The 75-year-long history of F1 hasn’t always been smooth sailing. The sport has been plagued by controversies involving drivers and teams since its inception. Whether it has been during the championship-deciding grand prix, mid-season races, or even off-track, there have been several scandals that have affected motorsport. No one has been safe from them, either. These controversies have involved world champions, legacy teams, and notable figures.
This list looks at five scandals that have taken place in the last few decades of Formula 1.
5. Spygate – 2007 F1 season
During the 2007 Formula 1 season, there was illicit behavior going on between Ferrari and McLaren’s team members. The Italian outfit’s chief mechanic, Nigel Stepney, was sharing proprietary information with the Woking-based organization’s chief designer, Mike Coughlan.
Stepney had given almost 800 pages worth of information to his friend on the rival team. While McLaren’s internal investigation revealed that no one else had any access to the Ferrari documents, the FIA’s inquiry had a different result. They found that McLaren did have access to the information, but none of it had been implemented in the design of the car.
They were given a $100 million fine and disqualified from the constructors’ championship.
4. Crashgate – 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
During the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Nelson Piquet Jr., driving for Renault, crashed his car. By doing so, he set off a series of events that allowed Fernando Alonso, his teammate, to take victory. While his crash was initially chalked up to his inexperience driving an F1 car, it was later revealed that it wasn’t an accident.
After he departed from Renault in 2009, Piquet shared that the team bosses of Renault, Flavio Briatore, and Pat Symonds, asked him to crash. Even though they left the team, they were both punished by the FIA.
Symonds received a five-year ban from the sport, while Briatore was banned for life. These punishments were overturned by the French courts later. But “Crashgate” has become a dark part of the history of the sport.
3. Michael Schumacher F1 crashes – 1994, 1997, and 2006
Although he walked away from F1 with a record-making seven world championship titles, Michael Schumacher was no stranger to controversy. On three separate occasions, Schumacher had seemingly crashed into a fellow driver deliberately. In the 1994 Australian Grand Prix, he turned into Damon Hill to rejoin the track after he hit the wall.
Going into the race, only one point separated the two in the championship standings. After the crash, Schumacher went home with his first title.
In 1997, a similar event transpired at the European Grand Prix. This time, it involved Jacques Villeneuve. As the Canadian driver tried to overtake from the inside of Schumacher, the latter turned and hit Villeneuve. The German driver spun and ended his race in the gravel, and was eventually disqualified from the championship because of his actions.
During the qualifying session at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Schumacher parked his car at the Rascasse. He did this after scoring pole position for the event. By parking his car, he put a stop to Fernando Alonso’s hot lap and clinched the pole for the race.
While he claimed that he had locked up, the FIA found it was a deliberate action. He was then demoted to the back of the grid.
2. Ferrari’s Team Orders – 2010 German Grand Prix
After the 2002 season, the FIA banned teams from ordering one of their drivers to slow down for the other. However, this only motivated organizations to come up with creative ways of passing the same message across. However, during the 2010 German race, Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley’s radio call to his driver Felipe Massa was very clear.
“Felipe, Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood the message?” [via Motorsport]
By asking Massa to give the place to Alonso, Ferrari had been deemed by the FIA to be in breach of sporting regulations. They were handed a $100,000 fine as punishment. Since 2011, team orders have no longer been banned because the FIA realized that their rule wasn’t working.
1. Final lap showdown – 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
One of the most controversial moments in F1 happened fairly recently. Heading into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were neck-and-neck in championship points. Hamilton led most of the race with the Dutchman in P2.
But in Lap 53, Nicolas Latifi crashed on turn 14, bringing out the safety car and closing the gap between the two. After Verstappen pitted for fresher tires, five lapped cars stood between him and the Briton.
However, on lap 57, orders came in for the lapped cars to rejoin the back of the pack. This controversial call allowed the buffer between the Red Bull and Mercedes to drop to nothing. On the final lap, Verstappen, on fresher tires, overtook Hamilton quickly and crossed the line to score his first-ever championship title.
