What should have been a normal pitstop for Benetton driver Jos Verstappen turned into near disaster when petrol sprayed out of the refuelling hose and was ignited on a still hot car.
Captured live on television at the time, the drama of the moment has been further sealed by what is now a world-famous photograph of then Benetton pit crew member Paul Seaby captured in the middle of flames as he made his escape.
Here we spoke to three key men involved in that moment to look back at the events of that Sunday afternoon – driver Jos Verstappen, photographer Steven Tee and Seaby himself.
The stop
Jos Verstappen’s pitstop at the 1994 German GP
Photo by: LAT Images
The 1994 German Grand Prix took place amid the intense political backdrop which dogged that season.
Benetton had headed to Michael Schumacher’s home race appealing against a two-race ban for the German for having ignored black flags in the previous event at Silverstone.
Schumacher hoped to become the first German to win his home grand prix, but knew that it would be a tough order thanks to the long Hockenheim straights perfectly suiting rival Ferrari’s V12 power unit.
A chaotic opening lap to the grand prix, which included a first corner pile-up that would earn Mika Hakkinen a race ban, left Schumacher emerging as race leader Gerhard Berger’s main challenger.
On lap 13, Schumacher peeled in to the pits for his first refuelling stop, which was completed without trouble. Two laps later it was teammate Jos Verstappen’s turn to pit.
Jos Verstappen
“I remember coming in for what I thought was a regular pitstop. Sitting in the car, I would always open my visor because when I was stood still I would sweat a lot, so as I came to a halt I opened my helmet to get some fresh air.
“Then I saw the fluid coming. This was before I could smell anything, and that is why I was waving my arm. Then everything went up [in flames] and it was suddenly dark and black, and I couldn’t breathe. It was a situation you don’t normally think about: it is like you are suddenly put in a dark room, and then you think, ‘I need to get out..’
“It was a struggle to get the steering wheel off, and that took me a couple of seconds. Then I had to release the belts. So there were a lot of things I had to do before I stood up and realised what had happened.”
Fire during Jos Verstappen’s pitstop at the 1994 German GP
Photo by: LAT Images
Paul Seaby
“My job was as right front wheel on, so I had my back…
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