2002 Austrian Grand Prix
From Frikipedia
An infamous race that ended up being the highlight and lowlight of the 2002 F1 season.
The Race
The Boobens started the race from pole position and led much of the way, with championship leader Michael Schumacher trailing not too far behind.
Further back the midfield drivers decided it was time to get their own back on Takuma Sato by crashing into him for once, a cunning lot these midfield drivers they knew they needed to use a driver that poor old Taku (or anyone else for that matter) wouldn't see coming. Thus The Shadow hurled his Sauber backwards towards the hairpin, slamming side-on into the Jordan of Sato at over 200km/h.
The impact collapsed the footwell in the cockpit of the Jordan, right where those of normal height would have their pedals (or Alexander Wurz his Hans Device). Luckily for 2 foot tall Taku no damage was done to himself, and he was to be ready for the next GP.
At the end of the race, Ferrari told Barrichello to move aside and give the win to The Chin, which he did for a cookie.
The Aftermath
The incident sparked much controversy. In a sport where teams number up to 500 members, and where the individual driver is not worth anything, it was seen as a great injustice to utilise team orders to aid Michael Schumacher who tended to be able to cheat adequetly by himself. Ferrari defended their actions, saying Michael needed the points after they received intel that 2002 was to be David Coulthards year to win the title.
Since then, most F1 fans will just spurt out "Austria 2002" when arguing any point on F1 forums, the topic at hand doesn't need to be related to team orders ofcourse. There is also a general consensus that team orders are only bad if Ferrari use them, and anything Ferrari puts on it's cars is a technical cheat.
Caving into the public "which way is the wind blowing today?" pressure, the FIA moved to ban team orders and came down harshly on Ferrari just one week later when Ross Brawn let Jean Todt go ahead of him in the Maranello lunch line.
Penalty
Michael Schumacher was fined $1 million dollars for putting The Boobens on the top step of the podium, which is clearly not where he belongs.
