When Michael Schumacher once tried the ‘most dangerous’ overtake Rubens Barrichello had ever seen in F1

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Michael Schumacher is one of Formula 1’s greatest-ever drivers and had a reputation for being an extremely tough competitor on track.

Ferrari and Michael Schumacher were one of the most successful partnerships in the history of the sport, winning five consecutive championships between 2000 and 2004.

His teammate at the time was Rubens Barrichello, commonly known as one of F1’s best number two drivers as he supported the German for six campaigns.

Barrichello won nine races during that time – in stark contrast to Schumacher’s 49 victories in that period – before moving on to race for Honda.

Schumacher wanted to win at all costs in F1 and had one more season at Ferrari before retiring from the sport, only to return in 2010.

The seven-time world champion joined Mercedes, while Barrichello was competing in his penultimate Formula 1 season for Williams.

The Hungarian Grand Prix was the location of one of the final on-track battles between the two former teammates, and as explained via The Guardian, Barrichello was furious with Schumacher for one particular defensive move.

Michael Schumacher’s ‘most dangerous’ move on Rubens Barrichello

During the 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix, Barrichello and Schumacher qualified one row apart from each other, in P12 and P14 respectively.

Barrichello in his Williams approached Schumacher as the race went on and tried to dive down the inside of him heading towards the first corner.

Schumacher moved right and continued moving until Barrichello was forced to squeeze through the smallest gap between his Mercedes and the barrier.

That move earned Barrichello the final point of the race, with Schumacher finishing 11th before he was handed a 10-second penalty for dangerous driving.

READ MORE: Rubens Barrichello outlines the ‘toughest time’ that made life more difficult at Ferrari than Stewart

Reflecting on the incident, Schumacher said: “Right after the race I was still in the heat of the action.

“But after watching the moment again, I must say the stewards were right in their assessment: the manoeuvre against Rubens was too dangerous.

“I wanted to make it hard for him to pass me but I didn’t want to endanger him with my manoeuvre. If he has this feeling I am sorry, this was not my intention.”

Barrichello said the overtake resembled a ‘go-kart manoeuvre’ before suggesting it was ‘the most dangerous manoeuvre against me I have ever known’.

The Brazilian later narrated the move and added: “Now you can see, my finger was pointing to my head, because I thought it was very, very crazy manoeuvre and that we were too close to the wall.”

Ross Brawn defended Michael Schumacher after dangerous move on Rubens Barrichello

Schumacher’s Mercedes team principal at the time was Ross Brawn and he said after the race, “I don’t think for a moment Michael was trying to put Rubens in the wall.

“He was trying to discourage him from coming down the inside as he thought that was where he would be vulnerable.

“So he moved across to the inside to try and encourage Rubens to go around the outside.

“At the end of the day, he gave him enough space. You can argue it was marginal, but it was tough racing.

“F1 is a tough business and these things happen in a fraction of a second.”

READ MORE: Meet the F1 driver who never won a championship but became Michael Schumacher’s ‘best’ Ferrari teammate

Barrichello was furious with Schumacher over his team radio and it wasn’t the first questionable move he’d ever performed during his F1 career.

Schumacher clashed with Damon Hill during the final race of the 1994 season guaranteeing him the championship when the Brit was eliminated from the race.

Jacques Villeneuve was on the receiving end of a similar move three years later, but Schumacher ended up crashing out, allowing the Canadian to win his only championship.

That move eventually saw Schumacher get disqualified from the standings in 1997, but as he demonstrated 13 years later, he showed he was still capable of being extremely aggressive when battling on the track.