In sport, great victories and moments of pure genius can be toppled by sheer incompetence, idiocy or outrage.

Take England’s disastrous football World Cup exit in South Africa in June with Frank Lampard’s wrongly disallowed goal which in some quarters overshadowed Germany’s emphatic  4-1 winning performance and England’s deficiencies.

Or perhaps last October’s revelations by tennis’ Andre Agassi admitting to recreational drug use and lying about taking crystal meth in 1997 to escape a drugs ban.

Since then the reputation of the eight-times Grand Slam winner has been overshadowed by the controversy and a deteriorating relationship between himself and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

But neither of these controversies, no matter how blatantly naive are comparable to dangerous behaviour. Or, are they comparable to putting fellow sportsman’s lives at risk.

At the Hungaroring in the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest though this afternoon (Sunday), seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher typified his erratic and desperate season with a near catastrophic move performed on former Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

Schumacher, entering the pit straight only five laps from the end of the race ran his Mercedes slightly wide with Barrichello’s Williams just tenths of a second behind him.

Both cars were travelling near 180mph approaching the end of the straight when Schumacher decided to place his car in the middle of the track and forcing Barrichello who was poised to overtake the German, in to overtaking him on the left-hand side.

However with Barrichello fully aware of not wanting to overtake on the outside line, he opted to dart to the right with enough room for a manoeuvre to be made.

Schumacher though, rather than allowing the Brazilian space once he pulled alongside the Mercedes, decided to force Barrichello towards the concrete wall with minimal room whereby Rubens narrowly escaped being dragged into the concrete pit wall and avoided a potentially disastrous accident while trying to pass Schumacher and not lifting off the throttle pedal.

Barrichello subsequently passed Schumacher at the end of the straight during Turn 1 and secured a solitary world championship point finishing 10th. The 38 year old though was left stunned at the German’s move immediately after the race.

He told BBC Sport: “What we want from racing is to be fair and to have battles, you should choose a line and that’s it.

“It was close, close, a bit too close, but fortunately the wall ended there and I could get past.”

Schumacher defended his actions and refused to accept he was at fault for the incident.

He said: “I was making it obvious to him to go on the other side, there was more room there, but he chose not to.

“We know certain drivers have their views, and there’s Rubens. As a driver you have the ability to change line, and that’s what I was trying to do.”

Although Schumacher’s defence was partially correct with him leaving a car’s width for the Williams-Cosworth to be able to move round the outside of the former Ferrari and Benetton driver, the stewards failed to appreciate his dangerous driving and handed him a 10 place grid penalty for the next race at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium.

While his team principal Ross Brawn and vice-president of Mercedes motorsport, Norbert Haug defended Schumacher’s behaviour, former Renault driver and Formula One steward Alex Wurz critcised Schumacher describing his actions as “far over the line of any sporting code.”

Essentially, Wurz and many others to criticise Schumacher are right.

It is not the first time in this embarrassing and erratic season that Schumacher has made ridiculous moves.

In the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal he nearly collided with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari near the pit lane entrance and practically drove Robert Kubica’s Renault off the track beforehand.

What is stunning is that a driver of such raw talent, pace and racecraft with a keen eye for strategic nous is now making such costly mistakes.

Schumacher is no stranger to petulant behaviour – in 1994 he awkwardly collided with main rival Damon Hill at the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide and profited with a world drivers title despite him and Hill retiring and in 1997 he was disqualified from the world drivers title after colliding with eventual champion Jacques Villeneuve in Jerez – with his aggressive driving style and will to win sometimes producing a questionable character which undermines his astonishing motorsport career.

Schumacher is the only driver in Formula One history to be disqualified from a world championship and you can see why. However in those days Schumacher’s manoeuvres and incidents – although desperate – were accepted as being part of his winning mentality and often not in such dangerous circumstances.

At Hungary however, Schumacher allowed his bitterness with the Brazilian, Barrichello, to surface in wayward circumstances.

The two had fallen out through team orders rows while at Ferrari – most notably in Austria in 2002 where Barrichello was forced to allow Schumacher through on the final lap for a race victory – with both drivers making their feelings known last year to the world’s press about their fractured relationship.

Tensions materialised today but Schumacher’s actions highlighted his apparent vulnerability.

Schumacher’s comeback season in Formula One has lead to no race victories, no podiums and just 38 points in the world drivers championship while being successfully eclipsed in performance and points by 25 year old team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Such a squalid return presents a problem for both Schumacher and Mercedes. Schumacher’s sponsorship revenue is a key asset for Mercedes while his technical understanding and reputation ensure he is still a worthy part of any team.

But with Schumacher’s meagre qualifying and race pace whereby he is now near to causing almost disastrous accidents in both Canada and today in Hungary, he and Mercedes must evaluate where his future lies and how they can alter his appalling driving manner.

Today (Sunday) was fortunate for not only Barrichello but any race marshals, spectators or drivers returning from the pit lane exit to the track who could have been victim to the potential collision.

Meanwhile, Schumacher’s denial of wrongdoing in the incident only helps to fuel his recent dubious reputation.

If Schumacher is to succeed he needs to fully focus on returning to the great driver who won his first ever race in an under-performing Jordan car at Belgium in 1992 and proceeded to become the most successful driver in Formula One history with seven world drivers championships – five consecutive titles for Ferrari and two for Benetton – and 91 race wins to his name.

Otherwise with Schumacher’s increasingly hopeless performances and questionable driving tactics, he no longer has a place in a sport where he is beginning to lose acclaim and dignity; of which the latter some have doubted he has ever possessed.

In 1992 Schumacher took an unreliable Jordan-Ford to winning glory as a young, naive 22 year old upstart.

At 40 years old, Schumacher, a shadow of his former self, took a superior Mercedes to 11th place in Hungary while nearly causing an almost unforgivable accident with a former team-mate.

Perhaps Schumacher’s age, ability and aggression need to be addressed if he is to continue in a sport which he once graced.

Now Schumacher sadly appears to just outrage and compromise others’ safety with fellow drivers and motorsport members’ welfare seemingly irrelevant.

Whatever the reason for Schumacher’s decline, the three week mid-season break is an overdue one for him to have a much needed talk with his team about exactly how he intends to continue amidst his rapidly falling empire.