Politics and Drama

With the vast sums of money spent by the sponsors and teams, its not surprising that not everyone in F1 is interested in true and fair world-class racing. The desires and expectations to win are intense, and this type of pressure can cause people to take actions that history later views as at best questionable. In this post we'll explore two of the more interesting 'incidents' involving drivers and the FIA (the race stewards and rule makers).

The FIA, or Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, started in 1904 as a sanctioning body for auto racing. They organized the first world championship, which evolved into what is now Formula 1. They make the rules governing the construction of the cars, and they enforce the racing rules when cars are on-track. Typically major decisions are handled by the FIA president, who since 1991 has been Max Mosley. Pay attention, because you'll see his name pop up a lot in F1-land. Before Max, the president was Jean-Marie Balestre (facing the camera at right), who enters into play next.


Ayrton Senna. For F1 die-hards, that name recollects one of the best drivers in recent history, perhaps the best of all time. Senna had an amazing career in F1 including 65 poles, 80 podiums, and 41 wins in 162 races (basically 10 years). Senna's time in F1 was tragically cut short in an accident at Imola (Italy) in 1994 in which he was killed. We'll talk more about this amazing driver in the future, but for now I'm going to focus on one of the biggest drama's in F1 history.

In 1988, McLaren enlisted two amazing drivers; Alain Prost (already a double world champ) and relative F1-newcomer Ayrton Senna. That year between the two of them they won 15 of 16 races, with Senna winning his first championship. As you might imagine, there was a rivalry brewing between the two drivers and the following year it became even more intense.



Going into the second-last race of the 1989 season, Prost was in the points lead, and Senna needed to win the race if he was to stay in contention for the championship. The two McLaren's qualified in the front row, and before the race Prost said something to the effect that he would not yield to Senna just to avoid the embarrassment of the two McLaren's taking each other out. And that's exactly what happened…

Senna tried to pass Prost on the inside going into Susuka's chicane. Prost turned into Senna, their wheels tangled, and both cars went off-track onto the chicane escape road. Prost got out of his car, thinking that he had won the championship with Senna out of contention. However, Senna's car was in a dangerous position on-track, and as the corner-workers pushed his car, he was able to bump-start the engine. He got back on track and went to the pits for repairs, and then rejoined the race.

And won.

However, the FIA (then president Jean-Marie Balestre) decided that Senna did not take the chicane (obviously because of the accident) and that the push-start was illegal, and not only disqualified him from the race, but also gave him a heavy fine and actually suspended his Super Licence (which one needs to race in F1).

Now the real drama starts. Prost went to Ferrari for 1990 while Senna stayed with McLaren. Ironically, the pair came into the second-last race, again the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, with Senna leading Prost by 9 points. Senna was able to take pole, however the pole position at Suzuka was on the right side of the track, off the racing line. This area of the track was dirty and disadvantageous for the start, and before qualifying Senna asked the marshals to move the pole position to the left side of the track, which they agreed to do, but Jean-Marie Balestre later overruled.

Senna was infuriated by what he saw as the FIA conspiring against him, and stated before the race that he would enter the first corner without regards for Prost's car. Prost got the better start his position in 2nd on the left side of the track, and true to Senna's word, he collided with Prost and both cars were out of the race, this time making Senna the champion!

A year later Senna reflected on the situation. "So I said to myself, 'OK, whatever happens, I'm going to get into the first corner first — I'm not prepared to let the guy (Alain Prost) turn into that corner before me. If I'm near enough to him, he can't turn in front of me — he just has to let me through.' I didn't care if we crashed; I went for it. And he took a chance, turned in, and we crashed."

This wasn't the first or last time that drivers would be accused, justified or not, of deliberate accidents and other 'unsporting' conduct, such as blocking. One of the more recent incidents involved one Michael Schumacher at F1's most famous venue, Monaco. Schumacher entered the race behind rival Fernando Alonso of Renault. As 2006 was likely to be Schumacher's last season, he was especially motivated to win at Monaco as it would tie Senna's record for most wins at Monaco (six).

During qualifying, Schumacher had set the fastest lap and was on pole. However, on Schumacher's last lap before qualifying ended, he was ahead of Alonso on the track, and running a pace off of his best time. Alonso, also on his last lap, was running at a pace that would put him on pole. Its suspected that Schumacher knew this, and entering one of the final corners, a tight 180 degree turn, spun his car 90 degrees, effectively blocking the track and forcing a caution flag, and ruining Alonso's very fast last lap.

After this there was enormous controversy as to if Schumacher deliberately spun his car, or if it was an honest accident. Some claimed that a driver of his skill would not be likely to make such a mistake at a slow part of the track, on a lap he knew was already slower than his best. Others are adamant that it was an honest and human mistake.

The FIA took issue with Schumacher's actions finding them to "seem deliberate", and moved him to the back of the grid, taking his pole, and promoting Alonso from 2nd to 1st. Ferrari principal Jean Todt said he was disgusted by the decision, but Schumacher was not alone. Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella ("john-carlo fizzi-kella") was penalized his three fastest laps in qualifying for blocking David Coulthard. Still, Schumacher showed his stuff by starting 22nd and finishing 5th on a track where passing is notoriously difficult. This wasn't Schumacher's first brush with controversy; he was accused of deliberate wrecks in 94 and 97. But he'll still be remembered as one of the modern greats, having won 7 championships, 76 fastest laps, and 68 poles.

Hopefully what I've shown is the drama and controversy that's a part of F1, and the extremes people are willing to go to in order to win. The pressure placed on drivers and teams to win and win consistently is enormous, and the drivers' own personal ambitions and overwhelming desire for victory can be all-consuming. Such is the passion that surrounds F1.