Sportsmanship in F1

Sportsmanship? In F1? Umm no not really.....

 

Sounds like a big mistake on Button's part.

Sportsmanship is a minor entry at the back of the F1 driver's guidebook.

 

nico was right to take the opportunity. Jensen made an error.

 

Peter Collins surrendering his Lancia-Ferrari to Juan Manuel Fangio at Monza, 1956, sacrificing his WDC hopes to allow his teammate to take the title.

 

The way F1 is now, with cars very close in performance and very few opportunities to overtake, sportmanship is out of the window, as far as I can see.
Gone is the time when a driver would concede to an opponent who, he felt was quicker or had a faster car.
These days, motor racing is about adopting guerilla tactics and trying to block your followers.
That's the main reason why , with the added inbuilt car safety, there are so many contacts now.
Touching a competitor, banging wheels in the 50/60s, could have lead to serious accidents and injuries to both parties.
Now, drivers are far more confident that they will get away with it.

 

Well if you want to go back that far how about Cervert passing Jackie Stewart after he missed a shift and allowing Jackie back by. Later he explained he didn't want to beat Jackie that way.

 

That's just a racing incident. You have to let the leader by if you're being lapped, but at the same time you have to defend your own position. Jenson was just caught in an unfortunate circumstance.

 

This was pretty sporting of DC. More like team orders but I guess it counts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Australian_Grand_Prix

 

It depends on how you look at it. IMO, the main thing holding drivers back is the risk of penalties being imposed. Nobody wants a drive through.
Also, F1 cars are fragile enough that any contact can have a significant effect on the cars performance.
But it really pisses me off in kart racing. Seems like some competitors are oblivious to the possible outcome when they slam into my back bumper or go off track to cut me off.

 

Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari, 2000-2005

 

What about when driver Arturo Merzario rushed to help Lauda durring his firery crash. That was pretty sportsman-like.


IIRC it was Arturo Merzario...I could be wrong.

 

+1

Could you imagine what Williams would have said to Nico if he hadn't taken that opportunity?

 

Epitome of F1 Sportsmanship=Ayrton Senna

1992 Belgian GP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpSM2U4M_eo

 

unsportsmanlike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VW2oAkjcJ4

 

Great point and we no longer see that kind of 'gentleman racer' attitude.

 

i'm a big MS fan, but i gotta admit, the 1997 Jerez incident was one of the most unsportmanship tihng that happened in F1. OTOH, MS partying with Mika when he won the WDC in 1998 n 1999 was sporting.

 

I kinda look at those incident's as a 'in the heat of the moment mental lapse' yet I have also had some issue's with some of Schumi's ontrack antic's but that doe's not deter
my overall opinion of him.

 

Clint, you just reminded me of Pironi rushing over and trying to grab the extinguisher away from a worker to re-direct spray at the appropriate area. (Paletti accident ,82 Canadian ).

Anytime I see a driver giving another a ride (ie; Andreas' post 652 in TifRon's 70-89 thread), something about it makes me think camaraderie isn't totally gone from the sport.

Cevert allowing Jackie to pass due to a missed shift has to be a friendship thing, it doesn't make sense otherwise. A missed shift is as much a part of racing as going wide, if it isn't capitalized on by the competition, they aren't doing their job.

 

That was the kind of person he was which is just one of the reason's Jackie and Ken liked him so much but I do understand your point.

 

- Massa giving Interlagos and the title to Kimi last year
- MS handing some wins to Rubens. Some obvious, some less.
- Mika Salo doing the ultimate sacrifice: Giving his only F1 GP win to Eddie in Germany 99.
- Also I always liked the "rides home" that F1 drivers used to give their stranded colleagues. Unfortunately the FIA banned them.
- Villeneuve handing the title to Sheckter in 79

I know these examples are mostly based on team orders, but it takes a good heart to actually follow the orders. Pironi in 82 at Imola didn't and it ended up eventually in tragedy.

 

+1 but you know what they say about Karma and it came back to Pironi pretty good.

 

That's an example of a crappy contract he signed....

 

Point taken about Cervert, but I think he also wanted to beat Jackie fair and square. Jackie was the best at the time and Cervert wanted to be the best. A win is a win, but it is more satisfying when you win without your opponent making a mistake.

 

Yes Sharon Stone.