Ranking the Most Embarrassing Mistakes in F1 History
There’s no room for mistakes when you’re in the cockpit of a Formula 1 car. One slip of the hand or miscalculation, and the consequences can be enormous. Such mistakes often make you cringe on behalf of a driver.
We’re ranking the moments that made legends look foolish, turned races into farces, and left everyone in disbelief.
10. The Wrong Pit Stop (2013 Malaysian Grand Prix)
After a long career with McLaren, Lewis Hamilton moved to Mercedes in 2013. Habits are hard to break, and Hamilton proved it in Malaysia. During a pit stop, he drove past his new Mercedes box and pulled into the spot for his old team, McLaren. The mechanics there looked on in confusion as he tried to park, a mistake that was both simple and totally ridiculous.
9. The Lost Diamond (2004 Monaco Grand Prix)
Sponsorship deals can lead to strange decisions, and few are as bizarre as this. The Jaguar F1 team, looking for publicity, put a real diamond worth $250,000 on the nose of their car for the Monaco Grand Prix. Just a few corners into the race, their driver, Christian Klien, crashed. When the car was recovered, the diamond was gone, lost somewhere on the streets of Monaco. It was a marketing stunt that blew up in the most expensive way possible.
8. Too Much “Brake Magic” (2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix)
At the end of a chaotic race in Baku, Lewis Hamilton was in second place and set to take the lead on a restart. But as he went to pass, his car went straight off the track. The cause was that he had accidentally hit the “Brake Magic” button on his steering wheel. This special switch warms up the tires by putting more heat into the brakes, but it also turns off the braking function. It was a tiny mistake that cost him a podium spot and a handful of points.
7. Hitting a Pit Wall (1995 Australian Grand Prix)
This mistake showed that a legendary driver can make a rookie error, too. David Coulthard was having a great weekend in Adelaide. He was leading the race and headed for his pit stop. The pit entry was narrow and unforgiving, and Coulthard braked too late. His Williams slid straight on and crashed into the pit wall, ending his race on the spot and blocking the pit lane for other drivers. It was a spectacular end to what should have been a great day.
6. The Premature Celebration (1991 Canadian Grand Prix)
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Kolforn
Nigel Mansell was dominating the race in Canada and holding a massive lead on the last lap. While approaching the final hairpin, he slowed down to wave to the crowd. He was so caught up in the moment that his car stopped a few hundred yards from the finish line. His rival, Nelson Piquet, swept past him for the victory. It was a classic case of celebrating too early.
5. Lying to the Stewards (2009 Australian Grand Prix)
After Lewis Hamilton passed Jarno Trulli under a safety car, his team told him to let Trulli back past. Hamilton complied, but later, both he and the team told race stewards there had been no such radio message. This lie backfired completely. When the truth came out at the next race, Hamilton was disqualified from his third-place finish. His team’s sporting director was fired. The mistake itself was minor, but the attempt to cover it up made it one of the most embarrassing moments in his career.
4. The Crashgate Scandal (2008 Singapore Grand Prix)
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Benjamin Chia
This was an act of cheating that shook the foundation of F1. The Renault team ordered their driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., to deliberately crash so a safety car would come out at the perfect time to help his teammate, Fernando Alonso, win the race. Piquet confessed the following year, which led to a massive investigation. The team was given a two-year suspended ban, and key figures received lifetime bans from the sport.
3. The Team Order Debacle (2002 Austrian Grand Prix)
Formula 1 prides itself on being a pure sport, but at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari proved that wasn’t always true. Rubens Barrichello was leading the race comfortably on the final lap, but his team ordered him to move over and let his teammate, Michael Schumacher, take the win. The crowd reacted with thunderous boos. The move was so unpopular that the sport’s governing body banned team orders for the next eight years.
2. The Six-Car Race (2005 US Grand Prix)
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Willtron
This was a massive embarrassment for Formula 1 in a key market. During practice for the US Grand Prix, several cars using Michelin tires suffered dangerous tire failures. The tire manufacturer asked for a chicane to be added to the track to slow the cars down, but the sport’s governing body refused. The teams with Michelin tires decided it was too risky to race, so they all pulled into the pits at the end of the formation lap. That left only six cars on the grid to start the race in front of a full stadium of angry and confused fans.
1. The Worst Grand Prix Ever (2021 Belgian Grand Prix)
The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix was a fiasco. For over three hours, the race was delayed due to heavy rain. Drivers sat in their cars while the clock ticked, and fans huddled in the cold waiting for a race that seemed like it would never happen. When officials finally decided to start, they only ran two laps behind the safety car before red-flagging the race. The result was called, half points were awarded, and the drivers were declared winners and losers of a race that was not a race at all. For a sport that prides itself on competition, this was an all-time low.