F1 Driver Mistakes

Jody Scheckter, in a McLaren, at Silverstone in 1973 (British GP). I was there and saw the whole thing. Scheckter was in his rookie year. He got on it a bit too hard coming out of Woodcote onto the pit straight on the first lap. He might have been okay if he had eased off and let the car slow down a bit on the grass. Instead, he tried to force the car back onto the track and spun it in front of everyone who was behind him. I can't remember exactly, but at least a dozen cars were taken out.

Trivia question (I guess for the old-timers out there): After the restart, the race was won by an American. Who was he and what type of car was he driving?

 

Jean-Louis Schlesser taking out Ayrton Senna at Monza in 1988, thus ruining McLaren's undefeated season...

 

Peter Revson?

 

Right you are! And the car?

 

Do you have some type of vendetta again Schumacher, its clear you started this thread with the intention of someone making a post like yours and when no one else did you just had to do it yourself. Everyone gets that you don't like Ferrari/Schumacher for whatever reason and thats your right but lay off. Oh and by the way, show me another driver with only 2.3 unforced retirements per World Championship

 

Michael was leading under the safety car. Montoya hit him.

 

Shadow?

 

Good guess, but no cigar. Revson signed with Shadow for 1974, but was tragically killed early in the year in testing at Kyalami (South Africa) when something broke on the car.

In '73, he was Denny Hulme's teammate at McLaren. Team McLaren ran three cars in at least two races that year, and at the British GP they gave the young Jody Scheckter a turn at the wheel, with disastrous results, as it turned out. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt in the first-lap chain reaction crash. Of course, Scheckter went on to win the driver's title in '79 in a Ferrari.

Shadow's Kyalami tragedies continued in the 70s. In '77, during the race, up-and-comer Tom Pryce was killed in one of their cars when he ran into a marshall who had picked the wrong time and place to cross the track. The man was carrying a fire extinguisher, which struck Pryce in the head. Pretty ghastly.

Pryce is another name to add to the list of F1 might-have-beens...

 

Is there a posting size limit? Some of those lists could get pretty long

 

One of the Japanese drivers--either Ukyo Katayama or Take Inoue, I forget which--getting run over by the safety car after grabbing a fire extinguisher from a marshall, who didn't seem to care that the race car was smoking.

 

yea. i remember that. it was in hungary. funny, but that guy who got ran over was in real pain..

 

It looked like Michael sideswiped him. I actually played back the clip about 30 times before coming to a judgement.

 

I remember this incident and believe it was a combination of "brake checking" and Montoya being too close. If I remember correctly this was in the tunnel where light conditions and blind cornering had to be factors. If anyone picks up the bill here it would br MS.

As far as spinning of track durring a race; Conditions will change both to the track and car durring a race. These drivers are pushing constantly at the limits of adhesion. If they were not they would not be in F1. I dont consider spinning off track to be a stupid mistake. Just a consequence of driving at ( beyond ) the limits.

 

I always thought the more mistakes you make, the less time you are around. Then again, Andrea CeCrasharis disproves that.

 

Some of those don't count, likme Brazil when he spun out, so did 5 others, it was due to a river running across the track.