They weren't always this close: Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard at Interlagos in 2012, years after their famous fightFormula One has been the pinnacle of Motorsport since its inception in 1950. Every year the thrill of racing fills us with excitement and a winner is crowned at the end of the spectacle. However some drivers or teams won the exclusive title by hook or by crook.Some unsportsmanlike acts have severely stained Formula One’s reputation. Some of these incidents may or may not have had a significant impact on the championship, but seriously dented the reputation of the perpetrators. There have been many regrettable incidents over the years that turned into a PR nightmare for the affected drivers and teams.
#1 Red Bull\'s Multi 21 or the Oi! Get Back Here Seb
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This infamous incident occurred during the closing laps of the 2013 Malaysian GP. The Infiniti Red Bull Racing team issued strict orders to their drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, and the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS Racing team did the same for their wards Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for Mercedes to maintain position. Webber happened to be leading the race and Vettel was behind him when the instructions came through.
Much to everyone’s surprise and annoyance Vettel disobeyed and overtook Webber. One could argue in Vettel’s favour by saying that he was thinking of the championship, but on the other end of the spectrum, this was only the second race of the calendar so it was way too early to be thinking about the championship.
Both the Mercedes drivers held station with Hamilton in 3rd and Rosberg 4th, although an increasingly agitated Rosberg begged the team to let him pass his teammate on many occasions during the race because he believed that he was faster.
When Vettel made the pass, Webber was furious - and the team weren't impressed either, as team boss Christian Horner in a radio transmission said “This is silly Seb, come on.”
Nevertheless, Vettel won the race with an infuriated Webber in 2nd and a solemn Hamilton in 3rd. that day the podium was one of F1's angries.
Hamilton later confessed "it should have been Nico on the podium instead of me." Since then, most of Vettel’s fans lost respect for him. He was even booed on the podium for many races to come. What made Mark all the more upset was that the team would protect Vettel as usual as he stated in the press conference. (Someone’s not a happy bunny)
Verdict: Naughty
#2 That\'s Not The Weather, That\'s A Reflection Of Damon Hill\'s Mood
Schumacher won the 1994 title despite clobbering the wall in the title-deciding race at that year's Australian Grand Prix. He was battling Damon Hill for the 1994 Drivers Championship when he dropped the ball on lap 36 and the only place he was heading was the unforgiving wall.
Luckily the car could still move although it was seriously battered and bruised and then Schumacher did the unthinkable.
As Hill passed the limping Benetton, Michael turned into the Williams and took both cars out of the race. The Briton was hopping mad but it was too late, title to the German. 3 years later it was déjà vu as the German tried the same trick but on a different victim - Jacques Villeneuve. Unfortunately the FIA was ruthless this time and straight away gave the title to the Canadian. Moral of the Story: Never do the same dirty trick twice.
Verdict: Naughty
#3 Schumacher versus Coulthard Boxing Match
The venue: a Soggy Spa in 1998, where visibility was close to zero and the battle for the lead was won by Damon Hill.
The race would forever be known for 2 reasons - the massive multi car pileup (closely resembling every mutliplayer race on any F1 game) and the Schumacher-Coulthard fight. Coulthard seemed to be a magnet of destruction because he was the one who started the chaos.
Mika Hakkinen led Race 1, but after his teammate nullified that feat, Race 2 saw Hill lead the way, chased by Michael Schumacher. The German then came up to lap Coulthard, who dropped to the back after his shenanigans and then it happened… DC suddenly eased off the throttle after exiting Eau Rouge and a startled Schumacher ran into the back of the Scot.
The end result was a 3-wheeled Ferrari and a McLaren minus a rear wing. As Schumacher and Coulthard limped back to the pits, Schumacher was clearly not amused. As soon as he brought it into the garage he marched straight to the McLaren garage and engaged in a brawl with Coulthard. The fight escalated to such dangerous levels that both drivers had to be restrained by their respective pit crews. (Guys, let’s leave the brawls for the NASCAR boys shall we?)
Verdict: Naughty
#4 Michael Schumacher\'s Parking Spot
This incident of unsportsmanlike conduct happened during the qualifying session of the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix. It was the closing stages of the session and Schumacher was on provisional pole and on his final lap, his times were off the pace and his closest rival Fernando Alonso was on a faster lap and on course to snatch pole from Schumacher.
Monaco, being a street circuit is very narrow, and there is little room to overtake or even make mistakes. So with this in mind all drivers have to keep their levels of concentration at 100% and their skills extra sharp. Every driver knows that qualifying is crucial to get a good result. Close to the end of Schumacher’s lap his Ferrari suddenly slowed and stopped at the Rascasse chicane, effectively bringing out the yellow flags and forcing the other drivers, most crucially Alonso in 2nd to abort their current laps and call it a day while Schumacher’s stricken car was retrieved.
The stewards summoned Schumacher and his explanation was that the car stalled. However they suspected some foul play and demoted him to the back of the grid and the man he was trying to prevent snatching pole Fernando Alonso was promoted to pole position. In an ironic twist in the following years Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen on separate occasions would stall their Ferraris in the exact same spot albeit for genuine reasons. (I’m surprised Michael never got a parking ticket)
Verdict: Naughty
#5 Hang On, Nearly Finished!
A delay in the McLaren pit box during the 2007 Hungarian GP qualifying session meant that Fernando Alonso was motionless for nearly 20 seconds with rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton behind him patiently waiting his turn but the interesting part was when Alonso waited an extra 10 seconds even after being given the all clear signal by the team.
The end result Alonso was able to make it in time to start a qualifying lap where he crossed the line with 2 seconds left on the timer, whereas Hamilton missed out on starting his flying lap by 5 precious seconds. The Briton alleged that it was done on purpose but Alonso retaliated saying that Hamilton ignored team orders. Whatever happened to trigger off that little civil war no one knows but the delaying tactic did little to impress Ron Dennis.
Verdict: Naughty
Having said all this not all Formula One drivers have done such misdeeds. These few incidents were due to some bad apples, there are a number of drivers who have been Good Samaritans however, but that’s a list for another day.
