As the world pays tribute to Pele, let us take a look back at some of the F1 memories associated with the football legend
Do you remember the hilarious incident when Pele forgot to wave the chequered flag at an F1 race? Well, it happened at the 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix when the football icon was invited to wave the chequered flag at the finish line as a guest of honour. However, Pele missed the timing when the actual winner crossed the line and eventually waved it at ninth-place finisher Takuma Sato.
As things turned out, Pele’s mistake turned out to be harmless and F1 did sort things out, announcing Michael Schumacher as the race winner despite the fact that the chequered flag wasn’t waved at him. The rules at the time meant that Sato had technically won the race but thankfully, a bit of common sense prevailed and Schumacher was declared the winner. Michael finished on top of the podium, just managing to hold off his brother, Ralph, who finished in second place.
Football icon Pele passed away on December 29 at the age of 82 at the Albert Einstein hospital, Sao Paulo, in his home country of Brazil. He was suffering from persistent illness for a long time. In 2021, he had to undergo surgery to remove a tumour from his colon at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo and had to be readmitted last month. He passed away in the same hospital last night.
The hospital confirmed that Pele died “due to the failure of multiple organs, a result of the progression of colon cancer associated with his previous clinical condition”. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest sportspersons of all-time and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has declared three days of national mourning after his demise. A procession through the streets of Santos in Sao Paulo to a private family burial has been arranged in honour of the footballing icon and it will take place next week on Tuesday.
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