The line between reckless and dangerous driving

 Alain Proust

Most F1 ans would recall the battles between Alain Proust, and Ayrton Senna, I recall an incident which to me defines the difference between reckless driving, and dangerous driving.

I can't recall when, or where it happened, only the incident.

Proust's Renault team-mate, Rene Arnoux was leading the race, so, Proust should have followed team orders, protect Rene from being overtaken. However, Proust was NOT a team player. In FI, as in most team sports there are two championships, team, and individual.

Proust never agreed to the team concept, he wanted to be top man all the time. and this incident almost cost him not only his life, but the life of the other driver.

Arnoux was on the outside of a sharp left-handed bend accelerating to traverse the camber - the correct position - when from out-of-nowhere - he was blind-sided by Proust taking the inside line. This meant Proust needed to be lot slower, and Arnoux had nowhere to go as his team-mate died under his car. The result was Rene's car got flipped, and wrecked; he walked away; Proust had his front wing destroyed.

My reaction to tihs action would be simple, I would have said, "The only reason you are in the team is because it's too expensive for us to buy you out. From the end of the season, your contract is terminated."

Wreckless is when stupid doesn't put lives at risk, dangerous is when stupid puts lives at risk as Prousts actions did in this race.