The first example of this was seen in 1989 when Alain Prost hit Ayrton Senna on the first lap of the final race at Suzuka. While Senna carried on and won the race, he was disqualified for cutting the chicane and thus handing the championship to Prost. Twelve months later, at the same venue, Senna took redemption by deliberately crashing into Prost to win his first F1 championship.

While F1 took note of the incident, little was done to avoid further incidents, and thus, in 1994, things repeated with Michael Schumacher turning in on Damon Hill to clinch the championship by one point. Schumacher repeated this attempt on Jacques Villeneuve three years later, only to be disqualified from the championship for deliberately hitting another driver. These incidents forced then FIA president Max Mosley to intervene and set up rules to stop drivers from taking out each other. But two decades since the Schumacher incident, no driver has tried to put the rules to the test, barring the 2016 season when tensions were running high between teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, leading to multiple collisions through the season. But looking at the 2021 season, it seems like the rule will be finally implemented. The heated battle between Hamilton and Max Verstappen is through the roof, with the duo colliding on two occasions in the 2021 season. 

Coming into the 2021 season, things looked heated as Red Bull finally fielded a competitive car that is considered the best on the grid. On the other hand, affected by the recent rules change, Mercedes started on the backfoot during pre-season testing. With protagonists from both teams gunning to clinch the title, things began to heat up from the first race in Bahrain, where the Mercedes and Hamilton won the race after a close wheel to wheel battle with Verstappen. Determined to win the title, Verstappen and Red Bull adopted every tactic in the book to win the next round in Italy and swing the championship in their favour.

With Verstappen aiming for his maiden title and Lewis for his eighth, both drivers gave their 100 percent on the track, resulting in fantastic wheel-to-wheel racing in Bahrain, Imola, Portimao, Barcelona and France that was missing from F1 for over a decade. This close wheel to wheel racing has resulted in the championship swinging both ways, race after race. During the initial phase of the championship, both drivers raced with mutual respect. But just before the summer break, during round 10 of the championship at Silverstone, the rivalry took an ugly turn. Verstappen and Hamilton collided at the Corpse corner on the first lap of the race, resulting in a 51G crash that saw Verstappen spinning into the tyre barrier. This was the spark that ignited it all.

Following the crash, Lewis was handed a 10-sec time penalty which in no way affected the result of the race. In the end, Lewis won his eighth British GP and celebrated in style. This trigged Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who accused Hamilton of ‘dirty racing’. While the drivers refused to engage in a war of words, the team principals were going at each other. F1 went for its summer break, with Lewis leading the championship by just six points.

Coming back from the summer break, Verstappen won back to back at the Spa-Franco champs and at his home track in the Netherlands.

Just when the war of words had started to settle down and the championship had swung in Red Bull and Verstappen’s favour, the two championship rivals collided on lap 26 of the Italian GP at Monza. Frustrated by an 11.1-second pit stop which put him directly into Hamilton’s path, Verstappen was pushing hard on a fresh set of hard tyres. On lap 26, Hamilton pitted for a new set of tyres and caught McLaren’s Lando Norris and Verstappen at the pit exit. After letting Norris pass, Hamilton stuck to the racing line into the Variante chicane. Seizing the opportunity, Verstappen attacked to the outside of Hamilton. Not yielding, both drivers stuck to their racing lines and collided. The collision saw Verstappen’s car bounce off the sausage kerbs and pitched onto Hamilton’s car, clipping the rear wing and roll hoop of the Mercedes before landing heavily onto the Halo. Both the cars got beached in the gravel with one on top of the other.

A disgruntled Verstappen got off the car and walked away, blaming Hamilton for the crash. Talking post-race, Verstappen complained, “He kept on squeezing me to the left. I expected him to give me space going into turn 2, but he left me without enough road.” Reacting to it, Hamilton, said, “I left him a car’s width going into the first corner and I was ahead going into the corner. The next thing I know, Max was over me. He obviously knew at that point he wasn’t going to make the corner and drove into me.”

After the race, the stewards reviewed the incident and handed Verstappen a three-place grid drop for the Russian GP. The stewards found that Verstappen was never in front of Hamilton and hence was predominantly to blame for the collision. Reacting to the penalty, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff accused Verstappen of a tactical foul.

Verstappen will be ready for redemption at the Russian GP. Eager to bounce back from his three-place grid penalty and win at the Sochi Autodromo and break Mercedes dominance at a circuit that suits the Mercedes car the best. While the blame game continues, F1 pundits predict that the two title rivals will clash again before the end of the championship. With eight rounds left in the championship, Verstappen leads Hamilton by just five points. It’s all to play for in the championship, with either driver giving it their 100 percent.

With a three-place grid penalty to serve at a track that does not favour the Red Bull Car, will the Milton Keynes-based team opt to take engine penalty and push during the race with a new engine, or will they postpone the new engine for another race? Will Verstappen adopt a more polite approach towards his driving? Will the teams and drivers race fair with mutual respect? We have to wait and watch. But for the fans, this championship is an exciting one that will go down to the wire and enter the record books as the most entertaining season in the recent past. (TT)

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Sri Trang Agro-Industry Public Company Limited has earned a total of 23 CSR-DIW awards, demonstrating its longstanding commitment to operating with ongoing responsibility towards society, local communities and the environment. In 2025, the Department of Industrial Works honoured the company under the CSR DIW to MIND for Sustainability programme, which recognises industrial factories that enhance their social and community responsibility for sustainable coexistence.

Among these accolades, five facilities received the CSR DIW Award for maintaining these high standards continuously for a decade, while another 18 facilities received the CSR DIW Continuous Award for consistently implementing responsible practices, collectively celebrating industrial organisations that serve as models for industry growing in harmony with communities under the principle of good industry coexisting sustainably.

These achievements reflect how the Sri Trang Group balances economic, social and environmental priorities, allowing the industrial sector to work alongside communities effectively and advancing Thailand’s rubber industry towards a sustainable green future. The group has steadily carried out community focused and socially responsible initiatives across six key areas, including youth development, arts and local traditions, livelihood and career support, environmental management, workplace health and hygiene as well as disaster relief and assistance for vulnerable groups.

This recognition further underscores Sri Trang Agro Industry’s role as a leading organisation that drives sustainable industrial practices while consistently creating lasting value for society, communities and the environment.

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Bridgestone has announced its participation in the 41st Space Symposium, the largest space conference in United States, taking place in Colorado Springs from 13 to 16 April 2026. The company’s exhibit will be hosted within the Japanese Space Industry pavilion organised by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), marking its third consecutive year at the event since 2024. A key focus of Bridgestone’s presence is its ongoing development of lunar rover tyres, a project that embodies the company’s belief that ‘tyres carry life’.

Since 2019, Bridgestone has advanced research on lunar rover tyres and pursued co-creation with international partners to commercialise space mobility technology. In 2024, the company collaborated with Astrobotic Technology, followed by a basic agreement with ispace in 2025. These efforts aim to generate new value in the rapidly evolving space mobility sector.

At the symposium, Bridgestone will demonstrate tyres for small and medium lunar rovers, first unveiled in 2025, by mounting them on a mobility vehicle. Attendees can see and touch the tyres, experiencing their high traversability on simulated lunar challenges like fine sand and rocky ground. Through this showcase, Bridgestone seeks to expand its space business network and foster co-creation opportunities, ultimately supporting safe lunar mobility and humanity’s exploration goals.

The lunar rover tyre project applies Bridgestone’s AirFree technology, an exploratory business under its 2024–2026 Mid Term Business Plan. By refining this technology in the extreme lunar environment, the company aims to eventually bring those innovations back to Earth, enhancing conventional tyres and contributing to broader social value.

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The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. is set to appear at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2026 in Hamburg, Germany, collaborating with its American sales arm, Yokohama Aerospace America, Inc. This premier trade fair, running from 14 April over three days at Hamburg Messe, will host over 450 exhibitors from around the globe, all showcasing cutting edge cabin products, materials and technological innovations.

Visitors to the Yokohama booth will encounter a full range of aircraft lavatory solutions, including a prototype unit designed for wheelchair access and retrofit kits intended for existing restrooms. Those kits bring touchless operation to flush switches and faucets, thereby boosting accessibility. By targeting plane makers, airlines and maintenance firms, the company hopes to strengthen sales of its interior offerings.

Yokohama Rubber ranks among Japan's foremost aerospace suppliers. Since the 1980s, it has produced and sold numerous commercial jet components like lightweight composite lavatory modules, potable water tanks, onboard stairways, thermal insulation and honeycomb panels. Having delivered roughly 17,000 lavatory modules for Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft, the firm continues to supply replacement parts for those units and also crafts custom-made components for airline retrofit projects.

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Petlas Tire Corporation has introduced the PtxMD51, an L-5 type tyre specifically engineered for underground mining loaders and trucks operating under severe service conditions. This new addition expands the company’s off-the-road product range to address the most demanding mining environments.

Built with an extra deep tread and an all-steel radial construction, this tyre excels where wear, impact and cut risks are consistently high. Its specially developed tread compound offers strong resistance to cuts and chips, while the reinforced structure, combining steel belts with a radial steel carcass, delivers high impact resistance under heavy loads and harsh operating conditions. A solid centre structure further boosts durability and resistance.

To maintain stability and traction, shoulder grooves are incorporated into the design, ensuring reliable performance in underground operations. With the PtxMD51, Petlas continues to strengthen its portfolio for high-risk, heavy-duty applications where durability, safety and cost efficiency remain essential priorities.

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