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There's hardly a driver who does not want to win, as the feeling of a race win is second to none. Each F1 driver from the day they start racing in go-karts, wants to take the checkered Flag once in their lifetime. While some manage to do it, others end up falling short.
Some unfortunate ones have to give up their race victory to their teammates due to strategic calls taken by the team. Below are some drivers who had to yield their positions to put their teammates on the pedestal.
#5) 1998 Australian F1 GP: David Coulthard
David Coulthard slowed down at the very last moment to hand over the victory to Mika Hakkinen, his then-teammate at McLaren during the 1998 Australian Grand Prix. While the team order did not come right on the radio, as per reports, Coulthard reduced his speed just before the finish line to respect a previous team agreement.
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#4) 1999 German F1 GP: Mika Salo
Mika Salo started the race in Ferrari as an injured Michael Schumacher's substitute. Salo, in his substitute duty at Ferrari, was leading the race. However, the Prancing Horse ordered him to yield the position to hand over the victory to Eddie Irvine.
Irvine was the prime Championship contender that season against Mika Hakkinen of McLaren. Despite the help, the former was unable to claim the title in the end as he lost the championship by two points. On the other hand, Mika Salo never got the chance to claim a victory in his 109 F1 race starts before retiring in 2002.
#3) 2002 Austrian F1 GP: Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello was leading the 2002 Austrian GP race until Ferrari ordered him to fall back and hand over the race lead to Michael Schumacher. This was done to help the German former driver in the World Championship.
As soon as the order was passed out, this received ample negative response. Initially hesitant, Barrichello eventually yielded and handed the race victory to Schumacher at the very last moment.
#2) 2018 Russian F1 GP: Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas started the race from the pole position and was leading the race comfortably. However, an order from the Mercedes pit lane arrived that ordered the Finnish driver to fall back and surrender the race lead to Lewis Hamilton.
In 2018, Hamilton was in a title battle with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who was running in P3 in the Sochi race. To increase the lead in the Championship, Mercedes made the fateful call on Bottas.
#1) 2024 Hungarian F1 GP: Lando Norris
McLaren tried an ambitious move with Oscar Piastri to keep Lewis Hamilton away. However, in doing so, they compromised Piastri's race lead and handed it over to his teammate, Lando Norris.
However, McLaren requested Norris to give the place back to Piastri, to which the former did not yield immediately. After multiple deliberate attempts, a seemingly unhappy Norris slowed down to hand Piastri the lead, and subsequently his first GP win.
