F1 Throwback: Dirty Driving by Michael Schumacher as He Narrowly Puts His Former Teammate in the Wall

Many knew that Michael Schumacher, as great a driver as he was, is pretty ruthless. His former teammate, Rubens Barrichello certainly found that out the hard way, less than a decade ago.

The 7-time World champion had retired at the end of the 2006 season. However Mercedes, taking over Brawn GP, managed to coax him out of retirement to partner Nico Rosberg in 2010.

Admittedly, he struggled through most of the year and Nico Rosberg was consistently beating him. But there were occasional flashes of the old Michael Schumacher. Evidently, he let out a fraction of his ruthless side and Barrichello was at the receiving end.

The Brazilian veteran attacked the struggling Mercedes on the main straight but Michael squeezed him towards the wall. Both drivers emerged unscathed but Barrichello’s heart was definitely in his mouth.

Barrichello was not amused by the antics of Michael Schumacher

“Horrible,” yelled Barrichello over the radio as he just got by. “That should be a black flag.” After the race Barrichello, a veteran of 299 grands prix starts, was right to refer to Schumacher’s tactics as “a go-kart manoeuvre.”

He also pointed out that there was little point talking to Schumacher about the incident. “I won’t – because it won’t resolve things,” said Barrichello. “You know Michael – you talk to him and he will always feel that he is right. He stopped [for] three years [but] he hasn’t changed at all. He is still the same guy.”

Barrichello went on to say that Schumacher’s move was the worst piece of defensive driving he had ever seen. “You would not expect after so many races for someone to do that. You would expect someone with 10 races to do that kind of thing.”

This incident would not be the last time that the German legend got his elbows out. At the Canadian Grand Prix in June he defended his position by running Robert Kubica’s Renault off the road. Later in the same race he unceremoniously chopped across the bows of Felipe Massa, damaging the Ferrari’s front wing and ruining the Brazilian’s race.