Formula 1 Decade was a television show on Speed Channel. First airing on May 11, 2003the show takes a look at Formula One Grand Prix events that were run 10 years prior to the present season. A one-hour show, the announcers, SPEED's Formula One commentary team, Bob Varsha, Steve Matchett, and David Hobbs, perform a mixture of a commentary as if the race is taking place right now along with reminiscing about rules changes and also Matchett's then role with Michael Schumacher's team. In 2003, when the show looked back at the 1993 season, dominated by Alain Prost, Varsha was the show's host, while Hobbs and Matchett looked at videotape of the races, and reminisced. That changed in 2004, when Matchett began introducing the race that would be seen on an episode and wrapping up each show, while Varsha joined Matchett and Hobbs to do commentary. Speed Channel picked up the rights to broadcast the years-old races in their three-year agreement with FOM in 2003. It was included in their contract that allowed them to continue broadcasting live Formula One races, though it cost extra money, as the Formula One archives are rarely opened to any network. On April 2, 2004 the show had the daunting task of airing the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, and showing the crash that claimed the life of 3-time World Drivers' Champion, and 41-time Grand Prix race winner Ayrton Senna in that event. Matchett, a mechanic for Benetton-Ford that weekend, made these remarks at the beginning of the broadcast: -There had already been two serious accidents in the days before Senna's-one on April 29 during Friday practice, that nearly killed Rubens Barrichello, and one on April 30 during Saturday qualifying that killed Roland Ratzenberger. The show returned in 2005, taking a look back at the 1995 season, when Michael Schumacher took his second straight World Drivers' Championship. F1 Decade was not renewed for 2006; if it had been, it would have looked back at Damon Hill's championship season in 1996.
Matchett worked on Johnny Herbert's car as a mechanic at Benetton. Herbert and Matchett both claimed their maiden Formula One wins in the 1995 British Grand Prix, a race perhaps made most famous for the fact that Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill crashed out of the race while battling for the lead. At episode's end, Matchett talked about how nervous he was during the closing laps of the race, and how much the win had meant to him. Said Matchett, "I freely confess that those closing laps at Silverstone rank amongst the most stressful times of my life! They seemed to take forever!" Herbert and Matchett would team up for another Formula One win in 1995 — the 1995 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, another race in which Schumacher and Hill crashed out together.
On May 1, 2004, a special re-broadcast of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was aired to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the tragic deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. The broadcast, as Steve Matchett said in the introduction to it, was not cut or edited to exclude Senna's fatal crash.
