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Formula One, widely known as F1, is the most superior segment of automobile racing defined by FIA, the Motorsport governing body. Formula One cars are the fastest single seated cars on the planet. The best of the automobile manufacturers- Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Renault, Jaguar, and Mercedes, to name a few- take pride in association with the sport. It is a sport associated with speed, thrill, adrenaline rush, cutting-edge technology, glamour and much more. When drivers make it to the podium, the real celebration takes on and the race weekend festivities are a treat to every fan. It is every driver's dream to break previously set records during their F1 career. It has always been an extremely fancy and enthralling sport to watch. Keeping the viewers on the edge of their seats, it has always brought moments to rejoice but what when it takes an ugly turn?
Along with all the action that comes in with the exciting races, there lies an equally dark side. There have been instances more than often when drivers face ban and penalties due to their indulgence into inappropriate driving practices or action.
There are times when drivers are involved in a collision or unethical tactics on tracks and sometimes they are unable to see the black flag waved to them and it ultimately leads to their ban for the coming events. Sometimes drivers are subjected to severe penalties depending on the event, they are involved in. Here we have the list of Top seven driver bans:
#7 Mika Hakkinen
At the 1994 British GP, Mika Hakkinen was involved in a crash with Jordan's Rubens Barrichello and therefore received one race ban. FIA was forced to imply the ban on Hakkinen because Schumacher was harshly punished in the same race but many questioned whether Hakkinen was really at fault or not!
Mika Pauli Hakkinen who is nicknamed as "Flying Finn" is a former Finnish professional driver who bagged F1 World Championship Titles with McLaren in the year 1998 and 1999 consecutively. He is often called as one of the best drivers in history of F1.
#6 Nigel Mansell
Mansell is a British former Formula One racing driver who is famed for winning both, F1 World Championship in the year 1992 and also CART Indy Car World Series in the year 1993.
Mansell was current champion when he moved over to CART and became the first person to win the CART season in his debut which made him the only person to have win the both World Driver's Championship and American open-wheel National Championship.
He got caught by stewards at 1989 Portuguese GP while his car was captured on TV as he reversed in the pit lane after a botched stop.
He received a black flag. Either he was unable to see the signal of his disqualification or ignored it intentionally, but later a collision with Senna made him banned for the coming round in Spain.
#5 Eddie Irvine
He is a former Formula One racing driver from Northern Ireland. He drove in Formula between the years 1993-2002 and he finished runner-up in 1999 World Driver's Championship driving for Scuderia Ferrari.
1999 season remains to be his most successful one where he bagged four Grand Prix and challenged McLaren's Mika Hakkinen for the World Championship. He was last seen in 2002 Japanese Grand Prix.
At Brazilian Grand Prix in the year 1994, he was held responsible for initiating a horrific four-car crash that saw Verstappen's Benetton sent airborne over Brundle's McLaren which ultimately led to the retirement of all the four cars involved.
Initially, he was given one race ban but the ordeal didn't end here. Jordan's attempt to appeal the decision led FIA to extend Irishman's ban for three races which was laid down as a marker against frivolous appeals in future. This turned out bad for Irvine indeed.
#4 Yuji Ide
Due to his great performance in 2005 Formula Nippon, he was signed in F1 newcomers Super Aguri for 2006 season which was also due to his personal relations with team owner Aguri Suzuki even though he lacked at English.
He was unable to mesh with his engineers and languished far off teammate Sato's pace. He often spun and pushed Albert's Midland into a roll on the first lap of San Marino GP. This precarious action led FIA to cancel his Super License.
Yuji Ide is a professional Japanese racing driver who was promoted from 2005 Formula Nippon to Formula One racing with the Super Aguri team in the year 2006.
He didn't last much into Formula due to his dangerous driving tactics leading to the cancellation of his license. He has in total four entries in Formula One with 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix being first and 2006 San Marino Grand Prix being the last one.
#3 Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former Formula One racing driver who had a stint of 16 years in F1 ie 1977-1993. He achieved the feat of becoming Formula One's first driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at British Grand Prix and first to achieve 250 starts as well at 1993 German Grand Prix. He has in total six victories and was last seen in 1993 Australian Grand Prix.
The mishap took place in the year 1978 at Italian GP when Patrese got involved in the first lap accident which took away the life of Ronnie Peterson due to medical complications and the paddock emotions turned against him completely.
The other drivers gave an ultimatum for the next race that if Patrese drove at Watkins Glen, they wouldn't and it led race organizer's to ban Patrese's entry.
#2 Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher who is considered probably the greatest driver in the history of Formula One is a German racing driver who drove in F1 during two sessions.
His first run was in 1991-2006 and then he made a stunning comeback in the year 2010 which lasted till 2012. He is the only driver so far to clinch seven World Championship Titles during his stint in F1. He has several records to his credit and was last seen at 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
He was one of the three drivers to earn a ban during 1994. Schumacher received a penalty for initially passing Damon Hill on the formation lap at British Grand Prix in 1994 where he ignored the black flag waved to him and his case was taken up by Benetton to FIA officials in the pits.
He was given a stop and go penalty but further FIA disqualified him from the results and gave him two-race ban which allowed Hill to regain ground in competing for the title.
#1 Romain Grosjean
Romain Grosjean is a racing driver who is currently racing for Haas Formula One team. Although he races under French flag but was born in Geneva, therefore, holds a dual Franco-Swiss nationality.
He couldn't bag single victory in F1 but had several accomplishments in other racing series. His first entry into F1 was in 2009 at European Grand Prix and last was in 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix.
He endured a bittersweet comeback campaign in 2012 where he made to podium three times but at Belgian GP, he got involved in inducing a sever four-car crash that made him lined up 9th on the grid at Spa.
Going quick, he tried to pass Hamilton on the inside entering La source only to instigate an accident that put four cars into retirement. He was given one race ban and was fined whopping €50,000 and it really went hard for the French man.
