Pele’s unforgettable Brazilian Grand Prix debut

As the pinnacle of motorsports, Formula 1 has a great affinity with A-List stars and celebrities. The relationship, although seemingly more prominent in recent years, is endemic and deep-rooted. Brazilian organisers, for instance, invited soccer great Pele to wave the chequered flag at Interlagos Grand Prix 18 years ago.

Brazil’s national legend rubbed shoulders with some of the legends of our sport at the race that saw Ferrari trotting its F2002 out fresh from Maranello for the exclusive use of its reigning world champion Michael Schumacher, while home hero Rubens Barrichello was left to make do with the F2001.

The new car featured a revised aerodynamic package allowing for greater airflow at the rear end, but despite all the hype around the new car Juan Pablo Montoya spoiled the party by planting his Williams-BMW on pole position alongside Schumacher with Michael’s kid brother Ralf third, while Barrichello sat eighth on the grid.

Sunday morning warmup started a bizarre day when Enrique Bernoldi crashed his Arrows heavily at the Senna S to bring out the red flag in an impact hard enough to warrant an appearance from the medical car piloted by former F1 lad Alex Ribeiro. Ribeiro was helping Bernoldi extricate himself from the wreckage, when Nick Heidfeld, blissfully unaware of the red flag, arrived on the scene at full flight.

Unable to sufficiently slow his Sauber Heidfeld somehow squeezed between the Arrows and the medical car, slamming the Mercedes’ door forward in the process. Horrifying footage showed how easily that situation could have proven tragic when.

The race also got off to a hectic start as first both Renaults superior traction control saw them jump the McLarens, while Schumacher dive up the inside of Montoya into turn one, but Montoya covered the move well. That is until Schumacher got a blinding exit out Turn 1 and despite a lockup, the Ferrari was able to fire past the Williams at turn three.

Frustrated, Montoya sought to restore the status quo with a move on the inside of turn four, but Schumacher defended in his signature heavy style and the pair made contact and not for the first time in 2002, Juan Pablo was forced to limp back to the pits minus a front wing.

Barrichello meanwhile launched a charge up the field from eighth on an alternative fuel-light two-stop strategy to see him put the old F2001 into the lead early on to the rapturous applause of the adoring home crowd before his home Grand Prix curse struck again when a hydraulic fault brought the car to a stop with a ninth failure to finish in Brazil in ten races.

Promoted to second, Ralf Schumacher was able to launch a challenge to his brother's lead with fresher tyres and no worries about fuel, he swiftly closed the gap to just half a second by the end of the race. But neither he nor his brother in the winning Ferrari saw the chequered flag because it failed to wave to conclude the race.

Armed with chequered flag and watching over the finish line waiting for the race to end, Pele was chatting away with a friend -- the conversation so engrossed the Brazilian soccer god that he completely missed the Schumacher brothers racing to the line!

Realising his error and his lapse of concentration, he waved the chequer at the twice-lapped Takuma Sato’s Super Aguri and eventually, third-placed David Coulthard’s McLaren-Mercedes, which crossed the line a minute later.

“I so much wanted to wave the flag for a Brazilian driver,” Pele conceded. “Shame it was not this time.” Clearly no-one told the guest of honour all three Brazilian drivers had retired just shortly after the halfway point.

Nevertheless, Pele was invited back to Interlagos again in 2006, this time to honour the great Michael Schumacher at the beginning of his final race with Ferrari before retiring. Pele handed a signed trophy to Schumacher to mark the occasion.

Ironically, the footballer’s arrival brought yet another memorable F1 moment with Kimi Raikkonen’s famous “I was taking a shit” quip on Martin Brundle’s grid walk, broadcast to millions of viewers across the globe. (Photo: Bridgestone)