How Esteban Tuero unintentionally crowned a king in F1

In 1998, a teenage Argentinian named Esteban Tuero – born on this day in 1978 – arrived on the grid with a helmet full of ambition and a birth certificate that made veteran drivers feel ancient.

At just 19 years and 10 months old, Tuero landed a seat at Minardi, clocking in as the third-youngest driver in F1 history at the time – trailing only Kiwi Mike Thackwell and the fearless Ricardo Rodríguez.

While Tuero quailfied a respectable P17 on his debut in Australia, his race results mostly raised repair bills for Minardi. However, the rookie’s true "claim to fame" was secured not by a trophy, but by a chaotic lapse in coordination at the 1998 season finale in Suzuka.

On lap 28, Tuero famously muddled his pedals, hitting the throttle instead of the brakes and launching his car into a spectacular, airborne collision with Tora Takagi.

While the crash was a footnote for the backmarkers, the debris it left behind became a championship-deciding landmine. A few laps later, Michael Schumacher – mid-charge in a desperate hunt for the title – shredded a rear tyre on a shard of Tuero's carbon fiber.

The Ferrari limped into retirement, the title went to Mika Häkkinen, and Tuero quietly exited F1 having inadvertently settled the greatest rivalry of the decade.