Special feature
Formula 1
Five of Formula One's biggest heartbreaks
With the stars of Formula One taking a month off, it's hard to get that racing fix. Motorsport.com's Christopher DeHarde compiles some of Formula One's biggest heartbreaks. Enjoy.
Christopher DeHarde
Edited: Aug 14, 2014, 3:09 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Racing can be a very cruel sport competitively. Thousands of parts, dozens of people are responsible for a drivers ability to compete, and then that driver is responsible to bring the car to the win. Sometimes it only takes one small problem to ruin a great run.
This list includes drivers who were in position to win the Formula One Championship lose it because of someone elses tire choice, or even a driver a few corners away from bringing a team that has never won a Grand Prix (still to this day) being passed because of a hydralic failure. Here are five of Formula One's biggest heartbreaks.
5. Mika Hakkinen 2001 Spanish Grand Prix
Hakkinen was leading heading into the last lap for his first victory of the season, but it was not to be as he slowed coming out of the second turn and eventually pulled off after the seventh turn. Michael Schumacher picked up the victory while David Coulthard picked up Hakkinen for a ride back to the pits.
4. Damon Hill 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix
Hill was on fire at the Hungaroring and had a substantial lead before a hydraulic problem with the throttle stunted his charge in the last few laps. Jacques Villeneuve got around Hill coming out of the third turn on the last lap with two wheels on the grass. Hill finished second, another result of futility for Arrows, furthering the legend of the team with the most starts in Formula One without a win.
3. Ayrton Senna 1988 Monaco Grand Prix
Senna was running at an insane pace all weekend, qualifying nearly one and a half seconds faster than Alain Prost. However, it went all for nought, as Senna had an accident coming out of Portier with 12 laps to go, allowing Prost to win and causing Senna to isolate himself from nearly everyone for a while.
2. Felipe Massa 2008 Brazillian Grand Prix
Massa needed to win the race and have Lewis Hamilton finish 6th to win the championship. On the last lap of the race, Hamilton got around Timo Glock about 15 seconds after Massa won the race to deny the Brazillian the world championship at his home race.
1. Nigel Mansell 1986 Australian Grand Prix
Mansell needed to finish fourth or better in the Australian Grand Prix to win the world championship, but the left rear tire exploded on his car on the fast back straight, causing his car to fishtail wildly, sidelining Mansell and causing the Williams team to call in Nelson Piquet for a cautionary tire change. The resulting pit stop caused Alain Prost to win the World Championship after Piquet could not close the gap to Prost after his last pitstop. Had Piquet closed the gap and passed Prost, he would have been crowned the champion.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article McLaren looking to 'refresh' driver lineup - Boullier
Next article 2015 Formula One Silly Season predictions
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Christopher DeHarde
Telitz keeping himself busy after solid USF2000 season
USF2000
USF2000
Telitz keeping himself busy after solid USF2000 season
Rayhall trying to build a future in IndyCar
Indy NXT
Indy NXT
Rayhall trying to build a future in IndyCar
Jani “not happy” with third car issue in three races
WEC
WEC
Austin
Jani “not happy” with third car issue in three races
More from
Felipe Massa
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Formula 1
Formula 1
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
Formula 1
Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
More from
Williams
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
Formula 1
Formula 1 7 h
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Latest news
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
2 h
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 2 h
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe