My biggest bust-ups with sports stars REVEALED: F1 driver who pinned me against a wall, Man United star who called me a ‘fat p****’ and X-rated comment Fergie didn’t realise was picked up, writes OLIVER HOLT

The full-scale argument I had with Tyson Fury in 2015 was probably the most notable argument I’ve had with an athlete.

But there were others too. Controversies have always been part of the back-and-forth of sports journalism, and although they are less common now (as personal interactions become less common and more barriers are placed between sports stars and journalists) they often lead to better understanding.

From shouting a match in the mixed area at Wembley to being berated on Bernie Ecclestone’s bus, here are some of the biggest crimes I’ve been a part of…

1.Jean Alesi

When I was a reporter on the Formula 1 circuit in the 1990s, Jean Alesi was known as the most irascible of the grand prix drivers. He was a charming man, but he did not suffer fools gladly. Therefore, I stepped in at this point.

Alesi, who was then racing for Ferrari, had begun dating a famous Japanese actress named Kumiko Goto, and during preparations for the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix, three separate sources, including a respected Japanese journalist, told me that he was banned from the team garage because he was seen as a distraction.

I wrote the story and it was published the day before the race. It was prominently displayed in the newspaper. That Saturday morning, I walked pit lane with a friend and colleague and passed the Ferrari garage to find the larger-than-life Kumiko smiling and happy with the rest of the team.

Alesi was the most easily angered of the drivers. He was a charming man, but he did not suffer fools gladly. That’s why I came here too

Alesi leaned me against the wall and said he had been waiting for this moment for years.

My friend saw the horrified look on my face and doubled over with laughter. It took him a while to gather himself. I continued walking.

After that, I gave Alesi wide berth for a long time. Like a coward, I stayed away from him for a few years. Later, when he moved to Benetton, I was offered an interview with him during testing at Silverstone.

By then I thought he had probably forgotten my inaccurate story from Monaco. He and Kumiko were married at the time. They are still married and currently have three children. We did the interview and he was professional, courteous, even friendly. I’m relieved.

But as I was getting ready to leave and the PR people were walking away, he appeared next to me and pinned me against the wall. He said he had been waiting for this moment for years.

He appeared right in front of me. He looked like he was ready to lose her. He said he had no idea how much trouble the story about his girlfriend was causing him. And that. He was a star in his own right, and this triggered a feeding frenzy in Japan that he had to fend off.

Of course, I apologized to him, which I should have done much earlier. He accepted her apology and walked away.

2.Rio Ferdinand

I don’t want to spoil it before it gets started, but I’ve always been a fan of Rio Ferdinand, both as a player and as a person. And I still am. He was a good analyst for BT Sport and now does interviews setting his own agenda.

However, there was a brief interruption in our intimate relationship in 2003 when he missed a drug test.

Rio Ferdinand and I got involved in a shouting match in the mixed zone after a match in England.

Our intimate relationship… has been suspended for nearly eight years

When I say ‘short’ it was probably about eight years, and when I mentioned it in 2011 he lost his patience and sent me a direct message on Twitter that started with the greeting ‘You fat bastard…’

I wrote about it and it made Rio even more angry because she thought the direct message was supposed to be a secret communication. He said if I had something to say to him, I should say it to his face.

After England’s next match against Switzerland at Wembley, I spoke to him in the mixed area and the match turned into a shouting match.

It wasn’t my finest hour, but at that time it was more normal and, in my opinion, healthier for journalists and players to be able to exchange views. And it provided my colleagues with a few minutes of good entertainment.

3. Sir Alex Ferguson

When Manchester United arrived in Lisbon to play Benfica at the Stadium of Light in December 2005, they were going through a rare fallow period under Sir Alex Ferguson. In order to advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League, they had to beat Benfica in the last group match.

The pre-match press conference was in a large conference hall in the Portuguese capital the day before the game, and from the safe seat at the back I grabbed the microphone and asked Sir Alex if he was worried his job would be in jeopardy if United lost.

I asked Sir Alex Ferguson if he was worried his job would be at risk if United lost…

He took exception to the question and used colorful language to explain what he thought of me.

Ferguson was no stranger to arguments with the press

“Next question,” Ferguson said. I asked the same question again. “Next question,” Sir Alex said again, a little more firmly this time. The contestant moved on, and Ferguson muttered something to his assistant Carlos Queiroz, who was sitting next to him on the podium.

Later, some people on TV came and said that their microphones were recording what Fergie said to Queiroz after my questions.

They were smiling widely. They wanted to tell me. ‘There are some bloody bastards here today,’ Sir Alex said.

There was really no coming back from that, although it was pretty tame compared to some of the conversations I had with colleagues working in Manchester.

4.Max Mosley

The 1994 season was a turbulent year in Formula 1. Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna died at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, and Karl Wendlinger was seriously injured in the next race in Monaco.

Before the next race in Barcelona, ​​FIA president Max Mosley tried to make sweeping changes to improve safety, and some teams rebelled against him. My report disparaged a line from The Clash. I wrote, ‘Teams fought against the law and teams won.’

I went out that night and by the time I got to the track the next morning I was feeling pretty fragile. I had only been at my desk for a few minutes when the FIA ​​press representative came up to me and said: ‘Bernie wants to see you on his bus.’

At that stage I had only been doing this for a year. Bernie Ecclestone had a fearsome reputation as a man who ruled by fear. My hangover suddenly started feeling much worse.

Bernie rode in a gray bus with blacked-out windows that was always parked in a conspicuous place in the paddock, and the stories were a litany of the terrible dressing-down he was subjected to by those he encountered on that bus.

Max Mosley (centre) and Bernie Ecclestone (right) talk to ATS team principal Günther Schmid in 1980. F1 president Ecclestone had a fearsome reputation as a man who ruled by fear.

Mosley had a sharp forensic mind. He explained to me in extremely cold detail how fundamentally flawed my work was.

I had never met him at that point. I had never spoken to Mosley either. I went to Bernie’s bus and knocked on the door. He opened it. I introduced myself. He was angry. ‘What is this nonsense you wrote in your newspaper?’ he said.

I managed to make a stopping statement. But Bernie wasn’t really listening. He thrust the telephone receiver into my hand. ‘Anyway,’ he said, ‘I’ve got Max on the phone. He is very angry with you. ‘You’d better explain this to him.’

Things haven’t gotten much better. Mosley had a sharp forensic mind. He told me in extremely cold detail how fundamentally flawed my report was, how appalled he was, how he was going to talk to people who were his friends at the highest levels of the paper, and how I was now on a very tenuous balance with him and F1 officials.

When he finished, I must have looked a few shades paler than I did when I got on that bus. I handed the phone back to Bernie, who was grinning widely at this point. “You’ll be fine, man,” he said. This turned out to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.