FIA were forced to ban F1's 'worst driver' from racing mid-season after he caused horror crash

Japanese driver Yuji Ide is widely considered to be F1’s 'worst ever driver' as he endured an abysmal spell in the series which was only allowed to last for four Grand Prix.

Ide joined the Super Aguri team for their first-ever F1 season in 2006 after being somewhat impressive in Japan driving single-seaters.

The Japanese driver was instantly thrown into the deep end in Bahrain, where his qualifying lap was a staggering nine seconds behind Ferrari's pole-sitter Michael Schumacher.

Ide retired from the first two races of the season due to mechanical issues, before heading to Australia, where things deteriorated even more.

The rookie was once again monumentally off the pace in qualifying, 11 seconds slower than Jenson Button on pole, and four seconds off his teammate Takuma Sato.

During the race, Ide spun out on countless occasions and the following race in San Marino would prove to be the final straw.

At Imola, Ide attempted an overtake that would end his F1 career, as he flew down the inside of Christijan Albers at the same chicane Gilles Villeneuve lost his life.

The chicane is one of the fastest series of corners on the F1 calendar, so even Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen would perhaps think against a dive bomb move.

Ide's attempt sent Albers flying off the track in a barrel roll after clashing wheels, forcing the FIA to take immediate action and suspend his license.

Yuji Ide in action at Bahrain- Getty

Following his suspension, Super Aguri insisted Ide would potentially return to the grid and blamed the Japanese driver's lack of F1 experience for his performances.

Despite their original stance, team boss Aguri Suzuki eventually blamed Ide for his lack of knowledge and explained the language barrier was a major issue.

Speaking to F1 Racing magazine, he said: “It was extremely difficult for him.

"He didn't know the circuits; he'd run just 200km in an F1 car before Bahrain - that was really tough.

"He didn't know how to drive an F1 car. He didn't know how to load up the tires. He still needs to practice and study. But we're working on that."

"I hope he'll learn from Takuma [Sato] as well as his race engineer because he doesn't speak English (at all).

On the pit-to-car radio, I had to translate. That was very awkward for him and his race engineer. In the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, I had to ask, 'Yuji, what do you need now?' And, because he's so inexperienced in F1, even I found his answers, given in Japanese, hard to understand," he added.