastest time coming in Q2. The 1-2-3 positions were secured by Mansell, Patrese, and Senna.

Gerhard Berger, who qualified 4th, was forced to start the race at the back after stalling on the parade lap. Those who qualified after Berger each moved up a spot, including Schumacher into 4th, Alesi into 5th, and Brundle into 6th. At the beginning of the race, Senna and Schumacher would battle for 3rd, with Schumacher taking over the position in the 13th lap. Brundle, in this car, would hold 6th place through 13 laps. Alesi and Brundle would both pass Senna in lap 14, with Senna retiring shortly thereafter on lap 17 with engine problems. Dealing with tire degradation, Schumacher, then in 3rd, pitted early, allowing Alesi and teammate Brundle to move up to 3rd and 4th behind Williams’ teammates Patrese and Mansell in 1-2. Alesi would pit after lap 24, moving Brundle into 3rd place, a position he would only hold for two laps before he would pit himself. Brundle would rejoin the race in 8th, moving up to 6th for three laps before making contact with Alesi which forced Brundle’s early retirement. It was during that timeframe Brundle set his fastest lap for the race in this car: lap 28, with a time of 1.22.019 and a pace of 189.834 km/h. Mansell, who lost his pole position on the very first lap to teammate Patrese, would eventually regain 1st place nearly halfway through the race. For the third race in a row Williams teammates Mansell and Patrese would finish 1-2 with Schumacher finishing 3rd and Jean Alesi, who Brundle had battled with all day, finishing 4th.

The B192 chassis was finally ready for the next race of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix, and the B191s were retired. Schumacher would go on to secure six podium finishes and two fastest laps, finishing the season with 53 points—earning him a 3rd-place finish in the Drivers’ Championship behind Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese and beating the defending 1991 Champion, Ayrton Senna, by three points. Martin Brundle would go on to secure five podium finishes, finishing 6th in the Drivers’ Championship with 38 points. Williams’ Mansell won the Drivers’ Championship and Williams-Renault would also win the Constructors’ Championship, with McLaren-Honda and Benetton-Ford finishing 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Benetton’s Schumacher years are regarded as the team’s best. Schumacher would go on to win his first and second Drivers’ Championships with the team in 1994 and 1995—in the latter of which the Benetton team would win what would be their sole Constructors’ Championship.

CHASSIS NO. B191-08 IN RETIREMENT

After chassis B191-08 was retired from racing, it was purchased by a Mr. Mortlock directly from Benetton around the time Renault purchased the team. The car was subsequently sold in December 2000 to a US-based private collector. In April of 2001, under the supervision of F1 expert Fred Goddard, the car was run at Donington Park in England. The car was subsequently flown from England to South Florida. It then made what would be its final track appearance in July at the Brian Redman Vintage Racing Weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Once again, the car was supervised by Goddard. It would partake in practice, but the owner decided to withdraw the car prior to the race, not wanting to risk things on a race day which had inclement weather.

In June 2005 the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum purchased chassis B191-08. It has since been proudly on display at the Museum, leaving Speedway, Indiana, only for a limited number of special occasions. In 2017, it was part of a Grand Prix car display at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, and it was also exhibited at the Cincinnati Concours d’Elegance at Ault Park. The car was further displayed in the summer of 2024 at the Savoy Auto Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. It is accompanied by a scanned photocopy of a Benetton certificate of authenticity confirming Schumacher’s use and a copy of the F1 book Autocourse 1992 outlining this car’s use in the first three races of the 1992 season. The car is accompanied by a selection of spares.

With a Formula One resume that includes 68 pole positions, 77 fastest laps, 155 podium finishes, and seven Drivers’ Championships—including back-to-back with Benetton in the mid-1990s and later the sport’s only five-peat with Ferrari in the 2000s—Michael Schumacher goes down in history as, simply, one of the best drivers ever. Opportunities do not frequently arise to acquire a car from early in his career.

This Benetton B191, driven by Schumacher during his first full season in Formula One competition, would make a wonderful and significant addition to any collection.