Even without the victory, Jenson Button’s race in Canada would have been extraordinary, but the fact he stood on the top step marks it down as one of the greatest (certainly one of the most unlikely) drives of all time.
Vettel’s semi-slither at the far end of the circuit gifted Button a victory, but given Button’s speed and the potency of the McLaren’s DRS, it maybe only anticipated the inevitable. And while it isn’t common for the lead to change hands on the last lap, it’s certainly not unique…
Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, Canada 1991
If Vettel had a bit of a shocker it’s nothing compared to what Nigel Mansell suffered in a similar spot 20 years earlier. Mansell had dominated the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix and was so far ahead going into the last lap he could have spun around and driven it backwards. As it was he slowed down and decided to wave to the crowds… then the Williams stopped. “It’s like someone switched the engine off… It’s as disappointing as losing the championship in 1986 in Adelaide.” It turned out Mansell had let the revs drop too low, lost hydraulic pressure and stalled… worse for Mansell was the fact his old enemy Nelson Piquet came through to win for Benetton. Nelson, driving on a pay-per-point incentivised contract suggested afterwards that he found the whole thing very stimulating.
Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso, Nürburgring 2005
2005 was very much Fernando Alonso and Renault’s year, but McLaren still managed to win 10 races to Renault’s eight. McLaren, however, didn’t rack up the points like Renault, thanks largely to a less than reliable Mercedes engine and powertrain – but it wasn’t the powertrain that let go at the Grand Prix of Europe. The peculiarity of 2005 was a ban on tyre changes, unless the team could demonstrate changing a tyre was necessary for safety reasons – of course teams couldn’t be entirely certain of that without taking the tyre off in the first place, so the decision to pit was itself something of a gamble. When Räikkönen flat-spotted his tyres lapping Jacques Villeneuve at the Nürburgring McLaren opted to leave him out. It looked like paying off until the vibration got so bad it destroyed Räikkönen’s front suspension in fairly spectacular style on the last lap.
Giancarlo Fisichella and Kimi Räikkönen, Suzuka 2005
It would be unfair to mention Räikkönen in 2005 and not mention Suzuka where Kimi started 17th (that engine again) and had to scramble his way through the field, putting in an unrelenting series of fully committed laps to drag himself up into contention. He banged wheels with his team-mate and drove around in a fuel tanker but never looked anything less that deadly carving through the field and finally pursuing leader Giancarlo Fisichella who saw a big lead slowly get eaten away. Räikkönen harassed the Italian unmercifully over the last few laps, and eventually went around the outside to take the lead at Turn One. Fisi was deflated, Flavio Briatore apoplectic and McLaren roundly delighted. Button did a fantastic job in Canada, but Räikkönen’s was the drive of a decade.
Patrick Depailler – Ronnie Peterson, South Africa 1978
The 300th Formula One race, held at South Africa’s Kyalami circuit, proved to be a real race of attrition. With many teams debuting new cars at this, the third race of the year, it seemed that anyone who hit the front suffered an engine blow up, and those that didn’t tended to suffer big tyre problems. As the race drew towards a conclusion it left Tyrrell’s Patrick Depailler leading, being chased down by the Lotuses of Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson. The Tyrrell began to look very unhealthy, but Andretti had to pit from second and was out of the running. Peterson, however, caught the smokey Depailler and engaged in a snorting, wheel-banging final lap before emerging in front and winning by a second. Depailler disappointment at missing out on a first F1 victory didn’t last too long; two races later he won by a healthy margin in Monaco.
Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, 1997 Hungary
Jacques Villeneuve won the Hungarian Grand Prix in his championship season, but it’s always going to be known as Damon Hill’s race. If F1 was a film script, Hill would have crept over the line to take the victory before his Arrows expired, but in the real world Villeneuve’s Williams caught him earlier in the lap and surged to an unexpected though simple win. Arrows had looked strong all weekend, potentially in line for a first victory after two decades of trying. Hill was historically strong at the Hungaroring and, if the weather fell right, the Bridgestone tyres looked like being the rubber of choice. Starting third Hill got a good start, up into second and right on the tail of Michael Schumacher. They pulled away from the field but Schumacher was clearly struggling, having blistered his tyres at the start. Eventually he had to pull in for a fresh set which released Damon, who just kept going away from the field. With three laps to go he had 35 seconds in hand and everything looked rosy – and then the hydraulic pressure collapsed, Hill got stuck in third gear and was suffering with a throttle problem to boot. "I was beginning to think I could win – and when you do that something always goes wrong,” said a phlegmatic Hill.
Jack Brabham – Jochen Rindt, Monaco 1970
At Monaco in 1959, Jack Brabham took his first-ever F1 victory but after that the famous circuit wasn’t very kind to the Australian who was disqualified the following year after receiving a push-start after a spin, and then failed to finish in every year following, right up until his final tilt in 1970 at the age of 44. Driving his own car Brabham was leading as the race came into its final quarter, with Jochen Rindt’s Lotus nine seconds back. Rindt began to haul his former team-mate, helped a little by Brabham struggling with backmarkers when the blue flag rule was just a glint in a race director’s eye. The three time World Champion stayed cool though, and held off the Lotus right up to the final corner – and then agonisingly slid wide and into the barriers. Rindt took the first of his five 1970 victories on his way to the, sadly posthumous, World Championship. Brabham got going again and took the consolation of second. In this footage it’s interesting to see the unmistakeable figure of photographer Rainer Schlegelmilch casually standing on the track at the Mirabeau corner. Rainer is still taking beautiful images of F1 cars today, though like most F1 photographs, isn’t always happy about being forced to stand behind a fence.
And another thing…
Of course two of the closest finishes in recent times weren’t really racing. First Rubens Barrichello courteous held open the door for Michael Schumacher at the Austrian Grand Prix of 2002, and then later that season Michael returned the favour – or did he – and Rubens won by 0.011 seconds in what, to the naked eye, was a dead heat at Indianapolis. Getting the story straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were, this is what Rubens told us:
“Well, regarding the A1 Ring, it’s the race that people think was baaad – but I think it was a good race. See it from my point of view: the world got to know something that I knew already. I was miles clear. I had a great weekend. Ferrari should never have done what they did and they know it. The trophy is at home, I was paid for the ten [maximum] points. I actually felt sorry for Michael because it must have been one of the worst days of his career. I mean, people were booing him!
“Indy was more complicated. Michael suddenly backed off. I said no, no, no. I don’t want anything from him. I don’t want a win I haven’t earned. If I’m going to do it, I want to do it for myself, so I backed off… then he backed off again. We might still be there now, so I didn’t have much choice and said, OK, I’ll push. So I pushed, and he pushed at the same time. We honestly haven’t talked about it since. I won by… what? Not much…”
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