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Top F1 Teammate Rivalries


There is a saying in Formula one that first driver you want to beat is your teammate. In a sport like F1 tension between teammates is normal. Sometimes such tensions can be elevated with the help of team orders.Here are some famous teammate rivalries :

1. Nico Rosberg / Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
 Rising through the ranks together, Robserg and Hamilton have known each other and driven against each other for a long time now.Everything heated up in Monaco 2014 when Hamilton blamed Rosberg as deliberately spinning in qualifying in order to get pole position.A clash in Spa put the relationship beyond repair. More recently in Austin 2015 , the cap 'spat' where Hamilton gave a cap to Robserg only to end up with the cap thrown back at his face. In Mexico , Hamilton accused Mercedes of favoring Rosberg . As you can see this rivalry isn't going to cool down any soon . 

2. Sebastian Vettel / Mark Webber ( RedBull Racing) 
This pair was always exploding with tension. The pair seemed very happy at first but things soon got heated up. The 2010 Turkish Grand prix being the main reason. The pair crashed while figthing for the lead due to which Vettel had to retire. The most popular one being the Multi-21 saga in Malaysia 2013. Due which Webber believed that he was receiving second hand treatment. What probably frustrated Webber the most was that Vettel was able to win 4 consecutive titles with the same car as he did. Now the pair are still in touch and the tensions between them have surely cooled off. 

3. Fernando Alonso / Lewis Hamilton (Mclaren)
2007, arguable the most scandalous year in modern f1. Spygate where Mclaren illegally obtained technical information from Ferrari (for which there later fined $100 million and disqualified from the constructors championship). It was obvious that Mclaren favored the Brit. But things went out of hand in the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying when Hamilton ignored a pre-qualifying agreement to which Alonso replied by blocking him off at the pitline so that he couldn't finish his final flying lap. Alonso even went to the extent of threatening Ron Dennis that he would reveal the spygate saga. Adding fuel to the fire Kimi Raikkonen won the championship by 1 point in the final race.

 4. Jochen Mass / James Hunt (Mclaren)
Going into 1977 championship, Hunt was the champion and many expected him to challenge for the title again. At the Canadian Grand prix the pair collided and Hunt retired while Mass carried on. Hunt found his way back to pit whilst picking up fines ( for pushing a marshal). Now seated at the pitwall he yelled and waved his fists every time Mass would go past him. 

 5. Ayrton Senna / Alain Prost (Mclaren)
This rivalry is by far the most intense f1 has ever seen. It all started in 1988 in the Portuguese grand prix , when an on track battle between the pair became a personal affair.A feud that went on for two more years.The problem further escalated when Senna ignored team orders. The deciding race in 1989 came . Prost and Senna collided giving Prost his third title. Senna definitely was not pleased and took "revenge" the next year on the same circuit in the same manner to win the championship. Prost once said " Ayrton didn't want to beat me , he wanted to destroy me". This rivalry is one of the greatest because of the intensity and fierceness of the drivers to win.     


6. Nelson Piquet / Nigel Mansell (Williams)
Personally the two men did not like each other , Piquet once referred to Mansell as an "uneducated blockhead" (he actually said that) . They were rivals on and off track. Piquet even went to the extent of concealing useful technical information from his teammate. Over the course of the season the pair had 9 wins together ( 5 for Mansell and 4 for Piquet). The championship decider in Australia'86 left Mansell with a punctured tire and handed the championship to Prost.


Until the next race , 
Goodbye

(All Pictures Courtesy : Corbis images)

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