If the lasting impression of your Formula 1 career involves being ironically struck by the safety car, it’s fair to conclude there wasn’t much else worth celebrating on the circuit. To Taki Inoue’s credit, he openly acknowledges that he is likely the most inadequate driver ever to have competed in the sport.
The Japanese driver made 18 appearances in F1 across two seasons and, predictably, failed to secure a single championship point during that period. He managed to complete just five of those races. After making his debut with a solitary outing for Simtek in 1994, his sole complete season came the following year, driving for the British Footwork Arrows squad.
The only reason he secured that position was that the team was strapped for cash, and Inoue, a self-acknowledged pay driver, could supply a considerable sum.
« Every single driver is a sort of pay driver, » he remarked during a Top Gear interview. « [Michael] Schumacher, [Fernando] Alonso. Yes, Alonso gets a driving fee, but how much [did] Santander pay to Ferrari? What I did was the same. The only difference is that I was not good enough to drive in F1. »
Inoue resides in Monaco – the location of one of two incidents from that 1995 campaign by which the 59-year-old’s F1 career is remembered.
He was seated in his vehicle being transported back to the pits during qualifying, following a mechanical failure, when he was struck by the safety car, causing his own machine to overturn. His helmet was severely damaged, so it was fortunate that he had remembered to put it back on just before.
Thankfully, Inoue himself was unharmed and was able to compete the next day. More than half of the competitors failed to finish the Grand Prix, including the Japanese driver who encountered a gearbox problem.
However, a couple of months later, he wasn’t quite as lucky when a second, even more notorious incident involving him occurred. His engine ignited during the Hungarian Grand Prix, prompting him to pull over to the side of the track and signal for assistance from the marshals.
So far, so standard.
But what transpired next is frequently featured in compilations of F1’s most bizarre incidents on YouTube. Apparently unsatisfied with the quick spray of foam on his car, Inoue climbed out of his vehicle and ran to fetch an extinguisher himself, before returning to his car.
The error he made was not checking his surroundings. In his rush, he walked straight into the path of the safety car, which had driven across the grass to assist.
It struck his legs forcefully, catapulting him onto the bonnet. Initially, he landed on his feet, but after a few moments, he collapsed to the ground in agony.
« Bang! Someone hits me very hard, » Inoue recounted the incident. « But I landed on my feet, very good, perfect landing – I think nine-point-nine-nine. »
After making that quip, he then clarified why there was a delay in getting him medical attention despite the severe pain in his leg.
He explained: « I expect the helicopter to take me to hospital, but Charlie [Whiting, F1 race director at the time] comes in and says, ‘Sorry Taki, we can’t use the helicopter, otherwise we stop the GP. You wait until the finish, another hour. »
Once he was finally transported to hospital, he recalls being pressed for payment before receiving any treatment.
Inoue went on: « I expect immediately they are checking out my bone, that everything is okay. But they say, ‘Taki, we want your credit card.’ I say, ‘What? Credit card? I don’t have it!’ I am still in my race suit! But they want to be paid first, otherwise they won’t help me. I say, ‘Come on, I’m very painful.’ Another half an hour, big negotiation. I didn’t pay. For two years, they keep sending invoice to me in Monaco. »
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