The 10 biggest controversies in F1 history

Controversy is never far away in Formula 1. But over the years, which controversial moments stand out as the biggest? Edd Straw looks back at the arguments, broken rules and on track moments that have gone down in F1 folklore - some of which are still subject to debate today.

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[KayJblue]

Pink Mercedes is fun but my favorite is “Tracing Point” lol

[jimwright]

I still can't believe that Symonds has been accepted back into F1. You instruct a driver to crash you have no way of knowing what will happen: to the driver, other drivers, the crowd, marshalls etc. It elevates it in this list. Yes spygate and yes the drivers strike but playing fast with safety is next level.

[rayne]

everyone forgets that Roland Ratzenberger also died the same weekend as Senna but because he is not as well known he gets forgotten about

[willbrown]

The McLaren spy scandel would make for a great netflix documentary!

[phonicfrog_]

Hamilton denying he had a hair transplant

[conorspencer]

Austria 2002 stands out in my mind for James Allen's exclamation of "I DO NOT ADAM AND EVE IT" immediately after the Ferraris crossed the line

[zmarolia]

You missed the 1998 British GP: When Michael Schumacher Won an F1 Race Sitting in the Pits

[TaguroSuper]

Fun Fact: The anonymous photocopying employee is a die hard Ferrari fan.

[SiVlog]

There was a pretty much forgotten controversy in Monza, 1960. Officially, it went down in history as the final victory for a front engine Grand Prix car, however, it was a far from glorious. The seeds of the controversy were sown by the season Ferrari were having up to then. While Cooper and Jack Brabham were well on the way to a second title after claiming both drivers and constructors titles in 1959, Ferrari were yet to win a race as the sport arrived in Italy for the Italian Grand Prix and the prospects for the Scuderia looked bleak as the teams began to arrive in Italy. Then, the organisers hit upon an idea to attempt to tip the balance in favour of Ferrari, use the full combination circuit, which featured the infamous banking. The organisers did this to try to tip the balance in favour of the one advantage Ferrari had in 1960, straight line speed.

The rest of the field, lead by Cooper and the other British teams, were outraged at what they saw as blatant Italian Nationalism as the motivating factor in using the combination layout. Feeling that the banking was too dangerous, they issued an ultimatum to the organisers, reverse the layout change or they would pull out of the race weekend. No such reversal was forthcoming and the entry list was reduced to a mix of works and privately entered Ferraris. The driver who won the race, future world champion, Phil Hill, who in a tragic twist of fate would clinch the world championship a year later at that same location after his team mate, Count Wolfgang Von Tripps, was killed when his car clipped the blameless Jim Clark and speared into the crowd lining the track by Parabolica, taking the lives of 15 spectators along with him

[patrickracer]

"Fernando is faster than you" is still one of the most savage moments in the sport's history

[morganwaller]

I think it’s safe to say that last race can be added to this list

[Alex_The_Pavey]

Number 0: the final race of the 2021 season

[shoey]

"[Senna] faced a barrage of criticism, for causing a crash at approaching 150mph"

Lewis Hamilton would like to know your location

[klutchasaurus]

You missed Verstappen stealing kvyat's girl

[bimonsolivar]

Biggest controversy ever in F1?

Seb's haircuts!

[Andy_]

to this day i firmly believe they should scratch the entire 2008 singapore grand prix results and induct massa as world champion

[RoadRageDudez]

My father was at the 2005 Indy GP. The outrage from the fans was immense, and the actions the fans took we’re with words he can’t even describe.

[JW_PUNK]

Hamilton/McLaren lying to the stewards at Australia 2009

[TheSt]

I just knew Crashgate, Indygate and Spygate would be on this list.

[GARBO]

I love how every race driver always talks about how you have to be selfish to win championships but yet when they disobey team orders (to win) they get put into a video like this