Ruthless World Champions

Ruthless World Champions

Throughout the recent decades of F1 we have seen a handful of truly gifted world champions with something quite distinct in common. I am not talking about race craft skills or overtaking abilities, but I am talking about sheer ruthlessness.  Many of us (including myself) may not want to accept this, but it is a fact.
Each World Champion I’m about to discuss has 100% deliberately committed a gravely unethical action on the race track, that secured them a World title.

I’m going to show you a few infamous examples in chronological order, starting from the 1989 Formula 1 season. 

Will Nico Rosberg’s Spa incident seal his first WDC? History is on his side.

Prost – Suzuka 1989 - Wins title

On lap 47 of the Japanese GP 1989, Senna makes a very brave lunge into Suzuka’s end of lap chicane, to try and overtake Prost for the lead.
Senna gets his car side by side successfully, yet Prost turns in 5-10m early and into the side of Senna, deliberately causing an accident in which was probably an attempt on forcing Senna to retire.
Although Prost’s plan didn’t initially work (as Senna continued on to win the race), Senna was eventually, and unfairly disqualified from the race as he’d used the chicane cut through to restart his stalled McLaren.
This disqualification sealed the 1989 WDC for Prost.

Deliberate crash:

·         Prost turns in 5-10m early

·         Prost aware of Sennas presence for 6+ laps

·         A cheeky final check in Prost’s mirror confirms that he can successfully crash into Senna

Senna – Suzuka 1990 - Wins title

One whole year later at Suzuka, Senna qualifies on pole position with Prost by his side. For some strange reason, the FIA decided that the pole sitter will start on the unused and ‘dirty’ side of the circuit, giving Senna an immediate disadvantage off the line.
Running down to T1, Senna deliberately ploughs into Prost’s rear right tyre to, almost, ‘prove a point’. He won Pole, therefore he should have the advantage of being 1^st into T1, but he wasn’t and therefore decided to crash into Prost to force him to retire.
This action confirmed the 1990 WDC for Senna.

Deliberate crash:

·         Significantly behind going into T1 but Senna makes no effort to decelerate

·         Revenge for the previous year??

Schumacher – 1994 Adelaide - Wins title

Midway through the 1994 Austrailian GP, Damon Hill makes an attempt on Schumacher for P1. As with the previous scenarios, Schumi knows that if his opponent fails to score points, then he will be guaranteed the WDC.
As Hill catches Schumacher at a rapid pace, Schumacher’s inexperience causes him to lose focus and he begins to run wide at corners, losing even more time to Hill. Hill goes for the inside, successfully getting side-by-side (again – like the Senna Prost examples). Schumacher takes his normal line, sees Hill in his peripheral and then reacts to straighten the car to avoid contact. A split second later he turns into the corner again, causing contact between the two cars which subsequently causes Hill to retire with suspension damage.
Yet again, this confirmed the WDC for the driver causing the collision.

Deliberate crash:

·         Hill successfully gets side-by-side with Schumi, yet Schumi still turns in

·         Schumi straightens the wheel up when Hill gets into his peripheral vision, then decides to have a second hack, straight into Hill.

Vettel – Malaysia 2013 - Wins title

Thankfully, Vettel’s ruthlessness came from blatantly disobeying team orders – Multi 21. The majority of F1 watchers were disgusted with his actions, but Vettel did what he had to do for those extra few points.

Rosberg – Spa 2014 - Wins title?

Finally, we can look at the most detestable of examples as one of our British drivers was unfairly ejected from the Belgian GP’s final classification, and worst of all, pretty much destroying his chances of a second WDC.

From my own personal racing experiences, and from watching a good few years of F1, it is vivid to see how deliberate Rosberg’s actions are at Le Combe.

At every other occasion where a drivers front wing is at risk of being swiped off, they will instantly step on the brakes, even for a tenth of a second, no matter if he has to concede defeat for that opportunity. 

Rosberg can see that Hamilton is on a defensive line, and will therefore be pushed deep into the corner, tightening his left turn of Le Combe, yet Rosberg still keeps his nose in the area where Physics will push Hamilton’s car. There is 0% chance of an overtake occurring into the left hander when the driver ahead has around a car’s length advantage on track. Vettel experienced that the lap before and successfully aborted because he knew he’d be punished by the stewards.

Could this delicate, yet deliberate act seize the 2014 WDC for Rosberg?

The actions of these talented and highly praised drivers have all helped them become greats of World Sport. There is no doubt that some of the things they have done have been shameless, but it goes to show how ruthless this breed of people are. The lengths that they will go to, to be successful, is beyond belief. They were/are willing to risk other peoples’ lives, for their own success.  

I just want you to have a think about how 'legendary' these drivers are. How and why are they uncomprehendingly hellbent on success?