Germany's Sebastian Vettel saw his aspirations to be the youngest ever winner of three consecutive World Championships go down in flames when he locked himself out of his car on the starting grid. Vettel had been seated in his car, ready to go, when a last minute rethink of an earlier decision to drive in sandals prompted him to get out and change, slamming the door with the keys inside.
Armed with coat hangars, Vettel's pit crew valiantly tried to prise the vehicle open, but gave up after the third crew member was fatally struck by a passing racer.
Vettel's gaffe joins the list of the great professional racing bloopers, alongside Ayrton Senna getting halfway through the Monaco Grand Prix before remembering to take the handbrake off, Alain Prost begging other drivers to give him a jumpstart on the grid after having left his headlights on all night and Nigel Mansell mistakenly registering for the Tour De France. But perhaps the most memorable error in professional racing still remains Michael Schumacher's wife taking his car to the shops, leaving the German giant to attempt the circuit in her Ford Focus.
