His Father, Who Art in the Pitlane

It's a nightmare no one wants to have.

Imagine you are leading a car race by miles, and look certain to extend your lead in the championship.

Then with the win literally in sight, your teammate, a 20-year-old hothead, comes out of nowhere and collides with you. While you are lucky enough to survive the crash to continue, your car has sustained damage which makes it simply undriveable. You literally have to limp home and are overtaken by your main rival, who takes over the championship lead as a result.

Now if that is not bad enough, how about this? You simply can't vent your anger at that hothead. You just dare not touch, spank, hit or even yell at him.

Because he isn't just any no-name driver.

He is also the son of your team boss.

And spanking is best reserved for his father at home.

Dario Franchitti (also known as the husband of Hollywood star Ashley Judd) was looking to extend his minimal lead in the Indy Car Series at the Infineon Raceway with around 10 laps to go when teammate Marco Andretti, son of team boss Michael, exited the pitlane and refused to give way at the tight and twisty first and second corners. Franchitti had nowhere to go and could only slam the brake hard, and the resulting collision sent Marco out of the race.

Although Franchitti was able to continue, his front wing was damaged and he was never able to regain his pre-collision pace. Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves both overtook him, but thanks to the unselfish team play by his two other teammates Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick, Franchitti was able to hang on to third place, but the brouhaha has cost him the lead in the championship to Dixon.

Next time you sign up for a team, Dario, remember to check whether the owner's son will be your teammate first.