Jacques Villeneuve – 1997
World champions are definitely not immune to race bans, as several drivers on this list can attest to. Despite winning the title in 1997, Villeneuve also suffered a race ban in the same season that threw his victory chances into jeopardy.
Heading into the Japanese Grand Prix, the Canadian needed to take just one point off his rival Michael Schumacher in order to secure the championship, having outscored him by 20 points to one over the previous two races.
Accelerating out of Spoon Curve during a practice session, Villeneuve failed to slow for the yellow flags that were to alert the drivers to Jos Verstappen’s stranded car. He was not the only one, as five others including Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello also ignored the warnings, leading to all of them being handed a suspended race ban.
But as the Williams racer had already committed the same offence on three earlier occasions, his ban was brought forward to the next event, which happened to be the Suzuka race held the following day.
His team lodged an appeal and, with no time to organise a hearing, Villeneuve was permitted to take part despite being banned, going on to finish in fifth place. The FIA finally rejected the appeal nine days later, erasing the two championship points that he gained in the race.