F1

Ranking the Top 10 Most Dramatic Moments in F1

by
Sabyasachi Biswas
August 25, 2021

Formula 1 is an interesting sport. Interesting would be less of a compliment, but more dramatic. From the high speed lanes, to super fast pit stops, clash between the teammates to clash between the title rivals, this sport never fails to amaze us week in and week out. The high speed crashes to sole starter on the grid, the first time winner to winning only in three tyres, the list has it all.

In today’s list we’ll take a look into such top dramatic moments in the F1 history. So, lights out and away we go.

Ranking the Top 10 Best F1 Liveries in History

#10. Esteban Ocon’s Hungary victory in 2021

Starting with number 10 we have Esteban Ocon’s first grand prix victory at Hungaroring. The Frenchman have picked up his first win of his career at Alpine. Having started at P8 in the grid, Ocon won the race after facing an uphill battle from Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. The pole position was a blink away from Ocon when he finished second at Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020 but certainly not this time. A race that turned out to be disastrous for heavyweights Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas, Lando Norris, it was Esteban who was in the lead after a while of the restart of the race and continued to take home the victory till the end.

#9. The death of Ayrton Senna

Up in the line up at number 9, we have the death of Ayrton Senna. The former Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna had just turned 44 when the tragic events of May 1, 1994 took away his life. The Brazilian was racing at the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy and that’s when he suffered the fatal injuries in a horrific crash in which he ultimately died. Senna’s car was going 191 mph when it left the track and hit a concrete wall at 145 mph. Ayrton sustained fatal skull fractures, brain injuries, and a ruptured temporal artery in the accident and breathed his last on the track itself. Senna’s death changed a lot in the F1 scene on the prospect of safety regulations.

#8. Vettel replaced Perez at Aston Martin, while Perez got the Red Bull seat in 2021

Next up at number 8, we have amazing exchange of seats in Formula 1 calendar in 2021. The teams and drivers exchanged drivers among themselves. The former Red Bull and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel moved to Aston Martin, the former Aston Martin driver (formerly Racing Point) driver moved to Red Bull, while the former McLaren driver Fernando Alonso moved to Alpine (formerly Renault) and former Alpine (Formerly Renault) driver Daniel Ricciardo moved in to McLaren while Carlos Sainz making an impressive move to Ferrari from McLaren made this transfer saga interesting and complete.

#7. Perez wins Sakhir GP in 2020 despite being last

Up at number 7, we have Sergio Perez taking in a win in Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020. Mexican F1 driver Sergio Perez, in his penultimate race for Racing Point and back then without a drive for the season 2021, took the first win of his Formula One career in an extraordinary Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain. Sergio spun on the opening lap after a clash that sent Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc out of the race. The current Red Bull driver’s fighting comeback came through the field after pitting, from 18th place to an emotional victory, which was second GP victory for the team after Italian Giancarlo Fisichella won for them back in 2003.

#6. Lewis Hamilton won despite tyre failure in Silverstone GP 2020

At number 6, we have Lewis Hamilton’s Silverstone conquest despite tyre failure. The Englishman Lewis Hamilton held on to win the British Grand Prix at Silverstone despite a puncture on the last lap to clinch an impressive 87th career win and move within four of Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record. The Seven times world champion now, has won the Silverstone race in an incredible fashion which saw him finish six seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who unexpectedly moved up a place after Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas sustained a puncture with three laps left. This was Hamilton’s record breaking seventh Silverstone win and what a way to seal the victory. This doesn’t happen everyday, does it?

#5. Max Verstappen hits Daniel Ricciardo at Baku 2018

Next in the line at number 5, we have Red Bull teammates Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo crashing onto each other at Azerbaijan. The Red Bull line up in 2018 was an explosive one that comprised of brilliant Daniel Ricciardo and superfast Max Verstappen. The drivers spent the entire season to prove who’s better and it all came down to the crash at Baku. Max Verstappen was leading the race while Daniel Ricciardo was trailing his teammate. After a long chase between the two Red Bull management told the drivers to keep the lead as it is, but Ricciardo was not in a mood to let it go easy. So, he once again tried to cut in Verstappen onto the straight and suddenly Daniel crashed against the back of Verstappen. The Red Bull management was furious at both the drivers and this incident was one of the reason why Daniel left Red Bull to join Renault at the end of the season.

#4. Lewis Hamilton starts the race alone at Hungaroring 2021

Next at number 4, we have Lewis Hamilton who started the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix alone after a restart of the race. The first lap saw a mayhem in which Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez crashed out after Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas braked in late to hit McLaren’s Lando Norris from behind. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin also hit Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to take him out of the race. When the race restarted after the formation lap it was just Lewis Hamilton alone on the starting grid, a rare scene in the sports as all the other drivers decided to pit and start the race from the pit lane. Hamilton, hence started the race alone and ended up being at the podium place at the end of the race.

#3. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crash at Spanish Grand Prix 2016

Up at the podium place, we have Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The rivalry between the Lewis and Nico is finest to the core. The rivalry was so fierce that Mercedes chose the hard way to suspend both the drivers if they don’t behave in team’s best interest. Team boss Toto Wolff and advisor Niki Lauda has given them ultimatum after the duo crashed against each other at Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona back in 2016. Nico was leading the race, with Lewis trailing. As Lewis tried to go past Nico, Nico squeezed Hamilton from the right. Lewis as a result fell on grass and lost the control of his car and hit Nico. Soon, both the Mercedes W07s were out of the race.

#2. Niki Lauda Crash in Nurburgring

In the runner’s up position, we have Formula 1 veteran Niki Lauda’s crash. This crash was a turning point in Niki’s life and career. A week before the race in Germany, Lauda realised the race organisers did not have sufficient equipment and resources for safety measures. Lauda attempted to convince the other drivers to cancel the race. Despite his best efforts, he was outvoted, and the race went ahead.
During the second lap in Nurburgring, Lauda’s car swerved around a corner, hit an embankment, caught fire, struck another car, and his ill-fitting helmet slipped off, leaving his head vulnerable to the flames! Lauda was still trapped inside his vehicle, severely burnt his head and inhaled toxic gases, damaging his lungs. That was the last race to be held on that section of the circuit and safety was raked up soon after the crash. Amazingly, Niki came back with a burnt face and won his next F1 Championship the very next year.

#1. Roman Grosjean crash in Bahrain GP 2020

Finally in the pole position we have none other than none other than Roman Grosjean and his Bahrain 2020 crash. At the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, Roman suffered a serious crash on the first lap in which his Haas VF-20 hit a barrier at high speed, splitting the car in half. The impact was so massive that it caused the driver’s compartment and the front half of the car to be wedged into the barrier, while the rear half was separated from the rest of the vehicle. The car was ignited immediately upon impact, but Roman escaped unscathed luckily. The halo-head protective device, introduced in Formula One in 2018, was credited with saving the Frenchman’s life and after the crash the F1 management decided to have more safety procedures into the car to avoid such mishaps in future.