Betting in the world of sports is one of the main topics these days, following the lid being lifted on what seems to be a veritable Pandora’s box for football. Amid rumors, denials, and various statements, we went in search of similar incidents related to Formula 1.
During the weekend of the 1999 Belgian Grand Prix, in fact, Formula 1 had to deal with bets between drivers. On that occasion, Jacques Villeneuve, who had won the world championship two years earlier, proposed a bet to his teammate at BAR, Ricardo Zonta.
The Canadian driver challenged his Brazilian colleague to see who could take the iconic Eau Rouge corner flat out during free practice. Unlike what happens now, in those years, it was almost impossible not to lift off the accelerator in what is undoubtedly one of the most characteristic points on the entire calendar.
Given the lack of competitiveness of the car, which allowed taking risks that were impossible for drivers competing for pole and victory, Ricardo Zonta decided to accept Jacques Villeneuve’s challenge. However, the Canadian ended up losing control of his car. The Brazilian, on the other hand, carried too much speed into the corner, suffering from severe oversteer and spinning. The result was financially disastrous, with two cars destroyed.
Iconic was the comment by the current Senior Performance Engineer at Ferrari, Jock Clear, who was the race engineer for Jacques Villeneuve at the time. “It seems that Zonta won,” were his words after the Brazilian hit the barriers.
Source: f1ingenerale
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