Battling for a Formula 1 championship often creates dramatic moments on the track between title contenders as they push for the biggest prize.
There is often an extra bit of animosity as the drivers vying for the title do everything they can to beat their rivals.
This can step over the limit at times, and contact can occur because the margins are so fine, and the tension is at the limit out on track.
Lewis Hamilton has been involved in many title fights, having won seven championships and had some heavy impacts.
With that in mind, F1 Oversteer looks at five of the most dramatic moments where championship contenders collided.
Michael Schumacher hits Jacques Villeneuve – Jerez 1997
The 1997 season was one of the most dramatic in history, and the championship battle went down to the last race at the European Grand Prix.
Michael Schumacher was up against Jacques Villeneuve in the Williams, who had won the Indy 500 in his career but was racing in just his second F1 season.
Qualifying at Jerez had the unique drama of the top three cars, setting identical lap times of 1:21.072. Villeneuve, Schumacher, and Williams driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen set the same time.
Williams and Ferrari were consistently quick throughout the late 1990s and were the class of the field in 1997. At the European Grand Prix at Jerez, Villeneuve was on pole position alongside Schumacher.
Schumacher got a superb start and led into Turn 1 before leading the opening 40 laps with Villeneuve shadowing him.
Villeneuve got closer to the Ferrari driver as the race progressed but couldn’t find a way to pass Schumacher as he made no mistakes.
The Canadian consistently closed the gap at the Turn 6 hairpin at the end of the back straight as the Ferrari braked early.
Villeneuve entered the straight closer than before 48 laps into the race and dived up the inside to try and take the lead. Schumacher left the door open and turned into the Williams. Villeneuve kept going as his rival was stranded in the gravel.
Schumacher retired, while Villeneuve finished third to win the title. The Ferrari driver’s antics caused an uproar, and the German was disqualified from the championship.
The two Red Bulls collide while fighting for the lead – Turkey 2010
Red Bull were superb throughout the 2010 season, with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber consistently fighting at the front of the field.
It was a monstrous era with world champions Fernando Alonso as well as McLaren’s duo of Hamilton and Jenson Button fighting Red Bull.
The Turkish Grand Prix that year was a missed opportunity by the Austrian team as Vettel and Webber collided while fighting for the lead.
Webber started on pole position and led for most of the race as Vettel hunted him down. Towards the end, the Australian began to save fuel, which allowed the gap to close, and Vettel looked to the inside at Turn 12, 40 laps into the race.
The pair touched as Vettel was on the verge of touching the white line, and the German retired with a puncture, putting a dent in his title hopes. Webber continued with a damaged front wing, while Hamilton went on to win.
Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost crash at Turn 1 at Suzuka – Japan 1990
Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost spent two tense seasons as teammates at McLaren before the Frenchman moved to Ferrari in 1990.
The pair had collided at Suzuka the previous year, as Senna dived up the inside and headed into the Casio chicane, and Prost was crowned champion.
In 1990, Senna and Prost were a level above the rest of the field and headed to Suzuka with the title on the line at the penultimate round.
Senna took pole position in Japan but wasn’t happy about starting on the dirty side of the grid. Prost took the lead off the line, but they crashed at the opening turn.
The Brazilian touched the Ferrari of Prost, and both cars spun into the gravel and retired from the race, giving Senna the championship.
This opened the door for Benetton’s Nelson Piquet to win the race as Senna and Prost’s bitter rivalry was decided for another season.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crash on Lap 1 – Spain 2016
Hamilton and Nico Rosberg dominated the opening stages of the hybrid era in 2014 and 2015, with the British driver taking both titles.
The 2016 season was very different than previous years. Rosberg took the opening four wins, while Hamilton struggled with poor starts and unreliability.
Hamilton needed to build momentum in the Spanish Grand Prix at the start of the European season after a lacklustre start.
He took pole position in qualifying, but Rosberg swept around the outside at Turn 1 to take the lead at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Rosberg kept the advantage through Turn 2 and the high-speed Turn 3 but suffered a derate in the hybrid system, which caused him to lose power at the top of the hill.
Hamilton sensed an opportunity to pass but went onto the grass and crashed into his teammate, causing both Mercedes to retire. Team principal Toto Wolff was furious as a chance to win had gone while 18-year-old Max Verstappen became the youngest driver ever to win a Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen crashed at Copse – Silverstone 2021
The 2021 season saw one of the most dramatic title battles between Hamilton competing for a record-breaking eighth championship and Verstappen looking for a first title.
Both drivers had their moments in the first half of the year, and on pure pace, there wasn’t much to choose between them heading into Silverstone.
Despite the cars being relatively equal, Verstappen enjoyed a 32-point advantage after nine rounds heading into the British Grand Prix.
The event saw Formula 1’s first-ever Sprint weekend, and Verstappen won the shortened race, giving him pole position alongside Hamilton on the grid for the Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver kept the lead into Turn 1, and Hamilton pressured him on the opening lap. Verstappen defended into The Loop and gave Hamilton a run on him heading into Brooklands.
Verstappen retained the lead, but his rival took a wider line at Luffield to open up the turn onto the old pit straight. With no DRS, Hamilton slipstreamed up to the leader, and the pair collided.
Verstappen hit the wall as Hamilton continued before the race was red-flagged. The Mercedes driver received a 10-second penalty, and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was livid after the crash.
He told Sky Sports: “He [Hamilton] stuck a wheel up the inside in a corner that you just know you don’t do that.
“You just don’t stick a wheel up the inside of Copse in that corner in that circumstance. He was nowhere near ahead, it was contact left-front to right-rear, and the speed that they’re travelling it’s one of the fastest corners in the championship.
“Lewis has got more than enough experience to know that is unacceptable. I’m just very disappointed that a driver of his calibre should make such a move like that. It’s dangerous, it looked desperate.”
Hamilton went on to win after passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the closing stages, reducing his championship deficit to eight points.
Red Bull’s designer Adrian Newey was angry with Hamilton as Verstappen retired from the Grand Prix and the car was destroyed.
