Senna went into the penultimate round in Suzuka knowing a win would give him
his first world championship. But disaster struck at the start when the
Brazilian stalled his McLaren, falling down to 14th.
However Senna was not to be denied, clawing his way back to fourth within four
laps, and then bravely passing Prost for the lead on the pit straight, from
which point he did not look back.
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2) 1989 – Alain Prost (W) v Ayrton Senna
The acrimony between these two McLaren team-mates had been building all season
and came to a head in spectacular fashion, prompting one of Murray Walker’s
finest commentating moments: “Out! Oh my goodness!”
This time Prost went into the penultimate round knowing Senna had to win to
keep the championship alive. Prost overtook the Brazilian at the start,
building up a small lead. Senna spent the whole racing trying to catch
Prost, and with seven laps to go on lap 46, he made his move at the chicane
before the start-finish straight.
The pair collided, with Prost out of the race, but Senna got a push from the
marshals, returned to the track and after pitting for repairs, managed to
win the race.
He was then disqualified for missing the chicane, giving Prost the
championship. McLaren’s appeal was unsuccessful, and Senna said afterwards
he felt as if he was “treated like a criminal”.
The debate on who was responsible for the crash continues to rage among
fanatics. Watch the video above and make up your mind.
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3) 1990 – Ayrton Senna (W) v Alain Prost
If Senna felt like he had been treated like a criminal the previous year, what
he did at the start of the 1990 title decider in Suzuka was bordering on the
criminal.
Again there was plenty of intrigue in the build up to the race, with pole
position being switched from one side of the grid to another; something
Senna saw as a grave injustice.
As he predicted, Prost, now at Ferrari,
made the better start, but was essentially wiped out by Senna at the
very first corner, sending them both into the gravel and handing the
Brazilian his second world championship.
The Frenchman was so livid that he said he wanted to punch his rival in the
face, but could not because he was so disgusted.
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4) 1991 – Ayrton Senna (W) v Nigel Mansell
It was a slightly less acrimonious conclusion to the world championship at
Suzuka in 1991.
Senna was now fighting the Williams
of Nigel Mansell, and knew the Brit had to win to keep his championship
hopes alive.
After harrying him for the first nine laps, Mansell went off at the start of
lap 10 as he tried to fashion a passing move on the Brazilian, giving Senna
the last of his three drivers’ world championships.
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5) 1996 – Damon Hill (W) v Jacques Villeneuve
The final race of the 1996 season in Japan once again gave us one of Murray
Walker’s finest and most emotional pieces of commentary.
Williams team-mates Damon Hill and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve went into the
race still in contention, but Villeneuve needed to win the race without Hill
scoring. After qualifying on pole, Villeneuve made a poor start and retired
when a wheel fell off.
Hill duly won the race, leaving a big lump in Murray Walker’s throat, and
became the first son of a world champion (Graham Hill) to win the title
himself.
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6) 1998 – Mika Häkkinen (W) v Michael Schumacher
For the second season in a row Michael Schumacher was denied a first
championship with Ferrari, this time by the McLaren of Mika Häkkinen.
Schumacher needed to win, and beat the Finn to pole position, but stalled at
the start and was put to the back of the grid.
Remarkably, the German made his way up to third but was forced to retire after
his right rear tyre exploded; a worthwhile reminder that Ferrari and
Schumacher did not always win.
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7) 1999 – Mika Häkkinen (W) v Eddie Irvine
After Schumacher broke his leg at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone in the
middle of the season, his Irish team-mate Eddie Irvine was entrusted with
taking the fight to McLaren and Häkkinen.
Irvine crashed in qualifying, meaning he started only fifth, while Schumacher
was on pole with Häkkinen second.
All the Irishman had to do was finish in front of the Finn, but Häkkinen made
a blistering start to take the lead and never looked back. Irvine finished
third and lost the championship by two points.
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8) 2000 – Michael Schumacher (W) v Mika Häkkinen
Three years of just missing out came to an end for Schumacher and Ferrari at
Suzuka in 2000.
The seven-time champion still regards this as his greatest ever race, and it
was a fitting conclusion to a remarkable and respectful duel between the
German and Häkkinen over the previous three seasons.
Schumacher went into the penultimate race in Japan knowing victory would give
him the championship. After beating the Finn to pole by 0.009 seconds, the
pair were, as usual, the class of the field, and were separated by just a
few seconds for most of the race.
Spits of rain and some clever strategy by Ferrari supremo Ross Brawn enabled
Schumacher to be in the lead after the final round of stops, and he went on
to win the race and the championship in his fifth season with the Italian
team.
From the team radio in the video above you can tell he was pretty happy about
it.
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9) 2003 – Michael Schumacher (W) v Kimi Raikkonen
Sandwiched in the middle of five years of Ferrari’s processional domination,
the 2003 was actually remarkably close, right until the end.
Schumacher was locked in a three-way fight with McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen and
Williams’ Juan Pablo Montoya all season long, and nearly managed to lose the
title to the Finn the final race.
The German could only manage eighth, with Raikkonen second, but the German’s
ever reliable team-mate Rubens Barrichello won the race to deny the Finn the
championship by just two points.
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10) 2011 – Sebastian Vettel (W) v Jenson Button/Fernando Alonso
The identity of Vettel’s competitors for the 2011 championship is a relatively
moot point: he was more competing with himself to see when he could win his
second title.
In the end he managed to take the crown at one of his favourite races in
Suzuka, with four to spare. He qualified ahead of Jenson
Button to take pole, but lost the lead in the first round of pit
stops.
He eventually finished third behind the Brit and Fernando Alonso, still
managing to take his second drivers’ championship at a canter.