We’ve all done it on racing games. You’re heading into the first corner and you cant be bothered to brake, so you just slam into all the cars ahead of you, gaining you several positions and putting a few rivals out of the race.
That’s probably not what March driver Mauricio Gugelmin was hoping would happen when he was approaching the first corner at Paul Ricard for the 1989 French GP. He locked up his brakes and slammed into… well, everyone ahead of him, launching him into the air and flipping over.
With all the carnage, the race was red-flagged as the field rushed back to jump in their spare cars, including Gugelmin. Incredibly, although he wasn’t classified by the finish, he actually set the fastest lap of the race – the only one of his career.
Alain Prost won ahead of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese, with Jean Alesi finishing fourth for Tyrrell on his F1 debut.
