This day in Formula 1 History...

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

October 30th:

1988 - Ayrton Senna put in a great drive in changeable conditions to win the Japanese Grand Prix for McLaren. He had stalled at the start and fell from pole to 14th, but by lap 27 he caught and passed Alain Prost (who struggled with backmarkers and gearbox issues) and went on to win. Alain Prost was no match for Senna in those conditions, but he held on to second to complete a McLaren 1-2. Thierry Boutsen came from 10th on the grid to complete the podium for Benetton. With his 14th career win Senna secured his first World Championship with one race to spare.

2011 - Sebastian Vettel led every lap on his way to his first "Grand Chelem" at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. Jenson Button jumped from 5th to 2nd on the first lap and finished there for McLaren. Fernando Alonso jumped Mark Webber on the second pit stop and finished in 3rd for Ferrari. This race also saw round 5 of Hamilton vs Massa. Hamilton tried to pass Massa on the inside, but Massa shut the door. Result: Hamilton pitted for repairs, Massa got a drive through. Sebastian Vettel got his 21st career win. Meanwhile, Jaime Alguersuari finished in 8th for Scuderia Torro-Rosso and scored his last points. The whole meeting was a sad occasion, because it was the first race after the tragic death's of Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli in previous weeks.

Thanks for taking your time to read this.

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

October 31st:

1999 - Mika Hakkinen took the lead from pole-sitter Michael Schumacher and went on to win Japanese Grand Prix for McLaren. M.Schumacher was never really in contention for the win, especially after being held up by lapped David Coulthard (McLaren) and finished in 2nd. Championship leader Eddie Irvine crashed in qualifying, started fifth and eventually had to settle only for 3rd after his race long rival David Coulthard spun off and lost his front wing. This result meant that Hakkinen gained 6 points on Irvine and eventually beat him by only 2 points in the standings. So, Mika Hakkinen got his 14th career win and his 2nd WDC. Meanwhile, Coulthard's crash and a 2-3 result for Ferrari enabled them to hold on to the constructors crown by 4 points from McLaren. This was also the last race of 96' champion Damon Hill in his Jordan. He withdrew in the middle of the race.


November 1st:

1987 - Gerhard Berger easily won Japanese Grand Prix for Ferrari. His only real challenger Alain Prost (McLaren) suffered a puncture on the first lap. Stefan Johansson (McLaren) moved up to 2nd after Thierry Boutsen in his Benetton faded away, only to be passed by Ayrton Senna (Lotus) on the last lap. Meanwhile, Nelson Piquet (Williams) won the drivers championship, despite not finishing due to engine failure. He became world champion even before the race began after his main championship rival Nigel Mansell had this crash in qualifying and was unfit to start...

So... Gerhard Berger got his 2nd career win, while Nelson Piquet secured his 3rd and last WDC with one race remaining.

1998 - Mika Hakkinen won the final race of the season - Japanese Grand Prix after pole-sitter and his championship rival Michael Schumacher had a big slice of bad luck. The first start was aborted after Jarno Trulli (Prost) stalled on the grid. The second start decided the championship as this time it was Michael Schumacher that stalled and was demoted to the back of the grid. Afterwards, he fought back to 3rd with a great strategy, but he was still far away from Hakkinen, whom he needed to beat to win the championship. Then he suffered even more bad luck as ran over debris and suffered a puncture. Eddie Irvine tried to help Schumacher with his title fight early on, but he was no match for Hakkinen and had to settle for 2nd in his Ferrari. David Coulthard completed the podium in his McLaren. This was Mika Hakkinen's 9th career win and his maiden world championship.

2009 - Sebastian Vettel won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after leapfrogging pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) during the first pit-stops. Lewis Hamilton then suffered a brake problem which elevated Mark Webber in to 2nd place and completed a Red Bull Racing 1-2. World champion Jenson Button pushed Webber hard for that second place in the final laps, but eventually settled for 3rd in his Brawn.
This was Vettel's 5th career win in what was the last race of the season. Meanwhile, 6th placed Kamui Kobayashi scored his first career points in only his second ever start, driving for Toyota. His team-mate Jarno Trulli finished in 7th and scored his last career points. Trulli also became the last driver to date to have had a refueling stop.

Hope you enjoyed the ride and thanks for taking your time to read this.

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

November 2nd:

2008 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari) won his home Brazilian Grand Prix from pole position and also took the fastest lap honors. He done everything he could to overhaul the 7 point lead that Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) had coming into the race. Hamilton, who needed at least 5th place was fourth for most of the way. Then the race was turned on it's head as light rain began to fall. All of the leaders pitted, but Timo Glock (Toyota) chose to stay out. This dropped Hamilton to 5th, which still would have been enough. Then, yet more drama developed as Hamilton ran wide and dropped to 6th, letting Sebastian Vettel (Torro Rosso) go through. Hamilton tried to fight him, but failed. It seemed that everything is over for him, but then Timo Glock just couldn't handle the slicks on the damp track anymore...

And Lewis Hamilton became champion, insane... This was Felipe Massa's 11th career win and still his last win to date. Fernando Alonso came from 6th on the grid to finish in 2nd for Renault. Kimi Raikkonen completed the podium for Ferrari. Ferrari failed to get the WDC, but easily won the constructors championship as a consolation. Meanwhile, David Coulthard had his 246th and last ever start. His last race ended on the first lap after colliding with both Williams'es.

November 3rd:

1968 - Graham Hill (Lotus) came from third on the grid to take an easy win at the Mexican Grand Prix. He also took the title as he easily held on to the lead in the championship, while his title rivals struggled: Jackie Stewart (driving for Matra, needed to win or to finish in top 4 with other results falling his way) made no grid progress whatsoever and finished in 7th, a lap down and outside the points. Hill's other championship rival Denny Hulme (McLaren, needed to win with Hill 4th or lower) retired early with a suspension failure. Bruce McLaren came 2nd in the race over a minute down. Jackie Oliver came from 14th on the grid and got his first career podium, driving for Lotus. This was Graham Hill's 13th career win and 2nd and last WDC. Meanwhile, Jo Bonnier finished in 5th for Honda and scored his last ever points.

1985 - Keke Rosberg came from third on the grid and just dominated Australian Grand Prix, while others struggled to finish (only 8 of 25 drivers did so). Jacques Laffite (Ligier) came from 20th (!) on the grid, survived his team-mate's pathetic attempt to pass him on the penultimate lap and finished in 2nd. Phillipe Streiff (from 18th on the grid) was the author of this attempt which left him limping on three wheels, but nevertheless he still finished in 3rd and not even a lap down. So, Keke Rosberg ended the season on a high, scoring his 5th and last career win. He also moved up to third in the final championship standings as a result of Ayrton Senna's failure to finish (Senna in his Lotus battled with Rosberg for the lead, but retired with an engine failure late in the race). For Phillipe Streiff this was his only ever podium. Also in this race, Ivan Capelli finished in 4th for Tyrrell and scored his first career points.

1991 - Ayrton Senna won Australian Grand Prix for McLaren in what was probably the shortest ever Formula One race. The race started in torrential downpour and was eventually red-flagged and abandoned after just 13 laps, because of the conditions. Nigel Mansell (Williams) pushed Senna hard for the lead, but because of the shear amount of accidents and yellow flags he had no chance to put a move in and settled for 2nd in his Williams. Gerhard Berger was also passed by Mansell eventually settled for 3rd on countback despite having spun out twice. By the way, Mansell also crashed before the red flag, got injured and was unable to attend the podium ceremony. This was Senna's 33rd career win. Meanwhile, Nelson Piquet (Benetton) got a 4th place in what was his last ever race, while 6th placed Gianni Morbidelli (Ferrari) scored his first career point (well, half a point in fact).

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the ride...

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

November 4th:

1962 - Jim Clark and Trevor Taylor won the non-championship 1st Mexican Grand Prix driving for Lotus after Jim Clark put in a stunning drive. Clark was the pole sitter, but suffered a flat battery so he had to be push started. Stewards decided that the push start was illegal (despite being executed by race officials ) and black flagged him. Then, at the pit stop, Clark took Trevor Taylor's car which was 3rd at the time, about a minute down on the leader. After taking the car Jim Clark drove superbly, clawed back a minute deficit and eventually he won it by a minute . Jack Brabham came from 7th on the grid, but he was no match for Jim so he finished in 2nd. Innes Ireland (Lotus) was the first car a lap down in 3rd. This race was so successful that it became a world championship event the following year. This was also the last time a win was shared between two drivers.

1990 - Nelson Piquet won the final race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix after pole-sitter and run away leader Ayrton Senna (90' world champion in a McLaren) retired late in the race with gearbox trouble. Nigel Mansell pushed Piquet hard and even had a lunge at him, but eventually he had to settle for 2nd in his Ferrari. Alain Prost drove a dull race, benefited from Senna's retirement and Gerhard Berger's driving error and finished in 3rd, also for Ferrari. This was Nelson Piquet's 22nd career win which also helped him to snatch 3rd place in the championship on countback from Gerhard Berger.

2012 - Kimi Raikkonen came from 4th on the grid and won Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after pole-sitter and early leader Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) was forced to retire with fuel pressure problems. Fernando Alonso came from 6th on the grid, benefited from the retirement of Hamilton and put in a stunning late race charge and finished less then a second behind in 2nd for Ferrari. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) was excluded from 3rd place in qualifying because he had not enough fuel to come back to the pits, so he started from the pit lane. Then he had two big slices of safety car luck which helped him to catch up with the field on two occasions and also gave him a strategic advantage. So despite starting last from the pit lane and losing his front wing in the battle for minor positions he recovered to 3rd and now has a 10 point lead over Alonso in the standings. This was Kimi Raikkonen's 19th career win and also Lotus/Renault first win since 2008 Japanese Grand Prix.

November 5th:

1989 - Thierry Boutsen won the last race of the season at Australian Grand Prix in appalling conditions after pole-sitter and long time race leader Ayrton Senna (McLaren) ran into the back of a lap down car of Martin Brundle (Brabham). Boutsen also benefited from a withdrawal of 89' champion Alain Prost (McLaren) who opted not to participate in the second attempt at the start and also from a long string of off track excursions and retirements. Alessandro Nannini (Benetton) snatched 2nd place from Riccardo Patrese late in the race denying a Williams 1-2. The race which saw only 8 of 26 cars finish didn't go the full distance as it was stopped due to 2 hour limit with 11 laps to go. This was Thierry Boutsen's 2nd career win. Meanwhile, Emanuele Pirro finished in 5th for Benetton and scored his first career points and also Ivan Capelli had his 50th GP. He retired early with radiator issue in his March.

Thanks for reading, sorry for falling behind and I hope you enjoyed it.

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

November 6th:

1994 - Damon Hill (Williams-Renault) won a two-part Japanese Grand Prix on aggregate. The race was held under torrential rain in Suzuka. World championship leader Michael Schumacher (Benetton) was leading from pole position until lap 13 when Martin Brundle (McLaren) went off the circuit and hit the marshal who was removing Gianni Morbidelli's abandoned Footwork that went off at the same spot earlier. Marshal suffered a broken leg and the race was immediately reg flagged. After the restart it was Hill that drove away from the field. He beat Schumacher to the line by 10,1 seconds and overturned Michael's 6,8 second lead that he had before the red-flag in to a victory by 3,3 seconds. Jean Alesi came from 7th on the grid and completed the podium for Ferrari. After this race Michael Schumacher still led the world championship, but now only by a single point from Damon Hill going into the final race of the season. This was Hill's 9th career win. By the way, this is still the last race to date to have used an aggregate score.

November 7th:

1993 - Ayrton Senna dominated on his way to victory at the Australian Grand Prix, driving in his last race for McLaren before moving to Williams the following year. The only time he lost the lead was at the pit stops. 93' world champion Alain Prost and his Williams team-mate Damon Hill completed the podium after their challenger Michael Schumacher (Benetton) retired with an engine failure. This was a legendary podium because this was the last time both of the arch rivals in the past, Senna and Prost, stood on the podium. This was Ayrton Senna's 41st and last career win. For retiring Alain Prost this was his 106th podium, while for his team-mate Damon Hill this was his 10th career podium.

2010 - Sebastian Vettel won Brazilian Grand Prix for Red Bull Racing after passing a surprise first time pole-sitter Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) early on. Mark Webber, who was a more likely WDC challenger to Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), was not waved by and had to settle for second, completing a Red Bull 1-2. Fernando Alonso completed the podium, minimizing his loses. There was now a 4-way battle for the world championship going into the last race of the season with Fernando Alonso leading (Ferrari, 246 points), Mark Webber in 2nd (Red Bull Racing, 238 points), Sebastian Vettel in 3rd (Red Bull Racing, 231 points) and Lewis Hamilton (4th place in the race by the way and a very outside bet in a McLaren, 222 points) still with a shot at the title with 25 points left on the table. This was Vettel's 9th career win.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

Finally found some time to write... So, here we go.

November 8th:

1992 - Gerhard Berger, driving for McLaren, won the final race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix. Nigel Mansell was the pole sitter for race and led early on. Then Ayrton Senna caught him and challenged him for the lead. Result: both retired from the race, while Riccardo Patrese inherited the lead. His spell at the lead was then cut short by an engine failure in his Williams. This enabled Berger to move in to the lead and he stayed there to the end despite being closely pursued by Michael Schumacher in his Benetton, less than a second behind. Third place was occupied by Benetton of Martin Brundle, last car on the lead lap. This was Berger's 8th career win. Meanwhile, Thierry Boutsen finished in 5th for Ligier, scoring his last career points. That was also the case for Stefano Modena who finished 6th for Jordan in what was also his last ever race. This was also the last race for March and Dallara teams. All but one of their drivers failed to finish. Jan Lammers (also in his last race) was that driver and he finished in 12th for March. This was also the last ever race for Mauricio Gugelmin (Jordan) and Oliver Grouillard (Tyrrell).

2012 - It's been 27 years since the death of Masten Gregory. He was born on February 29, 1932 in the United States. He competed in Formula One from 1957 to 1963 and then again briefly in 1965 driving for under par teams such as Scuderia Centro Sud, UDT Laystall Racing Team. He managed to get 3 podiums and scored 21 career points. By the way his first podium at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix (his first ever race) was the first ever podium for an American driver in world championship, excluding the Indianapolis 500. Although he didn't win a GP he did win a non-championship event - the 1962 Kanonloppet at Karlskoga. He was also famous for his trademark bailouts when his car was set to crash, injuries sustained from these bailouts hampered him throughout his career. Before and after F1 he competed in Sports car races and even won Le Mans 24 hour race twice: in 1961 in a S 2.0 class for Porsche (4th overall), co-driving with Bob Holbert and then in 1965 he won it overall driving a NART Ferrari 250LM, co-driven by Jochen Rindt in a P5.0 class. After retiring from racing he worked as a diamond merchant before operating a glassware business. On November 8, 1985, Gregory died in his sleep of a heart attack at his winter home.

November 10th:

2012 - Eddie Irvine is 47 today. He competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2002. He drove for Jordan, Ferrari and Jaguar teams. He managed to score a point in his first ever race the 1993 Japanese Grand Prix driving for Jordan. His performances for Jordan led him to being signed by Ferrari in 1997 and culminating in the battle for the championship in 1999 were he felt just 2 points short behind eventual champion Mika Hakkinen. His four career wins also came in 1999. Right after that his career declined as he was signed by Jaguar in 2000. Car's uncompetitiveness led to him only being able to achieve 2 podium finishes (teams only podium finishes). He eventually was sacked from Jaguar in 2002 and failed to find a team 2003 which effectively ended his F1 career. He also competed at Le Mans between 1992 and 1994, achieving a class win and finishing 2nd overall in 1994. He drove the Toyota in LMP90/C1 class and his co-drivers were Mauro Martini and late Jeff Krosnoff. He also finished 2nd in C2 class in 1992 co-driving with the late Roland Ratzenberger and Eje Elgh.

Thanks for reading, I hope you like it

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

November 12th:

1967 - Jim Clark dominated the Spanish Grand Prix driving for Lotus. He won it from pole position and also got the fastest lap in process. His team-mate Graham Hill finished in 2nd to complete a Lotus 1-2. Jack Brabham was 3rd in his own car. This was a non-championship event. It was held because at that time the FIA regulations required a demonstration race to be held as a quality check, before a Grand Prix was admitted as a championship race (we need something like this nowadays ). The race indeed went on to become a world championship event in 1968.

1995 - Damon Hill literally dominated the Australian Grand Prix after his team-mate and early leader David Coulthard done this...

Afterwards the race saw a very long string of retirements: Michael Schumacher (Benetton) and Jean Alesi (Ferrari) collided, Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) had engine problems, Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Sauber) retired with gearbox problem, Eddie Irvine (Jordan) lost pneumatic pressure, Johnny Herbert (Benetton) suffered a drive shaft failure. All of these guy's were in the podium positions at some point in race or at the time of retirement. Eventually Olivier Panis (Ligier) finished in 2nd although he too suffered from problems late in the race with oil leak. He was a massive 2 laps down. Gianni Morbidelli finished in 3rd for Footwork, also 2 laps down. That was Damon Hill's 13th career win. It was also only the second time in history that the winner lapped everyone twice. For Morbidelli this was his only career podium and also the only ever podium for Footwork. Meanwhile, Mark Blundell finished in 4th for McLaren in what turned out to be his last F1 race as he went away to CART series. Also Pedro Lamy finished 6th for Minardi and scored his only ever point. He also became the first Portuguese driver to achieve such feat. This was the last race of the season.

P.S. "Footwork" was just a renamed "Arrows" team. Considering this fact, the podium was their first since 1989 United States Grand Prix.

Thanks for reading...

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

November 13th:

1988 - Alain Prost won the last race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix for McLaren after jumping his team-mate and pole-sitter Ayrton Senna at the start. Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) was the only one able to challenge Prost and actually took the lead early on, only to collide with a backmarker Rene Arnoux (Ligier). This left Alain Prost cruising to an easy victory. Ayrton Senna was not able to put up a challenge for the win because of a faulty gearbox, but he did finish in 2nd, completing a McLaren 1-2. Nelson Piquet took advantage of Berger's retirement and finished in 3rd for Lotus. Due to accidents and the lack of fuel only 7 out of 26 starters were running at the finish. This was Prost's 35th career win. By the way, this was the last race in which turbocharged cars were permitted to compete - the end of an era.

1994 - Nigel Mansell (Williams) won the Australian Grand Prix for Ferrari after benefiting from a very famous collision between the two championship contenders: Damon Hill (Williams) and Michael Schumacher (Benetton)...

This was the conclusion of the battle for the title and with none of the contenders scoring (or finishing for that matter) Michael Schumacher did held on to the advantage in the championship and beat Damon Hill by one point. After the incident Nigel Mansell inherited the lead and went on to win. Gerhard Berger finished in a close 2nd for Ferrari, Martin Brundle was 3rd for McLaren. This turned out to be Mansell's 31st and last career win, while for Michael Schumacher this was his first WDC.

2011 - Lewis Hamilton won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for McLaren after world champion and pole-sitter for the race Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) suffered an odd puncture just two corners into the race, retiring in the process. Fernando Alonso easily took 2nd for Ferrari after passing Jenson Button (McLaren) and Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) in the first lap. Jenson Button easily held on to 3rd, Webber's attempts to catch him felt short. This was 17th win of Hamilton's career. This was also the only time in the season that a Red Bull driver failed to finish on a podium.

November 14th:

2010 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) easily won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole position. Meanwhile, his two main championship rivals, team-mate Mark Webber and a Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, suffered from soft tire wear, made an early pit stops, but afterwards instead of making progress through the grid the pair famously got stuck behind the already pitted Vitaly Petrov (Renault) for the remainder of the race . With them being unable to do anything about it and finishing only in 7th and 8th, Vettel was able to overhaul the 7-point deficit to his team-mate and 15-point deficit to the championship leader Alonso and he emerged from 3rd in the standings to win the world championship. He become only the second driver in history to achieve such feat, the first one being Giuseppe Farina in 1950. Meanwhile, the podium was completed by Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) in a lonely drive for 2nd and his team-mate Jenson Button who passed Alonso on the first lap. This was Sebastian Vettel's 10th career win and his maiden WDC. Meanwhile, this was (and still is to this day) the last race for Robert Kubica (Renault). He finished in 5th.

Thanks for reading...

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

November 15th:

1987 - Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) easily won Australian Grand Prix, starting from pole position. He had lost the lead only for a few corners and regained it later on the first lap and was never seen again. Ayrton Senna initially finished in 2nd for Lotus after emerging as the leader of the second group of cars while others had problems with Nelson Piquet (87' champion in Brabham) retiring with brake issue, Alain Prost (McLaren) crashing out also due to brake failure while Michele Alboreto (Ferrari) got stuck in traffic. Unfortunately, Senna was later dsq'ed for technical infringements (brake ducts were too big) and this elevated Alboreto up into 2nd to complete a Ferrari 1-2. Thierry Boutsen in his Benetton was the first car a lap down, but he did finish in 3rd. Meanwhile, Jonathan Palmer finished in 4th for Tyrrell and scored his best ever finish. He was also a winner (and champion for that matter) of the Jim Clark Cup. This cup was made up for car with naturally aspirated engines. Yannick Dalmas (Lola) was second in this class and finished 5th overall, also scoring his best ever finish, although he was ineligible to score points because at the start of the season the team had only submitted an official entry for one car for the full championship. Roberto Moreno was 3rd in class and 6th overall, driving for AGS and scored his first ever point. This was Berger's 3rd career win in what was the last race of the season.

November 18th:

2012 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) won the inaugural United States Grand Prix held in Austin. He chased Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) very hard in the first and second stint and eventually passed him with roughly a quarter of the race remaining when Vettel got stuck in traffic. After getting passed, Vettel was left to finish in a close 2nd, but he did help his cause in the WC because Fernando Alonso, his main championship rival, finished in 3rd after recovering for a poor qualifying (were he was only 9th, but moved to 7th after a gearbox penalty for Grosjean and purposed penalty for his team-mate Massa). Then he had a great first lap passing 3 cars and later benefited from an alternator failure for Mark Webber. Vettel now leads Alonso by 13 points going into the final race of the season. By the way, this was Hamilton's 21st career win.


November 20th:

1960 - Stirling Moss won the last race of the season - the United States Grand Prix held at Riverside (only time the GP was held at this circuit) after early leader Jack Brabham (60' world champion in a Cooper) suffered from an overfilled fuel tank (yes, overfilled tank) which leaked out and caused fire to the end of the car. Not knowing what's going on Jack made two precautionary, but at the same time pretty unnecessary pit stops and gave away the win to Moss. Innes Ireland finished in 2nd after Moss' team-mate Jo Bonnier began to drop back when a broken valve spring caused a misfire. Bruce McLaren (Cooper) came from 10th on the grid to finish in 3rd. 60' world champion Brabham recovered to 4th after his troubles and also got Cooper's 10th fastest lap in the process. This was Stirling Moss' 14th career win.

Thank you for reading this.

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

Back...

November 21st:
2012 - It has been 59 years since the death of Felice Bonetto. He raced in Formula One from 1950 to 1953, never completing a full season thought. In his brief time in Formula One (15 starts) he managed to get two podium finishes (3rd in the 51' Italian GP for Alfa Romeo and a 3rd and sharing the car with Gonzalez in the 53' Dutch GP driving for Maserati). His best WDC result was 8th in 1951. His best qualifying performance was 2nd at the 1953 French Grand Prix. He was also a successful sports car racer finishing 2nd at the 1949 Mille Miglia and also winning 1952 Targa Florio. His life was cut short after he crashed out from the lead at the 1953 Carrera Panamericana (former, open road, border-to-border sports car race in Mexico).

November 24th:
2012 - It has been 22 years since the death of Juan Manuel Bordeu. He was the protege of the famous five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio (they both were from Balcarce, Argentina). He was also a racer and and a good future prospect, unfortunately a testing accident wrecked his chances in F1. He had only one entry (1961 French Grand Prix), but his car was eventually driven by Lucien Bianchi. Bordeu raced until 1973 and afterwards became his country representative as a delegate of FISA.

November 25th:
2012 - Jenson Button (McLaren) won the final race of the season at the damp Brazilian Grand Prix after the lead battle between his team-mate Lewis Hamilton (who was in his last race for team) and surprise package of Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) ended in tears as Hulkenberg lost it and collected Hamilton in the process. Afterwards Nico received a drive through for his actions, but recovered to a 5th place finish. Championship contender Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) finished in 2nd after having yet another great start and then later benefiting from team tactics (again, but for obvious reasons) as Felipe Massa let him through. However, Massa did finish in 3rd and scored his first podium at home since 2008. Meanwhile, championship leader Sebastian Vettel had a wicked day which nearly cost him the championship. After being involved in a collision with Bruno Senna (Williams) on lap 1, he dropped to the rear of the field, but a safety car, a few passes and a few drivers moving aside to let him go through made sure that he finished high enough (6th) and become World Champion for the third year in a row, only 3 points ahead of Alonso. He also became the youngest triple world champion at the age of 25.
Going back to race results that was Button's 15th career win. This race also was the 307th and last ever one for the legend that is Michael Schumacher (Mercedes). He put in a good drive from 13th on the grid and finished in 7th.

November 27th:
2011 - Mark Webber won the final race of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix after his team-mate, pole-sitter and world champion Sebastian Vettel suffered from a gearbox "trouble" early on and let Webber through. However, Vettel did held on to 2nd completing a Red Bull 1-2. Jenson Button (McLaren) completed the podium after being overtaken by Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) early on in the race, but repassing him near the end. With Mark Webber winning and Alonso finishing in 4th, Webber managed to leap Alonso for 3rd in the standings. This was his 7th career win. Meanwhile, Adrian Sutil finished in 6th for Force India in what was his last race to date.

Thank you for taking your time to read this.

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

Back for holiday special (warning: long post alert):

November 29th:

2012 - It has been 37 years since the death of a double world champion Graham Hill. He raced in Formula One from 1958 to 1975, making his debut at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix for Lotus after talking his way into the cockpit. Two years later he joined BRM. Their partnership resulted in him winning the world championship in 1962. In 1967 he went back to Lotus and helped develop their Lotus 49 (Jim Clark and Mike Spence were both killed in that car in early 1968, which made Hill the new team leader). The development and partnership soon turned into success as he won his 2nd WDC in 1968. Unfortunately in 1969 US GP he crashed and suffered broken legs after which he never rose near the top again. In 1973 with works drives becoming hard to find he set up his own team - Embassy Hill. Team hardly had any success and in 1975 Hill pulled the plug and retired from F1, but his team was still around. Sadly it was also in 1975 that he lost his life. He was killed when the plane that he was piloting crashed in foggy conditions near Arkley golf course in North London. The crash also resulted in the deaths of team manager Ray Brimble, mechanics Tony Alcock and Terry Richards, up-and-coming driver Tony Brise and designer Andy Smallman; all from the Embassy Hill team. During his F1 career Hill made 176 GP starts, won 14 races and 2 world championships. He also achieved 36 podiums, 13 poles, 10 fastest laps and scored 270 points. He was also doing sports car races occasionally and during his career he also won 24 hours of Le Mans (driving for Henri Pescarolo's Matra) in 1972 and Indy 500 in 1966 (driving for Lotus). He is (to this day) the only ever person to have managed to win all of these prestigious events - the so called "Triple Crown of Motorsport".

November 30th:

2012 - Mika Salo hit 46 that day. He raced in Formula One from 1994 until 2000 and then again in 2002. He made his debut in Japan for Lotus, but Lotus collapsed at the end of the season so Salo then moved to Tyrrell spending 3 years there and scoring points occasionally. For 1998 he moved to Arrows, but despite a promising season he was left without a drive for 1999. However, fortunes turned rapidly and when Ricardo Zonta (BAR) got injured Salo did get a short-term drive with the team for three races. However a greater opportunity arose when M.Schumacher broke his legs at the British Grand Prix and Salo got to replace Schumacher. During his short time at Ferrari he got his 2 career podiums (In 1999 German Grand Prix were he could have won, but was ordered not to fight his team-mate and championship contender Irvine and also at the 1999 Italian Grand Prix). After that he went back full-time with Sauber in 2000 and after that he helped develop Toyota in 2001 and drove for them in their debut season in 2002. Although he managed to score points on the team's debut he was fired for no apparent reason at the end of the season, so his F1 career ended. Afterwards he turned to Sports car racing and made his debut at the 2003 12h of Sebring driving the Audi R8. Later, he went on to develop Maserati and race for both Maserati and Ferrari. While driving for Ferrari he nearly won the 2004 24h of Spa. In 2005 he had an off year and made only 2 appearances for Maserati, but then in 2006 he went full time signing with AF Corse Ferrari. He had a successful season finally winning 24h of Spa and then his career shot upwards. In 2007 he won 12h of Sebring and the ALMS championship (co-driving with Jaime Melo) winning 8 out of 12 races. 2008 saw no championship success, but he won the biggest event of them all - the 24h of Le Mans in the GT2 class. 2009 saw his "Golden" year as he not only defended his Le Mans title, but also won 12h of Sebring (again) and Petit Le Mans. His latest achievement is winning the second race of the 2012 Gold Coast 600 (a V8 Supercars event).

December 4th:

1965 - Jack Brabham won the last race of the season, a non-championship Rand Grand Prix held at Kyalami. He won it from pole and also got the fastest lap in the process. He drove a new 3-litre engined Brabham. Local driver Peter de Klerk (also driving a Brabham) had already used the 3-litre engine for the whole of the 1965 South African Drivers Championship season and this previous experience helped him on his way to 2nd place. The podium was completed by australian Paul Hawkins (Lotus). He was also the last car on the lead lap. This was the last race of the year and also the last ever Rand GP as it went on to become South African Grand Prix in 1966 (held at Prince George) and earned full championship status in 1967 (race held at Kyalami).

December 9th:

1961 - Jim Clark dominated the non-championship 4th Rand Grand Prix and led from start to finish in his Lotus. His countryman Trevor Taylor converted his front row start into a close 2nd in a Lotus 1-2. Jo Bonnier took the fastest lap honours on his way to 3rd in a Porsche - last car on a lead lap. It was a great result for Jo, baring in mind that he was still on his warm-up lap when the race started, thus he was half a lap down at the start, but nevertheless he recovered from that to be only 20 seconds behind the leaders. The race was held at Kyalami circuit.

December 12th:

1959 - Bruce McLaren (Cooper) won the United States Grand Prix held at Sebring which was the final race of the season. Stirling Moss was the pole sitter and also a championship contender. All he needed to do was to win and the title was his. Unfortunately, his chances were demolished after a gearbox broke in his Cooper just 5 laps in. This left Jack Brabham in the lead for the whole race with Bruce McLaren close behind. But then with just 2 corners to go Jack Brabham paid the price for not putting a full tank of fuel in an attempt to gain on a lighter fuel load as he ran out of it. He then frantically waived McLaren by and so McLaren won. Maurice Trintignant, who was gaining on them both rapidly in the second half of the race also benefited from Jack's misjudgement and finished in 2nd for Cooper. Tony Brooks was another to benefit and he finished in 3rd for Ferrari, 3 minutes down. He was also a championship contender, but 3rd was not enough for him. Brooks, however, was a driver of the day because he lost two minutes after he had to check for the damage after a collision with Wolfgang von Trips - a stop which proved to be unnecessary, but despite all this he recovered to podium. Meanwhile, Brabham pushed his car across to finish 4th and won the world championship. This was McLaren's maiden win, while for Brabham it was his first world championship. By the way, this was the first ever United States Grand Prix outside of the 500 and the only time an F1 race was held at Sebring.

1964 - Graham Hill came from 24th(!) on the grid, won the first heat and finished 2nd in the next one to snatch an easy overall victory in the non-championship 7th Rand Grand Prix held at Kyalami. His nearest challenger (53 seconds behind) Paul Hawkins (3rd/4th in heats respectably) completed a John Willment Automobiles 1-2. Bob Anderson (4th/3rd) completed the podium in DW Racing Enterprises Brabham. Although this was a Brabham 1-2-3, all of them had different engines - BRM, Ford and Climax. This race also saw a F1 debut of a future triple world champion Jackie Stewart. His debut didn't disappoint as he scored pole position and easily won the second heat, taking fastest lap in the process, but a retirement in the first heat denied his chance of an overall victory.

December 14th:

1952 - Henrique Casini won the final race of the year - the non-championship 12th Grande Premio Cidade do Rio de Janeiro held at Gavea. He was driving for Ferrari.

1963 - John Surtees dominated in a non-championship 6th Rand Grand Prix held at Kyalami. He scored pole position, won both heats and also took the fastest lap honours in both of them. He drove for SEFAC entered Ferrari. His team-mate Lorenzo Bandini wasn't too close to him (86s behind overall), but finished in a comfortable 2nd in both heats and overall, completing a SEFAC Ferrari 1-2. The podium was completed by a local driver Peter de Klerk (driving an Alfa Romeo Special).

December 15th:

1962 - Jim Clark led from pole, right to the finish in yet another dominant display as he won a non-championship 5th Rand Grand Prix, held at Kyalami. He was a part of a Lotus 1-2. Trevor Taylor was 2nd in the race less than a second behind. John Surtees completed a British 1-2-3 as he drove his Bowmaker Racing Team entered Lola to a 3rd spot. He was also the last car on the lead lap.

December 17th:

1961 - Jim Clark easily took the honors as he lapped all but one car on his way to winning the inaugural Natal Grand Prix held at Westmead Circuit, Durban, South Africa. Stirling Moss had to come from 22nd on the grid, so he had not chance against Clark, but like I said he was the only car on the lead lap in 2nd, driving for UDT Laystall Racing Team Lotus. Jo Bonnier completed the podium for Porsche. This was a non-championship event.

December 22nd:

1962 - Trevor Taylor won the 2nd Natal Grand Prix held at Westmead Circuit. The race was made up of two heats (22 laps) and a subsequent final (33 laps). Heat one was won easily by Richie Ginther (Owen Racing Organisation entered BRM) after his main race rival Jim Clark (a polesitter for Lotus) retired. The second heat was won by Trevor Taylor in a Lotus who withstood pressure from Graham Hill (same team as Ginther). But in the final no one was a match for Taylor. Well except for Jim Clark who came from 22nd ! on the grid to finish just 6 seconds behind and completed a Lotus 1-2. Heat one winner and pole sitter for the final Richie Ginther had to settle for 3rd. This event was discontinued for next year.

December 26th:

1961 - Jim Clark completed a South African hat-trick of victories as he won the non-championship 8th South African Grand Prix, driving for Lotus. He also took pole position and fastest lap honours. Stirling Moss (UDT Laystall Racing Team) came the closest to him and finished in second - 15 seconds behind. Jo Bonnier (Porsche) completed the podium - he was the first car a lap down. The race was held at the East London circuit.

December 28th:

1963 - World Champion for the year Jim Clark was a dominant force once again as converted pole position into a race win at final race of the season at the South African Grand Prix held at Prince George Circuit in East London, South Africa. The only guy who managed to save the field from humiliation was Dan Gurney in a Brabham. He was the only other car on the lead lap (although 1:07 down) and also took the fastest lap honours. The podium was completed by Graham Hill in a BRM. This was Clark's 10th career win.

December 29th:

1962 - Graham Hill (BRM) won the South African Grand Prix and with it the championship after pole sitter and his main championship rival Jim Clark (Lotus) retired with an oil leak 20 laps from the end, but he got the fastest lap as a consolation. 50 seconds down the road and half a second apart were the two Cooper team-mates: Bruce McLaren and a joy for locals - Tony Maggs in third. This was Hill's 4th career win and his first world title. Meanwhile, Neville Lederle (another local) finished in 6th for Lotus and scored his only ever point (in what also turned out to be his only ever start).

Hope you enjoyed it.

Merry Christmas (hopefully not too late for that ) and a Happy New Year

Rokas

 

[the_sigman]

Nice one! Thank you so much Rokas Charlapavicius!

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

Nice one! Thank you so much Rokas Charlapavicius!

And thank you for the kind word, I means a lot and I appreciate it.

Moving on...

January 1st....

....and we already had new seasons beginning...

1965 - Jim Clark, driving for Lotus, won the opening race of the season at the South African Grand Prix held at Prince George Circuit. He dominated from pole position and also got the fastest lap honors on his way to victory. He finished half a minute ahead of another front row starter John Surtees, driving for Ferrari. John was challenged for the position by Graham Hill, but Hill felt 3 seconds short and finished in 3rd, driving for BRM. This was 14th win of Clark's career, meanwhile Surtees successfully kicked off his title defense. This race also saw the debut of a future triple world champion Jackie Stewart. Jackie finished in 6th and scored 1 point, driving for BRM. There was also another debut by the Goodyear tire company.

1966 - Mike Spence, driving for Team Lotus, won the opening event of the season - the 12th South African Grand Prix, which was a non-championship event for that year. He had no competition, especially after both of the works Brabham's retired - pole-sitter Jack Brabham retired with fuel injection pump problem, while 3rd on the grid Denny Hulme retired with gearbox issues. From 12th on the grid, two laps in second place was Jo Siffert driving a Rob Walker Racing entered Brabham. Peter Arundell also came from low on the grid (13th) and completed the podium for Team Lotus.

1968 - Jim Clark was once again a dominant force as he turned a pole position into a race win at the opening event of the season - the South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami. He also took the fastest lap honors in a race which sadly turned out to be his last ever Grand Prix as he was killed three months later in a Formula 2 event at Hockenheim. Graham Hill was the best of the rest as he completed a Lotus 1-2. Jochen Rindt, driving for Brabham, was the only other driver on par with the Lotus'es as he finished just 5 seconds behind Hill in 3rd, last car on the lead lap (others were 2 or more laps down). This was Jim Clark's 25th and last career win. Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre Beltoise finished in 6th for Matra and scored his first ever point.

January 2nd:

1962 - Trevor Taylor won the non-championship Cape Grand Prix after a race-long battle with his team-mate and pole-sitter Jim Clark ended in a latter spinning off the track. Nevertheless, Clark recovered to be less than a second behind and completed a Team Lotus 1-2. Clark also got the fastest lap as a consolation. Jo Bonnier was the leader early on, but eventually succumbed the to the Lotus'es and finished 3rd in a Porsche. The race was held on Killarney circuit.

1967 - Pedro Rodriguez won the opening race of the season at the South African Grand Prix. Denny Hulme was the leader after passing the pole-sitter Jack Brabham when he spun, but then everything was turned upside down as Brabham retired midway through, while Hulme had to stop for brake fluid. These happenings meant that after passing John Surtees early on, an African sensation John Love from a now non-existing state of Rhodesia emerged in a lead in his Cooper. Unfortunately with just seven laps to go a misfire prompted him to make a precautionary stop for extra fuel and he dropped back to finish second giving the win away to Rodriguez. John Surtees held on to 3rd in his first race with Honda. This was a first ever win for Pedro Rodriguez and only ever podium for John Love. Meanwhile, Bob Anderson finished in 5th for Brabham and scored his last ever points.

Thanks for taking your time to read and of course a Happy New Year

I also want to share with you my self made, very provisional Motorsport calendar for 2013.
Hope you like it.

Rokas

 

[Shane Butler]

Great work mate! Always interesting to read these

 

[the_sigman]

Happy birthday Michael Schumacher!

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

Great work mate! Always interesting to read these

Thank you very much

January 9th:

1965 - Australian Paul Hawkins won the first non-championship event of the season. It was the 2nd Cape South Easter Trophy race held at Killarney circuit. He was driving for Brabham.

1977 - Jody Scheckter came through the field from 11th and scored a shock win for the debuting Wolf team at the opening race of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix held at the track now known as Autodromo Juan y Oscar Galvez in Buenos Aires, after the leaders had their troubles with front row starters and early leaders James Hunt (McLaren) and John Watson (Brabham) both retiring with suspension failures, while Carlos Pace (Brabham) who then emerged in the lead, but couldn't handle the heat, was forced to surrender the lead to Jody Scheckter. Mario Andretti (Lotus) also passed Pace, but a wheel bearing failure forced him to retire just two laps from the end, giving 2nd back to Pace and 3rd to the local hero Carlos Reutemann (Ferrari). That was Scheckter's 5th career win. Meanwhile, for Carlos Pace this was his last ever podium.

January 12th:

1975 - Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren) successfully started his title defence by winning the opening race of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix. Carlos Reutemann (Ferrari) was the leader off the line after initial pole-sitter Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow) retired on a warm-up lap while new pole man Carlos Pace (Brabham) got outstarted. Pace then regained the lead on lap 15 only to spin out a lap later and Reutemann retook the lead from him, but developed understeer and was passed by James Hunt (Hesketh) and later Fittipaldi. Hunt, however, did not survive in the lead and was eventually passed by Fittipaldi. Later on, Carlos Reutemann also moved up passed Pace after the latter also had engine problems too and recovered to the podium position. This was 13th win of Emerson's career.

January 13th:

1957 - Juan Manuel Fangio (driving for Maserati) successfully kicked off his title defence by winning the Argentine Grand Prix which was the opening round of the season. He had lost some opposition after pole-sitter Stirling Moss (Maserati) had throttle linkage problem on the start line, costing him several laps. This left Fangio and 3rd on the grid Jean Behra (Maserati) racing away into the distance. They exchanged positions twice, but eventually Fangio emerged on top winning by 18 seconds. Carlos Menditeguy was the best of the rest as he completed the podium in a Maserati 1-2-3-4. Speaking of Italians, the grid consisted of 7 Ferrari's and 7 Maserati's. This was Fangio's 21st career win and his 4th home race win in a row. This was also the only ever podium for Carlos Menditeguy. Meanwhile, Alfonso de Portago and Jose Froilan Gonzalez finished in a shared 5th for Ferrari and shared the two championship points. For both of them that was their last ever point, while for de Portago this race also turned out to be his last ever Grand Prix.

1974 - Denny Hulme (McLaren) came from 10th on the grid and racked up a win in the opening round of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix. James Hunt (March) led at the start, but spun on lap 3 giving away the lead to local hero Carlos Reutemann (Brabham). He then led for 50 laps or so, only to suffer a heart-breaking retirement when he ran out of fuel with a lap to go, giving away the win to Hulme. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) also came from the bottom end of the top 10 and finished in 2nd. His team-mate Clay Regazzoni had a steady race from a front-row start, got the fastest lap and finished in 3rd. This was Denny Hulme's 8th and last career win. Also, for Niki Lauda this was his first ever podium finish. There was another "first" as Patrick Depailler's 6th place finish for Tyrrell earned him his first ever point.

1980 - Alan Jones (driving for Williams) dominated from pole and won at the opening round of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix. Jacques Laffite (Ligier) was the only one to challenge Jones, but he retired from the lead with an engine failure just after half way point. His team-mate Didier Pironi also had the same problem (on lap 1). These retirements gave away second place to Nelson Piquet (Brabham). Keke Rosberg came from 13th on the grid and finished in a distant 3rd for Fittipaldi Automotive. This was Jones'es 6th career win, while Nelson Piquet got his first ever podium. It was the same case for Rosberg - this was also his first ever podium. And these were not all of the career "first's". Bruno Giacomelli (Alfa Romeo) came from 20th on the grid to score his first career points for a 5th place finish. Meanwhile, the last of the points scorers was a guy named Alain Prost who finished in 6th for McLaren on his F1 debut. Also I'm pretty sure that you noticed: 4 of the top 6 finishers went on to become World Champion - Piquet in 1981, 1983, 1987; Prost in 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993; Rosberg in 1982; Jones in 1980.

January 15th:

1978 - Mario Andretti (Lotus) led every single lap on his way to winning the opening race of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix. Niki Lauda (Brabham) came from 5th to 2nd, with passing Ronnie Peterson (Lotus) and Carlos Reutemann (Ferrari) who both dropped through the field and benefiting from John Watson's (Brabham) engine failure with 10 laps to go. Patrick Depailler came half a second behind Lauda and finished in 3rd for Tyrrell. That was Andretti's 7th career win. This race saw the debut of the future F1 powerhouse - the Williams F1 team. The lone entry - Alan Jones, qualified 14th in a field of 24, but failed to finish.

January 16th:

1955 - Juan Manuel Fangio (a driver for Mercedes) survived the big heat and went through the whole race without needing a relief driver which led to an easy win at the opening round of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix held at Buenos Aires. Hot weather (this was the hottest grand prix ever recorded at 40 degrees Celsius, a shared record) led to a massive amount of subs which meant that 2nd and 3rd places were shared by three drivers each: Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Nino Farina and Maurice Trintignant shared 2nd place for Ferrari, while... Nino Farina and Maurice Trintignant then also managed to share 3rd spot, but this time with Umberto Maglioli, again for Ferrari. Meanwhile in 4th... yes, you guess it - a three way share with Hans Hermann, Karl Kling, Stirling Moss - all in there for the Mercedes. In the end there were 9 different drivers that scored points which is epic when you consider that usually only the top 5 were able to get the points back then. This was Fangio's 14th career win. Meanwhile, for both Jose Froilan Gonzalez and Umberto Maglioli this was their last ever podium.

"Edit" - P.S. Sorry, I completely forgot one fact...
Yesterday, on January 7th, Lewis Hamilton became 28 years old. Happy Birthday Lewis

Thanks for taking your time to read.

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

January 17th:

1954 - Juan Manuel Fangio proved that the new Maserati 250F is a beast and swept everyone aside as he won on the cars debut at the Argentine Grand Prix which was the opening round of the season, held at Autódromo 17 de Octubre in Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, the upgraded Ferrari's were uncompetitive compared to the local man Fangio, but were fast enough to beat other Maserati's and finished 2-3-4. Pole man Nino Farina was 2nd and over one minute down, Jose Froilan Gonzalez was 3rd, two minutes down and was also the last car on a lead lap. Maurice Trintignant was 4th. Fangio's 8th career win set him on his way to try and regain the world title. Meanwhile, Elie Bayol finished in 5th for Gordini and recorded his only ever points finish.

January 18th:

1953 - Alberto Ascari utterly dominated as went from pole position onto lapping everyone at the opening round of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix held in Buenos Aires. Luigi Villoresi made it a Ferrari 1-2 after front row starter Juan Manuel Fangio (Maserati) had transmission problems. Jose Froilan Gonzalez salvaged something for Maserati as he completed the podium after Nino Farina's Ferrari, sadly, crashed into the crowd killing 13 . That was Ascari's 9th career win and his 7th in a row. Meanwhile, Oscar Alfredo Galvez (after whom the track was later renamed, by the way) finished in 5th for Maserati and scored 2 points in what turned out to be his only ever Grand Prix start. By the way this race was the very first F1 race held outside of Europe (excluding the Indy 500's which ran to different regulations, of course).

January 19th:

1958 - Stirling Moss (Cooper) made one of the biggest steps in motorsports history as he drove from 7th on the grid to win the opening round of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix (held at Buenos Aires) after passing the pole sitter Juan Manuel Fangio (Maserati) just before half way point after the latter started to drop back. Moss drove a Rob Walker privately entered Cooper T43 and scored not only the first ever win for a privateer team in Formula One, but more importantly he scored the first ever Grand Prix win for a rear engined car. To add to that, this was also the first win for Cooper. Luigi Musso (Ferrari) came quite close to winning, but finished less than 3 seconds behind in 2nd. Mike Hawthorn led very early on, but lost positions to Moss, Musso and Fangio and eventually finished in 3rd for Ferrari after Fangio's drop off. Fangio hung on to 4th and he was the last car on the lead lap. This was Moss'es 7th career win.

January 20th:

1952 - Jose Froilan Gonzalez started the season in the right direction after he won the first event of the season - a non-championship 11th Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix held at Gavea. Gonzalez drove for Ferrari.

Thanks for taking your time to read

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

January 19th:

2013 - Happy 33rd Birthday for Jenson Button (never too late for that) .

January 21st:

1979 - Pole-sitter Jacques Laffite (Ligier) passed the initial leader and team-mate Patrick Depailler early on and went on to win the opening race of the season - the Argentine Grand Prix held in Buenos Aires. Local man Carlos Reutemann (Lotus) had to recover from a bad start and charged from 6th after the start to an eventual 2nd place finish. Meanwhile, John Watson (McLaren) also passed the fading Depailler and finished in a distant 3rd after the guys running in front of him retired: Jody Scheckter (Ferrari) in a mass start crash (which caused a restart by the way) and Jean-Pierre Jarier (Tyrrell) with an engine failure early on. Defending champion Mario Andretti (Lotus) had a modest race and finished in 5th - a lap down. That was Laffite's 2nd career win.

January 22nd:

1956 - Juan Manuel Fangio (Ferrari) won the opening race of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix after turning his misfortunes into a win. He was the pole sitter, but lost the lead early on. To add to that-his Ferrari had a fuel pump failure forcing him to retire , but all was not lost. He took over his team-mate Luigi Musso's car and then his fortunes turned around. He came back in 5th and then it was his oppositions turn to have their bad luck. Eugenio Castellotti (Ferrari) retired from 3rd with a gearbox failure, Carlos Menditeguy (Maserati) retired from the lead with a broken driveshaft while the new leader Stirling Moss (Maserati) suffered an engine failure. So, after passing Jean Behra's Maserati Fangio only had to bring it home for a shared win. Jean Behra held on to 2nd. Mike Hawthorn (Maserati) also benefited from all of the retirements and finished 3rd. That was Fangio's 18th and Musso's only career wins. Meanwhile in 4th there was a shared drive of Chico Landi (in his last GP) and Gerino Gerini (in his first GP). For both of them this was their only ever points finish. Landi, I think, also became the first Brazilian to score points in the World Championship. And then in 5th place there was Oliver Gendebien and his Ferrari - scoring 2 points on his F1 debut.

January 23rd:

1972 - Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell) won Argentine Grand Prix - the opening race of the season held at Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez. He passed the surprise pole-sitter Carlos Reutemann (F1 debutant, driving for Brabham) and never looked back. Denny Hulme (McLaren) also passed the slowly fading Reutemann and also benefited from his team-mate Peter Revson's engine failure and finished in 2nd. Jacky Ickx completed the podium for Ferrari. This was Stewart's 19th career win. Meanwhile, Tim Schenken finished in 5th for Surtees and scored his last career points. P.S. Reutemann eventually finished in 7th.

1977 - Carlos Reutemann (Ferrari) benefited from the leader troubles and won the Brazilian Grand Prix held at Interlagos. Carlos Pace (Brabham) emerged in the lead early, but he was soon caught by the pole sitter James Hunt (McLaren) who passed Carlos Reutemann earlier. However, lead battle ended in Hunt and Pace colliding. Pace pitted for repairs while Hunt carried on until he developed understeer and was passed by Reutemann. Eventually, he was forced to pit for new tires. Nevertheless, Hunt came from 4th after the pit stop and finished in 2nd. Meanwhile, Niki Lauda (Ferrari) finished in 3rd after John Watson (Brabham) crashed out from it. This was Reutemann's 5th career win which enabled him to become the new championship leader. Meanwhile, Renzo Zorzi finished in 6th for Shadow and scored his only ever point.

1982 - Alain Prost (Renault) was unstoppable as he recovered from a puncture and went on to win the opening race of the season - South African Grand Prix held in Kyalami. He also took the fastest lap honors. Carlos Reutemann had a dull drive for 2nd in his Williams. Meanwhile, Rene Arnoux was no match for those two and finished half a minute adrift in 3rd, completing a double podium for Renault. This was Prost's 4th career win, while for Carlos Reutemann this was his last career podium. Defending champion Nelson Piquet's (Brabham) title defense got off to a poor start as he retired on lap 3. By the way, this race was the last ever race held in January to date.

January 24th:

1971 - Chris Amon (Matra) won the first event of the season - a non-championship Argentine Grand Prix held at Autodromo Oscar Alfredo Galvez. This was a two heat race with race 1 finishing order deciding the grid for race 2. First race was led from start to finish by Rolf Stommelen (Surtees) with Jo Siffert (Siffert Racing Team) holding off the rest of the field, while Henri Pescarolo (Frank Williams Racing Team) finished in 3rd, fighting off Chris Amon (Matra) and Reine Wisell (Team Lotus). In heat 2, however, Chris Amon won after only needing to pass Pescarolo because both Jo Siffert and Rolf Stommelen retired. Henri Pescarolo held on to 2nd, while Carlos Reutemann (Ecurie Bonnier) completed the podium after Reine Wisell also retired. This race was held as a "quality check" and returned to the calendar as a "full ranking" Grand Prix event for 1972 - after a 12 year absence.

January 25th:

1976 - Niki Lauda (Ferrari) took the honours at Brazilian Grand Prix - the opening round of the season held at Interlagos after the early lead group slowly "disintegrated". That early lead group contained Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari), Niki Lauda, pole-sitter James Hunt (McLaren) and Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow). Then Regazzoni and Jarier collided, Regazzoni pitted for repairs and dropped out of contention while Jarier carried on. Then it was Hunt's turn to retire - sticking throttle being the cause of the problem, while Jarier didn't last too long either and spun out on the oil one lap later. This elevated Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell) to 2nd and Tom Pryce (Shadow) to 3rd. Niki Lauda successfully kicked of his title defense with his 8th career win. Meanwhile for Tom Pryce this was his 2nd and last career podium.

January 26th:

1975 - Carlos Pace (Brabham), a Sao Paulo native, came from 6th on the grid to win Brazilian Grand Prix held at Interlagos, Sao Paulo. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren) maintained his grid position and completed a memorable home heroes 1-2. Jochen Mass came from 10th on the grid to complete the double podium for McLaren. This was Pace's only career win, while Emerson Fittipaldi's 2nd place helped him to maintain the world championship lead. This was also Jochen Mass'es first ever podium. And finally, Graham Hill put his Lola into P12 in what turned out to be the last ever race for the former double world champion.

Thanks for taking your time to read

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

January 27th:

1957 - Juan Manuel Fangio won the first non-championship event of the season which was the 11th Buenos Aires Grand Prix held at the Autodromo Oscar Alfredo Galvez. He drove for Maserati. This was his second win at home that year, after having won the Argentine Grand Prix proper two weeks earlier (which was the opening round of the season and was held at the same track, by the way). Jean Behra finished 2nd in a Maserati 1-2. Meanwhile, Luigi Musso and Peter Collins salvaged something for Lancia Ferrari and finished 3rd in a shared drive.

1974 - Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren) took an easy win, from pole position, at the Brazilian Grand Prix after the two pretenders and early leaders Ronnie Peterson (Lotus) and Carlos Reutemann (Brabham) both suffered from tire problems: Reutemann's tires went off early, while Peterson suffered a puncture shortly after succumbing the lead to Fittipaldi. The possible reason for the tire problems was.... the glass, which over-exuberant spectators threw onto the track before the race and which was not cleaned properly. Those tire problems elevated Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) to 2nd and Jacky Ickx (Lotus) to 3rd and then the sudden downpour cut the race short 8 laps early. Full points were awarded nevertheless. This was the 10th win of Fittipaldi's career. Meanwhile, Regazzoni's 2nd place made him the new championship leader, a point ahead of Fittipaldi and Denny Hulme (winner of the opening round).

1980 - Rene Arnoux (Renault) had no opposition whatsoever, as the high altitude circuit benefited the turbocharged Renault's and he won the Brazilian Grand Prix held at Interlagos. His team-mate and pole-sitter Jean-Pierre Jabouille had to recover from a bad start, went from 4th to 1st before the end of lap 1, only to blow a turbo just over half way through the race, leaving Arnoux to pick up the win. Elio de Angelis (Lotus) came from 7th to finish in 2nd, while Alan Jones (Williams) came from even further down (10th) and finished in 3rd. That was Arnoux's maiden win and Renault's 2nd ever win. This was also the first ever podium for Elio de Angelis. Meanwhile, Jones'es 3rd place helped him to maintain the world championship lead, 4 points ahead of race winner Rene Arnoux, who himself pushed Nelson Piquet (Brabham) down to third in the standings.

January 28th:

1973 - Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus) won the opening race of the season which was the Argentine Grand Prix held at the Autodromo O.A. Galvez. He won it after the pole-sitter Clay Regazzoni (BRM) dropped of the pace massively, eventually finishing 3 laps down in 7th. François Cevert (Tyrrell) came from 6th on the grid to finish in 2nd, while his team-mate Jackie Stewart completed the podium. This was 7th career win for the defending champion. Meanwhile, his older brother Wilson Fittipaldi finished in 6th for Brabham and scored his first career point.

January 29th:

1978 - Carlos Reutemann (Ferrari) jumped from 4th on the grid and led every single lap on his way to winning the Brazilian Grand Prix held at Jacarepagua. Home hero Emerson Fittipaldi finished almost 50 seconds behind in 2nd, but he scored the first ever podium for his own team - Fittipaldi Automotive. Niki Lauda (Brabham) came from 10th on the grid and completed the podium. That was Reutemann's 6th career win and the first win for the tire manufacturer Michelin. Meanwhile, Didier Pironi finished in 6th for Tyrrell and scored his first ever point. As far as the championship was concerned Mario Andretti (4th in the race for Lotus) remained in the lead, now only 2 points ahead of Lauda, who maintained his 2nd place in the championship, while Reutemann's win elevated him to 3rd in the standings.

January 30th:

1955 - Juan Manuel Fangio got yet another double home win as he won the non-championship Gran Premio Ciudad de Buenos Aires, two weeks after winning the opening race of the season at the Argentine Grand Prix. Both races were held at the Autodromo Alfredo Oscar Galvez. Fangio was driving for Mercedes.

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Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

February 3rd:

1974 - Emerson Fittipaldi, driving for McLaren, won the first non-championship event of the season - the inaugural Presidente Medici Grand Prix held at the Autódromo de Brasilia (now known as Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet). It was the tracks only ever Formula One event. For Fittipaldi this was his second win of the year after having won the Brazilian Grand Prix proper just a week earlier.

February 4th:

1979 - Jacques Laffite continued Ligier's dominant start to the season as he led from start to finish and got the fastest lap on his way to winning the Brazilian Grand Prix held at Interlagos. Patrick Depailler converted Ligier's front-row lock out into a 1-2 finish for the team. The podium was completed by Carlos Reutemann (Lotus), who also maintained his grid position and finished over 40 seconds adrift of the Ligier's. That was Laffite's 2nd win from 2 races of season and his 3rd career win. This helped him to extend the lead in the championship to 8 points. Reutemann maintained 2nd place in the championship, while Depailler passed John Watson (McLaren) for 3rd in the standings. He was now 9 points behind the leader.

February 5th:

1956 - Juan Manuel Fangio (Ferrari) converted pole position into a win at the first non-championship event of the season - the 10th Gran Premio Ciudad de Buenos Aires held at Mendoza circuit. This was his second win of the year, two weeks after winning the Argentine Grand Prix proper. He also got the fastest lap in the process. Stirling Moss finished 2nd - over half a minute behind, while Jean Behra was nearly 2 minutes behind and completed the podium - both were driving for Maserati.

February 7th:

1960 - Bruce McLaren brought his Cooper from 13th on the grid to win at the opening race of the season - Argentine Grand Prix, held at the Autodromo Oscar Alfredo Galvez. Cliff Allison was a surprise leading Ferrari and he finished in 2nd. Meanwhile, Maurice Trintignant and Stirling Moss made it two Cooper's on the podium in a shared drive, thus scoring no points for this result. This was McLaren's 2nd career win. For Cliff Allison, this was his only ever podium and his last career points. This was also Maurice Trintignant's last ever podium. Carlos Menditeguy finished 4th and scored 3 points in what turned out to be his last ever Grand Prix. Meanwhile, defending champion Jack Brabham didn't got off to the best of starts as he retired half way through with a gearbox failure in his Cooper.

1981 - Carlos Reutemann (Williams) won the first event of the season - the non-championship South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami. Pole-sitter Nelson Piquet (Brabham) lost out to Reutemann and had to settle for 2nd. Elio de Angelis was the last car on the lead lap in 3rd, driving for Lotus. This was supposed to be the opening round of the 1981 championship, however, because of the FISA-FOCA war that not turned out to be the case. FISA (known as FIA nowadays) insisted on changing the race date which was not acceptable to the race organisers. Because of that FISA downgraded the race status to a non-championship and thus it became a Formula Libre event and was only supported by FOCA aligned teams.

February 11th:

1973 - Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus) continued his great start of the season as he won the Brazilian Grand Prix held at Interlagos after the pole-sitter Ronnie Peterson (also driving for Lotus) retired just 5 laps in with a wheel problem. Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell) was the only one capable of staying respectably close to the leader and finished in 2nd, 13 seconds down. The podium was completed by Denny Hulme in his McLaren, he was the last car on the lead lap. Hulme also shared the fastest lap honors with the race winner. This was Fittipaldi's 8th career win and his 2nd from two races in the season. This helped to extend his lead in championship to 8 points over the new second place man Jackie Stewart, who passed his non-finishing team-mate Francois Cevert for 2nd in the standings. Denny Hulme's 3rd spot also moved him to a shared (with Cevert) 3rd in the standings, 12 points behind Fittipaldi.

And that's pretty much it for the month of February
Thanks for taking your time to read

Rokas