Friday, April 1, 2005
Updated: April 2, 11:01 PM ET
Montoya not the only bizarre scratch
By Dan Knutson
Special to ESPN.com
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MANAMA, Bahrain -- A silly accident has put Juan Pablo Montoya out of business for several weeks.
According to the press release put out by West McLaren Mercedes, Montoya
was playing tennis with his trainer in Madrid, Spain, on the morning of
March 26 when he slipped and fell and suffered a hairline fracture to his
left scapula.
Rumors have floated around the Formula One paddock here in Bahrain that Montoya
actually injured his shoulder after crashing a motocross bike or a
four-wheeler ATV. A McLaren spokesperson firmly denied to ESPN.com that
there was any truth to the stories. The joke going around the paddock,
however, was that Montoya injured his shoulder playing tennis on top of a
motorcycle.
Whatever the case, the injury subject is not new to F1. Many a driver has missed a Grand Prix because of an injury suffered in an accident on the track.
Others have missed races because of contract disputes. The Toleman team,
for example, suspended Ayrton Senna from the 1984 Italian Grand Prix
because it was incensed that he had signed to drive for McLaren in 1985
when the team thought he was still under contract to it.
Other drivers have not raced simply because the team thought they were too
slow and wanted to try a faster driver.
But Montoya's odd injury brings to light another group still: those who have skipped races for atypical reasons.
While sitting in the pressroom at the Bahrain circuit, and later at dinner
in the city of Manama, we -- a group of veteran F1 journalists -- started listing the
drivers who, like Montoya, missed a Grand Prix for odd reasons.
The list we came up with, in no particular order, turned out like this:
• 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix: BAR Honda's Takuma Sato gets a virus on Friday and does not participate on Saturday or Sunday.
• 1989 French Grand Prix: Derek Warwick can't race his Arrows Ford after injuring himself in a go-kart accident.
• 1972 Belgian Grand Prix: Jackie Stewart has an ulcer. His Tyrell Ford sits idle. Stewart returns at the next race, in France, and wins.
• 1988 Belgian and Italian Grands Prix: Nigel Mansell (Williams Judd) is out for two races after catching the chicken pox.
• 1990 USA (Phoenix) Grand Prix: Alex Caffi crashes his bicycle and doesn't compete in his Arrows Ford.
• 1972 British Grand Prix: Clay Regazzoni breaks his arm playing soccer and can't drive his Ferrari.
• 1971 Dutch Grand Prix: Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus Ford) is out of action after a road car accident.
• 1979 Dutch Grand Prix: Jean-Pierre Jarier has hepatitis and doesn't race his Tyrrell Ford.
• 1990 USA (Phoenix) Grand Prix: Emanuelle Pirro has hepatitis and doesn't race his Dallara Ford.
• 1988 Australian Grand Prix: Yannik Dalmas is suffering from Legionnaires' disease and can't drive his Lola Ford.
• 1995 Pacific (Japan) Grand Prix: McLaren Mercedes driver Mika Hakkinen is out of action because he has appendicitis.
• 1991 Canadian, Mexican, French, British, German and Hungarian Grands Prix: Footwork Ford driver Alex Caffi is injured in a road accident.
• 2000 Austrian Grand Prix: Eddie Irvine is overcome by a strange illness and can't race his Jaguar.
• 1997 Canadian, French and British Grands Prix: Gerhard Berger is ill, plus his father dies, and he misses three races. He climbs back in his Benetton Renault at the next race, in Germany, and wins the 10th and final Grand Prix of his career.
• 1985 South African Grand Prix: Alan Jones takes part in practice and qualifying in his Lola Hart but then gets sick and doesn't participate in the race.
• 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix: Brabham BMW's Teo Fabi misses the race after his father dies.
• 1977 Japanese Grand Prix: Ian Scheckter is not allowed in the country because he has a South African passport. Brother Jody, traveling on a
Monaco passport, gets in to Japan and races.
• 1973 Canadian and USA Grands Prix: Tyrrell offers Patrick Depailler a two-race deal but he breaks his leg in a motorcycle accident.
• 1979 French through USA Grands Prix: Patrick Depailler, now with Ligier, is out of action for the last eight races of the season after a hang glider
accident.
• 1991 Belgian Grand Prix: Jordan Ford driver Bertrand Gachot is in jail after a fight with a London taxi driver. Eddie Jordan brings in a substitute, who is a relatively unknown rookie called Michael Schumacher.
In general, drivers will go to extremes to not miss a race.
Mark Webber has a fractured rib and it's still not fully healed, but that hasn't kept him out of his Williams BMW.
David Coulthard fractured several ribs when the private jet he was on crashed while landing just a few days before the 2000 Spanish Grand Prix.
He finished second in his McLaren Mercedes.
Alan Jones arrived at the 1981 Italian Grand Prix with a broken finger
suffered in a fight with two guys in a road-rage incident. He brought
his Williams Ford home in second place.
Ayrton Senna got banged up in a jet ski accident but still won the 1989
Mexican Grand Prix in his McLaren Honda.
There also drivers were who have raced with huge hangovers. The late Innes
Ireland, who enjoyed a good party, did that more than once in the 1960s.
Dan Knutson covers Formula One for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com.
