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Racing incidents aren't uncommon in a sport like F1. If anything, such incidents are quite expected on the track. At times, it even riles up the crowd. From declining team calls to giving other drivers a tough time, racing incidents span the spectrum. In a high-pressure environment, friends can easily turn into bitter rivals.
Over the years, audiences have seen teammates turn on each other. The glory of becoming an F1 champion sometimes obscures everything else. On the track, a driver makes a mistake, which then results in a vicious war. Drivers refuse to speatoth each other, criticize each other, and sometimes even trigger off-track drama.
This list of drivers not speaking to each other also consists of many former friends. People who grew up together and raced against each other. Some even came up through the karting program to reach professional racing, only to later lose that friendship.
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5) Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon's toxic F1 friendship
Who could have thought that F1 duo Gasly and Ocon were friends at one point? But that's true. The two French drivers have a lot in common. Their hometowns are barely 45 kms apart, and they became good friends while karting together.
But Ocon's competitive and aggressive on-track behavior was too much for Gasly, who confirmed they're not on speaking terms anymore. Gasly's rants post-race after Ocon pushed him off the track during the Mexican Grand Prix 2018, solidified his belief that the Alpine driver wouldn't change.
His words contained a mix of his underlying disappointment with his former friend and the acceptance of the fact that he is who he is.
Though Gasly didn't have to say the words, it was clear the two wouldn't necessarily enjoy talking to each other on the F1 grid. Let's see how it turns out if they partner each other at Alpine.
4) Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna's love-hate relationship
To be fair, this F1 relationship healed over time and did see a happy ending. But there was no stopping the heated rivalry between the two McLaren teammates as they paired up to represent the team.
The duo saw the first cracks in their relationship when Senna dramatically won the San Marino Grand Prix in 1989, after making some dangerous overtakes on Prost.
Since the incident, they refused to speak to each other, saving it for team meetings. For the rest of the season, the two would violently get back at each other if one of them won the race. Given their fight, they've also made the Japanese Grand Prix iconic with two crashes in two years, which awarded both of them with a championship title.
3) Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's breakup post 2014 Monaco GP
The two did not initially share a rivalry. But an F1 war ensued between them in the Mercedes camp, where Toto Wolff simply did not know what to do. The two extremely talented drivers were friends, having matured in the Mercedes program during their karting years. They expressed public sentiments of happiness and grief at the other's victories and losses.
However, Rosberg chose to win ahead of Hamilton when he conveniently parked his car in a corner during Monaco GP 2014 while Hamilton was on a flying lap. This obviously derailed the latter's pole chances, who then angrily claimed:
"We are not friends. We are colleagues."
But this was only the beginning of the problems that were about to concoct at camp Silver Arrows. The two have since then publicly admitted that they did not speak to each other and only spoke to Wolff and Niki Lauda.
Their conversations would only happen to the point where they were necessary and nothing beyond that. Then there was the iconic cap throw.
2) Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel's falling out
The two started out great with many hailing Webber as a future world champion with Red Bull. However, things took a turn for the worse when Vettel snatched a world title victory in 2010. It is widely claimed to have been largely favoured by Red Bull throughout the years.
The final straw for Webber was when the infamous Multi-21 incident happened. Vettel blatantly disregarded the team's order to hold the station, running away with Webber's well-deserved victory.
Safe to say, Webber did not hold back as he confronted the team and Vettel. It was clear though how little Seb cared, with the two men rarely interacting post-race.
1) Fernando Alonso's angry remark about Lewis Hamilton
To be clear, Lewis Hamilton was at fault during the 2022 Belgian GP. But Fernando Alonso did not hold back his words and shots were fired. The two have not shared a good working relationship in the past as well. Alonso left McLaren three years earlier than his contract, allegedly due to his disagreements with Hamilton.
However, Hamilton was largely bothered by what was said about him on Alonso's team radio and has admitted:
“I know how things feel in the heat of the moment, but it’s nice to know how he feels about me. It’s better that it’s out in the open how he feels. And like I said, it wasn’t intentional, and I take responsibility for it. That’s what adults do.”
Clearly, throughout F1 history, several incidents have created rifts between drivers. While some have eased out over the years, the Hamilton-Alonso and Gasly-Ocon beef proves that some wounds might be too deep to heal easily.
