29/07/2025 14:45
At about half-distance of the 2000 German GP, as the world feed
followed Rubens Barrichello's pursuit of Pedro de la Rosa, there
was a blink and you'll miss it moment of: 'Is that a person on the
side of the track?' The cameras even continued to follow
Barrichello through the chicane on the old Hockenheim blast through
the forest, but quickly shifted to the man walking down the track
at the Ostkurve - out near the furthest place from the pits.
Understandably, the safety car was immediately deployed by race
control, as the man ran across the track to escape marshals trying
to move him. Mika Hakkinen was leading for McLaren, on a day he
had been presented a golden opportunity to leapfrog Michael
Schumacher in the standings, with the home favourite posting a
third straight DNF after a first-lap collision, leaving him just
eight points ahead of Hakkinen, with David Coulthard sandwiched
between. But then came the invasion, triggering a round of pit
stops. Article continues below. Robert Sehli The man who had
invaded the track was seen to be wearing a jacket with slogans in
French, but clearly directed towards Mercedes. It turned out he was
Robert Sehli, a 47-year-old Frenchman who had worked for Mercedes'
production facility at Le Mans for 22 years. The father-of-three
was apparently dismissed on health grounds, but felt the dismissal
was unfair, and unable to make any progress with Mercedes, decided
to protest. He was arrested and bailed the day after the race, but
Mercedes-Benz Motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug - about as
senior a figure of Mercedes' F1 operation as you could get at the
time - labelled Sehli's treatment by police "as a scandal." Sehli
apologised for his invasion, and ultimately was awarded 91,000
francs after a court found Mercedes had dismissed him with no
conclusive reasoning. Hockenheim fined him £600 for trespassing.
Emotional victory After the drama had unfolded, another factor was
thrown into the race: Rain. Leader Hakkinen decided to pit for wet
tyres, but Barrichello, who had started 18th following a poor
qualifying decided to stay out. It was not an easy decision to
pit, with the stadium section being hit by heavy rain, but the rest
of the track was dry, especially on the flat blasts through the
forest. It set up an intriguing charge, but Barrichello tip-toed
his way through the rain to record an emotional first F1 win,
7.452s clear of Hakkinen as Coulthard completed the podium.
Barrichello's win was the first for a Brazilian driver since Ayrton
Senna at the 1993 Australian GP, and first since Senna had been
killed at Imola in 1994 - the same weekend Barrichello suffered his
enormous accident on Friday. He would go on to win 11 grands prix
in total between 2000 and 2009, nine for Ferrari and two for
Brawn.
