Ferrari missed out on F1 superstar before signing Michael Schumacher in shock revelation

It would have all turned out so differently if Jean Todt had said yes.

Michael Schumacher made history with Ferrari but another superstar could have been signed instead (Image: Getty)

Imagine a world in which Michael Schumacher and Ferrari didn’t break pretty much every Formula 1 record worth having together. Well, according to former team principal Jean Todt, it very nearly happened. Because before the Scuderia poached Schumi away from Benetton after his first two world titles, they had the chance to sign another superstar of the era.

Schumacher’s first F1 title was won in the infamous 1994 season which proved to be one of the sport’s darkest, due to the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at Imola. The latter was only a few months into a new challenge driving for Williams but, according to Todt, if the Brazilian had had his way then he would have been driving in red instead.

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Todt said Senna had been keen on a move to Ferrari in the middle of 1993. It is well-known that the three-time world champion was torn on his future at that time, with McLaren keen to keep their superstar and, it later emerged, his partner Adriane trying to convince him to take a break from F1 altogether.

It has also been rumoured that Senna wanted a Ferrari move and Todt has now confirmed that was the case. He said: “It was in Monza 1993, I remember. [Senna] came to my room – we were staying in the same hotel – and we spent part of the night together to speak about him joining Ferrari. He wanted to come, he wanted to come, but he wanted to come in 1994.

Senna (left) was negotiating with Ferrari and Todt around the time of this photo in 1993 (Image: Getty)

“In ’94, we already had a contract with Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi and I said to him, ‘1994 will not be possible. In fact, we will not be ready yet, and we have those contracts’. And he answered to me, ‘In Formula 1, contracts are not important’. And I said, ‘Yes but, for me, contracts are important’.”

Ferrari did want Senna, but Todt was unwilling to break the agreements he had with Berger and Alesi and so the Scuderia wanted to wait until 1995. And, according to the Frenchman, there had been a long-lasting interest in Senna by the powers-that-be at Maranello since before he had taken charge himself.

Todt explained: “He wanted to come, but he wanted to come in 1994. Senna wanted to drive for Ferrari – I heard Ferrari wanted him before that, and there were some contacts between the two before, but I cannot talk about what I don’t know. But with me as the head of the Formula 1 team, this discussion was in September 1993 for him arriving in 1995.

“But he wanted to arrive in 1994. That’s why he went to Williams. So, after that, in 1994, Ferrari still had the same drivers, but we were rebuilding the team. In 1995, we were still rebuilding the team, and then we knew that 1996 was the year, really, to try to have [a star driver].”

They landed one in Schumacher, by that point a double world champion who could not resist the approach made by Ferrari after delivering the title twice for Benetton. According to Todt, the German and his manager Willi Weber put pen to paper on a contract after only 24 hours of talks, so convinced they were that it was the right career move.