With Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg fighting for the title this season, and with them coming to blows a couple of times, how does their intra-team rivalry stack up alongside some of the great rivalries of yesteryear?
Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost (McLaren) 1988-1989
Alain Prost, four time world champion, had joined McLaren in 1984 and was settled into the team when McLaren boss Ron Dennis signed young Brazilian Ayrton Senna in 1988. Senna had demonstrated his pace for both Toleman and Lotus prior to joining the Woking team. 1988 saw tensions rise between the drivers, with McLaren winning all but one of the Grands Prix that season. Senna took his maiden title, but Prost hadn't made it easy for him.
1989 would be the season which saw a psychlogical war, which culminated in a collision at the Japanese Grand Prix, Senna tried an overtake on the way into the final chicane, only for Prost to turn into him and take them both off the track. Senna rejoined he track but was subsequently disqualified, meaning Prost took his third title. The Frenchman left for Ferrari in 1990. The ironic thing is that Prost was the man who recommended Senna to Dennis to sign him.
Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi (Ferrari) 1981-1982
Canadian Gilles Villeneuve was a Ferrari stalwart by the time Didier Pironi joined the team in 1981. In his short career, Villeneuve spent five seasons at Maranello, in 1979 he missed out on the title by four points to team mate Jody Scheckter, but his rivalry with Pironi is well documented on one rather controversial race...
Villeneuve welcomed Pironi at Ferrari, he treated him as an equal, not an inferior driver, as many believed he was. But at the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, things changed. Ferrari were so dominant that they were told to slow down and save fuel, with Villeneuve in 1st and Pironi in 2nd, it was an apparent one-two for Ferrari, but Villeneuve believed this also meant Pironi would stay behind him to the flag.
Pironi overtook the Canadian rather aggressively on the final corner, sweeping in front of him and almost taking both of them off the track, Pironi won the race, but in the aftermath Villeneuve vowed he'd never speak to Pironi again, and he didn't, as Villeneuve tragically died in practice for the next Grand Prix at Zolder two weeks after the events of Imola.
Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet (Williams) 1986-1987
Two of the 80's Formula One heroes, Mansell and Piquet spent two years as team mates, but never got on. Piquet was once quoted as calling Mansell an 'uneducated blockhead', also supposedly making derogatory comments about the Brit's wife. Both were fighting for the 1986 World Title, but Mansell's spectacular blowout at the final race of the season at Adelaide meant neither he nor Piquet won the title, with the slower McLaren of Alain Prost winning the championship. Piquet left for Lotus in 1988, while Mansell stayed on and won the 1992 world title.
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber (Red Bull) 2009-2013
Mark Webber was already established at Red Bull, but the arrival of young German Vettel meant a miserable few seasons in F1 for Webber. Before they were even team mates, Vettel had tangled with Webber, with the German taking out Webber at the 2007 Japanese GP, costing both drivers podiums.
Two significant accidents sum up Vettel and Webber's partnership, the first being the 2010 Turkish GP. Vettel tried to overtake Webber but only succeeded in crashing into him (again). Neither driver accepted responsibility but many assume it was Vettel who should have taken the blame. Secondly at the 2013 Malaysian GP. Webber was en route for the win, but Vettel decided to ignore team orders, and overtook Webber to win the race. Now famous pictures of an angry Webber exclaiming 'Multi-21' (the team order issued to Vettel) to the German. Webber retired at the end of the season.
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2013-Present
This season has seen a sudden turn of pace for Mercedes, also accrediting to this success is the apparent downfall of Red Bull, who've had a stranglehold on Formula One since 2010. Hamilton and Rosberg can both win the 2014 title, and some scuffles this season, such as the Grands Prix at Monaco and Belgium.
Monaco saw Rosberg park his car on the slip road leading to Mirebeau, claiming he lost control under breaking, Hamilton and his fans claim he did it on purpose and this provoked the now infamous 'we're not friends' quote from the Brit. Belgium saw the team mates collide, with Rosberg hitting Hamilton and giving him a puncture. Rosberg came out afterwards aaying he'd meant to do it and team communications have been frosty between the pair ever since.