Formula One's Greatest Rivalries

The Formula One season has just ended with Sebastian Vettel utterly dominant to win his 4th consecutive World Title thereby writing his name in the annals of history as one of the very best to have raced in the F-1. But his title win was conspicuous by the absence of any noteworthy rivals and his main competitor Fernando Alonso in the second place finished a massive 155 points behind him. But down the years F-1 has seen some epic rivalries and we look here five of the greatest and most entertaining rivalries (not in any particular order) in F1 history.

1. Graham Hill and Jim Clark

Jimmy Clark and Graham Hill were rivals from the minute they entered Formula 1, both in 1958. It was in the Sixties that the two British drivers had their most epic of battles, fighting for the Formula 1 championship. The intriguing thing about the rivalry was that it was fierce and intense on the track and contrary to that the two drivers shared a great friendship off the track. Graham Hill won the first title of the two in 1962, and Clark retaliated with his own title win in 1963. In the years that followed Clark seemed to do better, winning the title once again in 1965. Hill suffered at the hands of unreliable BRM machinery. In 1967 he swapped his ailing BRM for the same machinery as Clark, a move that made Clark bristle to the point when he declared that he wasn’t Graham Hill’s team-mate, but Hill, instead was his team-mate. Even in equal machinery, though, Hill wasn’t a patch on Clark, with several retirements in the 1967 season. The 1968 season was expected to witness a war and survival of the fittest but for the unfortunate crash of Clark’s Lotus at Hockenheim driving in a minor league, prevented in what could have been another year of epic rivalry. Clark succumbed to his injuries from the crash and left a deep void behind in Formula One. Hill went on to win the Championship in 1968 and fittingly dedicated it to his good friend Clark.

2. Niki Lauda and James Hunt

The rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt in 1976 had the fans on the edge of their seats. The movie “Rush” remarkably brought out one of the most closely contested battle’s in the history of Formula One. The battle came so close that only a point separated two of the best drivers of the era with James Hunt winning the title.  But not before both of them created history with their rivalry which was largely thanks to their completely different personalities. While Niki Lauda was a disciplined drive striving for perfection and had his priorities sorted, James Hunt was carefree more often than not enjoying his off-track wild stints with a bad-boy image.

Lauda won 5 races with Ferrari before he crashed brutally at the Nurburgring with severe burn injuries and smoke in his lungs and blood. The Austrian was forced to miss the next two races (Austria and Netherlands) recuperating from a life threatening accident as Hunt closed in by winning 3 races in Netherlands, Canada and USA. Despite Lauda’s remarkable return from near death, he would only muster a handful more points, and Hunt was crowned champion by a sole point in the final race.

3. Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi

One of Formula 1’s fiercest and most bitter rivalries, the tale of Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi, is fraught with great tragedy. Villeneuve was a driver who was marvelled for his skill on track but he was also a loyal team-mate, one who believed in the greater good of the team as a whole. It was this loyalty that made him support Jody Scheckter, ensuring the South African had a somewhat easy run to the 1979 championship title. So what transpired at the 1982 San Marino GP at Imola was something that Gilles couldn’t accept. In that epic race, Ferrari team-mates Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi diced for victory in the closing stages of the race. But it wasn’t supposed to be that way – with Villeneuve in the lead on lap 41, Ferrari held out a pit board reading “slow”, indicating that both drivers should hold position to the chequered flag. Pironi had other ideas and overtook, forcing Villeneuve to ramp up his pace again and re-take the lead by force before slowing again. Pironi took the opportunity to re-pass on the final lap and took the chequered flag, which infuriated the Canadian.
Villeneuve swore never to speak with Pironi again and, tragically, he never did. In qualifying for the next race at the Belgian GP in Zolder, while chasing Pironi’s lap time, the 30-year-old was killed in a horrific accident after clipping the back of Jochen Mass’s March. The Ferrari cartwheeled, throwing Villeneuve out of the cockpit. To this day, some of Villeneuve’s fans still feel Pironi was indirectly responsible for the accident.

4. Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost

Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost’s rivalry in Formula 1 is one of the most talked about battles that the sport has ever seen. Not only because it involved two of the best drivers in Formula 1, but also because of the nature of the rivalry itself. Funnily enough Senna and Prost also formed one of the most effective and dangerous team-mate alliances that Formula 1 has ever seen. At the McLaren team in 1988, the duo was unstoppable, winning 15 of 16 races that season. While Senna was the one who always wanted to go fastest, Prost was more calculative and made his moves strategically. The two were completely opposite drivers, apart from sharing the glory among themselves, ended up fighting the most fierce battle for the Drivers’ Championship in the history of the sport that lasted for five years.
The sparks of the rivalry began at the Portuguese GP in 1988 with Senna trying to overtake Prost, and was almost forced by the Frenchman towards the pit wall. But Prost overtook the Brazilian and eventually won the race. Then came the 1989 and 1990 Japanese Grands Prix. The first time around they neither driver was willing to slow down to avoid what appeared to be an inevitable collision. Prost was out of the car, but Senna was able to complete the race. He was, of course, disqualified later. Prost won the championship. The following year Senna had declared he’d prevent Prost (who now drove for Ferrari) from taking the lead at the first corner come what may. They collided once again. This time Senna won the title.

5. Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen

During his career, Michael Schumacher had encountered two great rivals. While Schumacher’s initial years in Formula One started with a fiery battle with Damon Hill in the Williams, the German’s rivalry with Mika Hakkinen was one of mutual admiration for each other. The one driver for whom Schumacher had utmost respect and the one who had guts to race wheel-to-wheel with him consistently and beat him was Mika Hakkinen. The Finnish driver won two world championships beating the German quite comprehensively in 1998. In 1999 the Mclaren again had the charge coupled with Mika’s brilliant driving skills, Schumacher’s unfortunate accident caused Hakkinen to take the lead and eventually win the Championship. It is often acknowledged that Hakkinen’s move on Schumacher at the 2000 Belgian GP is the greatest overtaking manoeuvre in the history of F1.