Michael Schumacher has always been known for being ruthless on track, but his antics in 2010 reached boiling point with former teammate Rubens Barrichello.
It was just 12 races into Schumacher’s comeback season with Mercedes and things were not going spectacularly well for the seven-time world champion.
Schumacher was often fighting for the midfield spots in the Mercedes MGP W01, a decline from what the team was able to achieve the previous year under the Brawn GP guise, but managed to score points in six of the first seven races.
He went into the race in Budapest off the back of scoring only twice in five races, and a 17th place at his home race in Germany, while teammate Nico Rosberg had achieved three podiums.
However, Schumacher would reach a new low that prompted Barrichello to call for him to be black flagged from the race.
Why did Rubens Barrichello want Michael Schumacher black flagged?
Schumacher had qualified in 14th place and had managed to work his way up to 10th, the final points-paying position.
In the final laps of the race, Barrichello was charging through the field and was close behind Schumacher for 10th. The Brazilian recounted the move when speaking on F1 TV.
“Michael had a problem with the backend going, and I saw my chance. By this time, I’m going to use the tow and have a chance, and when I saw him give a chance on the inside, I had some doubts over my head about why he did that,” recalled Barrichello.
Barrichello would move to the right of Schumacher, only for the Mercedes driver to continue to squeeze him into the pit wall at 180mph. The right wheels of Barrichello’s Williams grazed the concrete barrier, before he was able to make the move stick into the first corner.
“I had to step on the brakes after the overtake and grab first gear, and then the manoeuvre was done. I was pointing my finger at my head because I thought it was a very crazy manoeuvre and that we were too close to the wall,” explained Barrichello.
Barrichello would come over the team radio and said: “He should be black flagged for that! Black flag! That was horrible.”
What happened to Michael Schumacher after Hungarian GP incident?
Schumacher was investigated by the stewards and handed a 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian GP for dangerous driving.
Although Schumacher apologised to Barrichello over the move, he received criticism from former drivers including Niki Lauda, Martin Brundle, and Derek Warwick who said that he should have been black flagged (via BBC).
The move was the latest in a series of incidents that Schumacher was caught up in throughout the year.
Earlier in the season, Schumacher forced Robert Kubica off the road and unceremoniously caused damage to Felipe Massa’s front wing while trying to defend from his former teammate during the Canadian GP.
He was also handed a 20-second time penalty for overtaking Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari during the Monaco GP under Safety Car conditions to claim sixth place.