F1 Brazilian GP: Top 5 crashes at Interlagos

Interlagos is one of the classic venues on the F1 calendar, hosting the Brazilian Grand Prix on and off since the early 1970s. Its steep climbs, fast corners and unusual anti-clockwise layout make it a real challenge for the Formula 1 drivers, and this leads to mistakes and ultimately, crashes.

There have been some huge ones down the years, and here are 5 of the heaviest wrecks in Sao Paulo.

#5 Sutil, Alonso and Trulli, 2009

The start of the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix was an incredibly incident-packed few minutes, and the biggest crash involved three drivers in the midfield.

Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil were battling for fourth position, squeezing each other in the tight section around Turn 5. They collided, Trulli spearing left into the barriers, and Sutil to the right, across the grass and eventually wiping out an innocent Fernando Alonso in the process.

All three drivers were out of the race on the first lap and this would later lead to a hilarious press conference before the next round in Abu Dhabi, where Sutil and Trulli couldn't agree on who was at fault. Classic racing drivers.

#4 Michael Schumacher, 2004

Even the great Michael Schumacher was caught out in Brazil

Michael Schumacher arrived at Interlagos in 2004 after already being crowned a seven-time world champion much earlier in the season at Budapest. The F2004 and the German were an unstoppable combination, but even the greatest have made mistakes at Brazil's famous circuit.

During practice, Schumacher was heading up to the fast right-hander at Ferradura, but the Ferrari driver misjudged the amount of grip in the corner and lost the back end. Michael was doing the best part of 180mph when he turned in, and even Schumi's lightning reactions couldn't catch the slide before it was too late.

He skidded across the grass and flew into the barriers, the car was a wreck. Thankfully, the Red Baron was unharmed and competed in the race on Sunday, finishing 7th after starting from the back of the grid.

#3 Gerhard Berger and Michael Andretti, 1993

Michael Andretti had an awful F1 career.

It’s fair to say that Michael Andretti’s Formula 1 career was a drab affair, after all, the American failed to finish in 7 of his 13 races, most of them due to his poor spacial awareness.

The 1991 IndyCar champion joined McLaren for the 1993 season and had the unenviable task of partnering Ayrton Senna at the team. A collision on the fourth lap put Andretti out in his debut in South Africa, and he’d suffer the same fate again in Brazil on the opening lap.

Ferrari struggled in qualifying, with Gerhard Berger starting in 13th, but the Austrian got a lightning getaway and was challenging both JJ Lehto and Andretti going into Turn 1. Andretti opted to take the outside line, but so had Berger, and two into one doesn’t go.

Berger’s nose spun Andretti’s McLaren and the two were heading for a collision course with the barriers. Andretti slid in backwards before Berger tossed the Amercian up in the air, spinning around the crash fencing. Thankfully, neither was hurt when that could’ve easily been the case.

#2 4-car pile-up in 1994

Martin Brundle was very lucky to escape injury at the 1994 race.

Martin Brundle had his fair share of scary crashes during his time as an F1 driver, but Brazil ’94 was perhaps the worst. Eddie Irvine and Jos Verstappen were coming up to lap the Ligier of Erik Bernard at the end of the back-straight but Brundle’s McLaren had suffered an engine failure in the same location, in what turned out to be a huge dose of bad luck for the Englishman.

Verstappen took the opportunity to try and overtake Irvine, but the Brit didn’t see the Dutchman coming until the last moment, and by then it was too late. Jos had to take to the grass, which unsettled his car and sent his Benetton careening across the circuit, collecting Bernard and Irvine, before smashing into the back of Brundle’s ailing McLaren.

The impact lifted Verstappen’s car into the air, flipping over several times and when it came down, one of the loose wheels whacked Brundle on the top of his head, breaking his crash helmet. All four cars were out, but amazingly, Brundle avoided serious injury and walked away.

#1 Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso, 2003

Fernando Alonso had to receive treatment at trackside for a crash fifteen years ago.

The 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix was one of the most action-packed F1 races of all-time, with the Safety Car leading the most laps that day. The race seemed to be settling down after 54 laps, but Mark Webber lost the back end of his Jaguar going up Juncao, a real challenge in the wet like on that day.

The Aussie slammed into barriers on the outside of the corner, destroying the left side of his car, before pirouetting across the track and settling on the other side of the road. Webber was fine, but his crash had left a lot of debris on the circuit, something that would soon cause disaster.

Fernando Alonso hadn't heard the news of Webber's incident and slammed into one of the stray tyres in the middle of the track at full speed, around 180mph. The crash detonated Alonso's front right suspension, sending him into the tyre barriers on the inside, before spinning violently across the track, in a mirror image of Webber's crash.

The impact winded Alonso, and he failed to take to the podium, as he had to receive treatment by the side of the track. A crazy end to a crazy race.