Like yin and yang, like two peas in a pod, athletes and arrogance are synonymous with each other. How can we expect any less, really, from twenty-odd bullish men jockeying for prime position in a mental, high-octane environment such as F1? Everybody on that grid wants to stand atop the rostrum with their national anthem blaring out for all and sundry to hear…but some drivers will stop at nothing to seal a victory, not even nerfing a team mate or championship rival off the tarmac, nor feigning an accident in Qualifying to slow faster drivers down. Over the next few weeks we’ll profile some of the fieriest modern F1 drivers who seriously need to have a sit-down with their ego.
1. Michael Schumacher
We know his story like the back of our hand by now; the nippy young whippersnapper who fearlessly qualified seventh in a Jordan on his F1 debut; and who eventually re-wrote the sport’s history with record tallies of pole positions, race wins, world titles, championship points…and cardinal sins committed against his fellow drivers. Every time he hits a winning streak, his head grows that little bit larger and he’s prepared to take the motor racing law into his own hands if it awards him a chance to get his own way.
Cue Adelaide 1994: Schumacher led ‘Our Damon’ by a meagre point going into the final round of a season marred early on by tragic death and controversy. No one would have disputed a nice, clean finish to the year’s proceedings, regardless of who clinched the title. But sadly, that isn’t the egotistical German’s style. Having already jeopardised his own race by clipping a wall and mortally wounding his Benetton Ford, he vindictively decided that Hill wasn’t taking any of the glory either, and cruelly drove into the Brit as he came to overtake him. Both drivers retired and the championship was Schumacher’s: one million times undeserved after such a petty, needless incident.
He tried it again in 1997, this time with fresh-faced Jacques Villeneuve as the equally-arrogant Canadian stuck his flag in Schuey’s sandcastle. It was déjà vu all round as Schuey, one point ahead of his nemesis, realised his chariot [Ferrari this time] had a terminal problem and tried to ram the overtaking upstart into the kitty litter. The joke, however, was firmly on the perpetrator, as he fetched up sorrowfully in the gravel and Villeneuve laughed all the way to the finish. Oh dear Schumi. Just like with Rasscasse-gate in Monaco 2006, where he parked across the track in Qualifying to hamper a flying Fernando Alonso, deviousness and hot-headed arrogance doesn’t always pay off.
Arrogance rating: 9.5/10
Look out for more arrogant F1 drivers in the near future…
In the meantime make sure you check out what made the letter B in our Formula One Alphabet.
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