This day in Formula 1 History...

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

And the thread returns...

March 1st:

1969 - Jackie Stewart (driving for Matra) easily won the opening race of the season at the South African Grand Prix held at the Kyalami circuit after passing the pole-sitter Jack Brabham (Brabham) by the end of lap one. On lap 7 Brabham's day got worse as rear-wing collapsed promoting Jochen Rindt (Lotus) to 2nd. However, it wasn't long before he lost the place to defending champion Graham Hill (Lotus). That was exactly where Hill finished - in 2nd for Lotus, from 7th on the grid. Denny Hulme (McLaren) passed Rindt for 3rd, but it wasn't long before he lost positions to Mario Andretti (Lotus) and Jo Siffert (Lotus). However, both of the them had trouble as Andretti retired with gearbox failure while Siffert faded back to 4th leaving Hulme to finish in 3rd. This was Stewart's 6th career win. Meanwhile, Sam Tingle (Brabham) finished 8th and last in what turned out to be his last ever start.

1975 - Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell) won his home race - South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami, after passing the pole-sitter and early leader Carlos Pace (Brabham) - who developed a braking problem and also after passing Carlos Reutemann (Brabham) in the early stages. Reutemann also passed Pace and finished in 2nd. Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell) passed Niki Lauda (Ferrari) early on before demoting fading Pace further down and finished in 3rd for Tyrrell. This was Scheckter's 3rd career win and his only home win. Championship leader Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren) was challenging for the podium positions, but failed to finish after he suffered a cracked plug lead, but despite this he maintained his championship lead. He was now 3 points ahead of Carlos Pace who eventually finished in 4th, by the way. Reutemann's 3rd place enabled him to move up to 3rd in the standings, 5 points behind, passing both James Hunt (Hesketh) and Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) who both failed to finish.

1980 - Rene Arnoux (Renault) once again benefited greatly from turbocharged car advantage in an altitude and cruised to victory in the South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami after the pole-sitter, team-mate and his only race rival Jean-Pierre Jabouille retired with a puncture. Meanwhile, both Ligier's passed Nelson Piquet (Brabham) early on and benefited from a championship leader Alan Jones'es (Williams) gearbox failure to complete the podium. Jacques Laffite was 2nd, Didier Pironi was 3rd making it a French podium sweep. This was Arnoux's 2nd win in a row and 2nd of his career which enabled him to become the new championship leader, 5 points ahead of non-finishing Jones while Nelson Piquet remained in 3rd, now 9 points behind.

1992 - Nigel Mansell (Williams) utterly dominated as he beat everyone in qualifying by .75 of a second and by 25 seconds in the race to win the opening round of the season at the South African Grand Prix, held at the newly revamped Kyalami which returned to the calendar for the first time since 1985. Riccardo Patrese passed both McLaren's in the race and finished in 2nd, completing a Williams 1-2. Defending champion Ayrton Senna was the best of the rest as he completed the podium for McLaren. This was Mansell's 22nd career win.

March 3rd:

1973 - Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell) smashed the field completely as he came from 16th on the grid, took the lead as early as lap 7 and went on to win the South African Grand Prix, held at the Kyalami Circuit. Jody Scheckter (March) was in 2nd behind him until fading behind Peter Revson (McLaren) and Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus). Revson had to withstand the pressure from Fittipaldi and did so finishing over 20 second behind in 2nd. Fittipaldi was just half a second behind him in 3rd. This was Stewart's 23rd career win. In terms of a championship Emerson Fittipaldi still led, but Stewart reduced his lead from 8 to 3 points and remained in 2nd. 3rd place was now occupied by Denny Hulme (McLaren) who led early on in the race until suffering a puncture after passing through a wreckage and eventually finished in 5th. He passed a non-classified Francois Cevert (Tyrrell) for 3rd in the standings. Meanwhile, George Follmer drove his Shadow to a 6th place finish and scored a point in his maiden race. He also scored the first point for the Shadow team.

1979 - Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari) won the South African Grand Prix held in changeable conditions in Kyalami. He passed the pole-sitter Jean-Pierre Jabouille (Renault) on lap 2 and led for the next 13 laps until the track dried up forcing him to change his wet weather tires and causing him to lose the lead to his team-mate Jody Scheckter (who chose slicks at the start). 38 laps later though, Gilles Villeneuve regained the lead after it was Scheckter's turn to pit and went on to win. Nevertheless, it was a Ferrari 1-2. Jean-Pierre Jarier completed the podium for Tyrrell after Patrick Tambay (McLaren) faded back while Nelson Piquet (Brabham) developed engine problems. The championship was still led by the winner of the first two races Jaqcues Laffite (Ligier) although he failed to finish in this one. Carlos Reutemann (Lotus) finished in 5th and reduced Laffite's lead in the standings to 6 points. Meanwhile, a win Villeneuve moved him up to 3rd in standings, 7 points behind. By the way, this was his 2nd career win.

2002 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) continued where he left off last year and took an easy win in the opening race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix after his brother Ralf (Williams) took out the pole-sitter Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) in spectacular fashion...

Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) drove a very lonely race and finished twenty seconds behind in 2nd. Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) completed the podium, he was also the last car on a lead lap. With a massive start crash, 6 further retirements during the race and the disqualification of the two Arrows'es there was only 8 cars running at the finish which led to some sensational results with Mark Webber finishing in 5th for Minardi, scoring 2 points on his debut. These circumstances also enabled Alex Yoong to achieve his best ever finish in 7th, also for Minardi. Meanwhile, for Kimi Raikkonen this was his first ever podium. This was Schumacher's 54th career win.

March 4th:

1972 - Denny Hulme (McLaren) won the South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami after climbing up through the field following his overheating problems. He led briefly at the start, but was soon passed by Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell) and then later by Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus) and Mike "The Bike" Hailwood (Surtees). The latter two started to challenge Stewart. Hailwood retired shortly after passing Fittipaldi, with a suspension failure, while Fittipaldi had no problem with Stewart as the latter retired with a gearbox failure. Fittipaldi seemed destined to win, but ran into handling problems and eventually gave away the win to Hulme. Third in the race was Peter Revson (McLaren) who passed Chris Amon (Matra) after the latter developed a vibration and dropped through the field. This was Hulme's 6th career win. Meanwhile, for Revson this was his first podium. With this win Hulme became the new championship leader, 6 points ahead of Stewart, while Fittipaldi scored his first points of the season and moved straight into the 3rd spot.

1978 - Ronnie Peterson (Lotus) won a very dramatic South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami. Mario Andretti (Lotus) took the lead at the start and led until lap 21 when he was passed by Jody Scheckter (Wolf) and Riccardo Patrese (Arrows). Few laps later the latter two switched places. To make matter's much easier for Patrese both Andretti and Scheckter dropped back with tire problems. Sadly for him, his engine expired moving Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell) into the lead, but then another disaster as Depailler's car started to trail smoke. It seemed that Mario Andretti was now destined to win, but he heart-breakingly had to pit for fuel with just 3 last to go leaving him in 7th and out of the points. This opened the door for Peterson who passed struggling Depailler on the last lap to take the win. Depailler held on to 2nd. John Watson (Brabham) had a quiet race and finished in 3rd. This was 9th win of Peterson's career. In terms of the championship Mario Andretti still led, but only by 1 point from the race winner Peterson. Niki Lauda (Brabham, 6th in the race) lost one place and was now in 3rd, 2 points behind.
Below you can see Peterson's pass on Depailler that I found

2001 - Defending champion Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) started his title defense by taking a win at the opening race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix held in Albert Park. He had no opposition and led from start to finish. Mika Hakkinen (McLaren) was his pursuer at the start, but retired mid-race with a front-right suspension failure. This left Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) in 2nd and David Coulthard (McLaren) in 3rd, however Barrichello developed handling problems so he and Coulthard switched places and that was it in terms of the podium battle. This was Schumacher's 45th career win. Meanwhile, Nick Heidfeld (Sauber) finished in 4th following a 25-second penalty for Olivier Panis (BAR) and scored his first career points. And finally Heidfeld's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finished in 6th and scored a point on his debut. The race was marred by the death of a marshal Graham Beveridge who was hit by the flying wheel after the Ralf Schumacher (Williams) and Jacques Villeneuve (BAR) collision.

March 5th:

1977 - Niki Lauda (Ferrari) passed the pole-sitter James Hunt (McLaren) on lap 7 and that was all it took for him to win the South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami. Jody Scheckter (Wolf) did the same on lap 18 and went on to finish in 2nd. And then nearing the end of the race Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell) also passed Hunt and completed the podium. The race, however, is best remembered for the unfortunate and freakish accident that killed a marshal Frederick Jansen van Vuuren and Welshman Tom Pryce (Shadow). Everything started with an engine failure ironically for Pryce's team-mate Renzo Zorzi. Two marshal's then decided to go across the track to extinguish the engine flames. They ran right in front of Hans-Joachim Stuck (March) and Pryce. Stuck barely avoided the first marshal, however unsighted Pryce hit the second marshal while the extinguisher that van Vuuren was carrying hit Pryce in the head. Both were killed at the spot (not for the faint hearted):

Niki Lauda's 12th career win (his first after his own freakish accident at the 1976 German Grand Prix) was a truly sorrow one, but it allowed him to draw level with the pre-race championship leader Carlos Reutemann (7th in a race for Ferrari, outside the points) for the second spot in the championship. Meanwhile, Jody Scheckter's 2nd place enabled him to become the new championship leader, 2 points ahead of the former two.

March 6th:

1971 - Mario Andretti (Ferrari) won the opening race of the season at the South African Grand Prix held in Kyalami. Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) made the best start and led until lap 17 when Denny Hulme (McLaren) took the lead. Behind him John Surtees (Surtees) and Mario Andretti (Ferrari) also passed Regazzoni and then switched positions between themselves a few laps later. Unfortunately, for the leader Hulme, he suffered a suspension failure just with a handful of laps to go leaving Andretti to pick up an easy victory. Late in the race pole-sitter Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell) recovered from his bad start and passed Clay Regazzoni for 2nd, after Surtees mechanical gremlins late in the race. This was Andretti's first career win and his only win for Ferrari.

1976 - Niki Lauda (Ferrari) passed what turned out to become his championship rival for the year, the pole-sitter James Hunt (McLaren) at the start and took lights-to-flag victory at the South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami. Hunt actually felt from pole to 4th at the start, but was waved on by his team-mate Jochen Mass and then passed Vittorio Brambilla (March) on lap 5 to finish in 2nd. Later in the race, Mass made short work of Brambilla and completed a double podium for McLaren. This was Lauda's 9th career win and his 2nd from two races. That gave him a massive 12 point lead, ahead of Hunt and Patrick Depailler (9th in the race for Tyrrell).

2005 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) was in his own league as he only lost the lead briefly after the first stop on his way to winning the Australian Grand Prix - opening race of the season. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) made strategic wonders as they jumped from 8th to 4th after the first pit-stop and to 2nd after the second pit-stop combined with a pass on Jarno Trulli (Toyota) who was struggling with tire blistering. Fernando Alonso (Renault) had the same kind of progress from 13th on the grid and completed the podium. This was Fisichella's 2nd career win. Meanwhile, defending champion Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) had a very bad weekend qualifying only 18th due to rain appearing in the middle of qualifying while his race ended in a collision with Nick Heidfeld (Williams).

March 7th:

1970 - Jack Brabham (Brabham) won the opening race of the season - South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami after recovering from a start incident. Jackie Stewart (March) was the pole-sitter and the early leader while behind him Jochen Rindt (Lotus) and Chris Amon (March) tangled, blocking the path for Brabham and dropping him to 6th, however by lap 6 he passed Jacky Ickx (Ferrari), Jean-Pierre Beltoise (Matra), Jackie Oliver (BRM), Bruce McLaren (McLaren) and then by lap 20 he chased down and eventually passed Stewart and went on to win. Denny Hulme also passed Stewart by mid-race and went on to finish 2nd. Defending champion Stewart was left in 3rd. This was Brabham's 14th and last career win. Meanwhile, John Miles (Lotus) finished in 5th and scored his only career points.

1999 - Eddie Irvine (Ferrari) won the opening race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix after the dominating McLaren's retired by mid-race: David Coulthard with transmission problems, while Mika Hakkinen couldn't accelerate at the restart after Jacques Villeneuve (BAR) crash and retired with throttle failure. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan) lost out to Irvine at the start, but kept him on his toes eventually finishing just over a second behind in 2nd. Ralf Schumacher (Williams) ended up in 3rd. This was Irvine's first career win. Meanwhile, Pedro de la Rosa (Arrows) had a great debut race finishing in 6th and scoring a point (his only point of the season).

2004 - Defending champion Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) led every single lap on his way to winning the Australian Grand Prix held in Albert Park. Rubens Barrichello did not threaten his team-mate for the win and met no opposition from behind on his way to completing a Ferrari 1-2, their first 1-2 result since the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso (Renault) passed Jenson Button (BAR) and Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) at the start and finished in a lonely 3rd, half a minute behind the winner. This was Schumacher's 71st career win.

Thanks for taking your time to read

And of course let's remember Tom Pryce and Frederick Jansen van Vuuren. May they Rest in Peace

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

March 8th:

1998 - Mika Hakkinen (McLaren) won a very controversial Australian Grand Prix held in Melbourne after being let passed by his team-mate David Coulthard. Everything was going well for Hakkinen as he led from pole position and had only lost the lead during the first pit-stop exchange. The controversy started when an apparently misheard call over the radio brought him into the pit lane. Thus, he lost the lead to Coulthard. However, that was not the end. With few laps to go Coulthard slowed on purpose to let Hakkinen through. Reason for the move was the pre-race agreement that between the two of them, the driver who led at the first corner would go on to win the race, should he be in the position to do so. The case went to the World Motorsport Council, ending up with the verdict that any future "moves" would be severely punished. 3rd place went to Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Williams) who jumped his team-mate and defending champion Jacques Villeneuve on a pit-stop exchange. Villeneuve's title defense started with a 5th place finish. This was Hakkinen's 2nd career win.

March 9th:

1997 - David Coulthard (McLaren) benefited from problems for others and went on to win the opening race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix, held in Albert Park, Melbourne. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Williams) established himself in the lead at the start after Eddie Irvine (Ferrari) misjudged his braking point and took out the pole-sitter Jacques Villeneuve (Williams) and Johnny Herbert (Sauber). And he was in control, but a lengthy second stop dropped him to 3rd behind Coulthard and Schumacher. After that Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) was in 2nd for most of the race until he was forced to make an unscheduled stop for fuel, dropping him back to 3rd behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Williams), while Coulthard established the lead and never looked back. However, Frentzen was forced to retire just 3 laps from the end when his brakes gave up, sending him into the gravel trap and moving Schumacher back to 2nd and Mika Hakkinen (McLaren) up to 3rd. This was Coulthard's 2nd career win. Meanwhile, Nicola Larini (Sauber) finished in 6th and scored his last ever point. As for the defending champion Damon Hill, his title defense didn't even start as his new "Arrows" retired on parade lap with a stuck throttle.

2003 - David Coulthard (McLaren) won the opening race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix after an almost certain winner Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) spun on his own with 8 laps to go giving away the win. Despite that he held on to 2nd. Meanwhile, a battle for 3rd spot between Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) and Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) ended with the latter being forced onto the grass, losing his right deflector. Despite this he managed to put pressure on Kimi, but his chase felt just short, leaving the defending champion in 4th. This was Coulthard's 13th and last career win. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso brought his Renault home in 7th and scored his first career points.

March 10th:

1991 - Ayrton Senna brought his new McLaren (in which he had absolutely no pre-season testing) to a dominant win in the United States Grand Prix in Phoenix's streets. He won pole position by over a second and led every single lap. Alain Prost (Ferrari) was his closest rival until dropping to 7th after a pit-stop. It wasn't long before he moved back to 2nd passing Stefano Modena (Tyrrell), benefiting from Riccardo Patrese's gearbox failure (a failure which left him stranded on the circuit causing him to be colected by Roberto Moreno) and making a great double overtake on Jean Alesi (Ferrari) and Nelson Piquet (Benetton) while the latter two also switched in the same move. A few laps later Alesi retired with gearbox failure leaving Piquet to complete the podium. This was Ayrton Senna's 27th career win. Meanwhile, Satoru Nakajima (Tyrrell) finished in 5th and scored his last ever points. This race also saw the debut of the future double world champion Mika Hakkinen. He retired 22 laps from the end with an engine failure and was classified 13th in his Lotus.

1996 - Damon Hill won the opening race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix - the race that saw utter domination by the Williams team. Pole position was taken by the debutant Jacques Villeneuve in the second Williams. He led for most of the race until an oil leak slowed him down and demoted him behind Hill. Nevertheless it was a 1-2 for Williams. Eddie Irvine had a dull race from 3rd on the grid. That was exactly were he finished in his Ferrari. This was Hill's 14th career win which equaled his father Graham's total number of wins. Obviously, this was Villeneuve's first podium finish. Meanwhile, defending champion Michael Schumacher did not had the greatest Ferrari debut as he retired on lap 32 with brake failure.

March 11th:

1951 - Luigi Villoresi won the 1st Gran Premio di Siracusa. This was a non-championship event and the first event of the season, held in the Syracuse. He was driving for Ferrari.

1990 - Ayrton Senna (McLaren) won the first race of the year - the United States Grand Prix held at the streets of Phoenix. Jean Alesi (Tyrrell) had the best start going from 4th into the lead while Senna got stuck behind 2nd placed team-mate Gerhard Berger. Then on lap 9 Berger spun and Senna went through to chase down Alesi. He did so eventually on lap 34 and went on to win. Jean Alesi easily held on to 2nd. Thierry Boutsen (Williams) was left in a lonely 3rd. This was 21st win of Senna's career. Alesi's 2nd place finish earned him his first career podium. Meanwhile, Alain Prost's title defence didn't got of to the best of starts as in his first race for Ferrari he retired with an oil leak in the gearbox.

March 12th:

1967 - Dan Gurney won both heats and a subsequent final on his way to winning the first race of the year which was the 2nd Race of Champions held at Brands Hatch circuit. He drove the Eagle T1G. Richie Ginther (Eagle) and John Surtees (Honda) were his main rivals in the heats (3rd/2nd and 2nd/3rd in the heats respectively) but none of them finished in the final, so it was Lorenzo Bandini (Ferrari) that came from the mid-pack and finished 2nd. Jo Siffert (Rob Walker Racing Team Cooper) also wasn't competitive in the heats, but came to life in the final and finished 3rd, completing the podium.

2000 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) easily won the opening round at the Australian Grand Prix after the two leading, front-row starting McLaren's both retired within laps of each other due to engine failures. David Coulthard retired from the lead on lap 11 and then defending champion Mika Hakkinen suffered from the same faith 7 laps later. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan) was destined to finish in 2nd until a refueling problem dropped him down the order leaving Rubens Barrichello to complete a Ferrari 1-2. Ralf Schumacher (Williams) benefited from McLaren and Jordan misfortunes and completed the podium. This was Schumacher's 36th career win. Barrichello managed to get a podium finish in his first race for Ferrari. Jaqcues Villeneuve finished in 4th and secured BAR's first ever points while his team-mate Ricardo Zonta scored his first ever point with a 6th place finish.

2006 - Defending champion Fernando Alonso (Renault) got outstarted by Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), but stayed out longer before the second pit-stop, took advantage of it and won the opening race of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Schumacher tried to pressurise Alonso, but it didn't work and he was forced to settle for 2nd. Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) had to come from 22nd (Last) on the grid after a suspension failure in qualifying and drove through the field to complete the podium. This was Alonso's 9th career win. Meanwhile, a Formula One debutant Nico Rosberg had a great day as he got the fastest lap on his way to 7th place and two points for the Williams team.

March 13th:

1965 - Mike Spence (Lotus) racked up an easy win at the inaugural Race of Champions held at Brands Hatch after the leaders of the first heat retired: Jim Clark (Lotus) won the first heat, but crashed out in second, while Dan Gurney (Brabham) finished 2nd in heat one, but also retired from heat two with an ignition problem. Jackie Stewart (Owen Racing Organization BRM) failed to finish on the podium in either heat (7th/4th), but overall results put him in 2nd. Jo Bonnier (8th/2nd) officially finished a lap behind in 3rd, driving for Brabham entered by Rob Walker Racing Team. This was a non-championship event.

1983 - Nelson Piquet (Brabham) outstarted Patrick Tambay (Ferrari), passed Alain Prost (Renault) on lap 2 and eventually he caught and passed the pole-sitter Keke Rosberg (Williams) on lap 7 and went on to win his home race at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Keke Rosberg managed to stay behind Piquet and finished 2nd on the road. Niki Lauda (McLaren) finished in 3rd after his team-mate John Watson's engine expired while he also took and advantage of his non-stop strategy and passed the fading Alain Prost (Renault). However, that was not the end of the story because FIA decided to disqualify Rosberg because of a push start in the pits after his car momentarily caught fire during refueling. Thus, 2nd place went to...nobody . A poor start of the title defense for Rosberg. This was Piquet's 8th career win.

March 14th:

1964 - Innes Ireland (British Racing Partnership-BRM) won the shortened first event of the season held in atrocious conditions (sleet and snow) at Snetterton that wore the name of 2nd Daily Mirror Trophy after multiple leaders suffered from problems. Race favorites, poleman Jim Clark (Lotus) and Jack Brabham (Brabham) suffered badly from their cars being fitted with smaller wheels than the others and dropped through the field, both eventually retiring with mechanical failures. Graham Hill (Owen Racing Organization BRM) quickly inherited the lead, but it wasn't long until he aquaplaned into an earth bank on lap 6 and retired from the lead. Peter Arundell (Team Lotus) then led, but only until lap 22 when his gearbox failed thus Jo Bonnier got the lead and led briefly until Ireland took the lead from him on lap 26 and pulled away to take the victory. Bonnier (Rob Walker Racing Team Cooper) held on to 2nd. Bruce McLaren (Cooper Car Company) completed the podium.

1976 - James Hunt took his McLaren to victory at the 11th Race of Champions - the first non-championship event of the season held in Brands Hatch.

1993 - Alain Prost (Williams) won the South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami after he recovered from a poor start from pole position. At the start he dropped to 3rd behind Ayrton Senna (McLaren) and Michael Schumacher (Benetton), but on lap 13 he caught and passed Schumacher and eventually did the same with Senna on lap 25 and went on to win the race. Ayrton Senna had to survive the pressure from Schumacher, but the latter's attempt to pass Senna ended in a minor contact causing Schumacher to spin out into a retirement on lap 40. Thus, Riccardo Patrese (Benetton) inherited 3rd, but only until he also spun on lap 47, giving the podium place away to the Ligier of Mark Blundell. This was Prost's 45th career win, while for Blundell this was his first ever podium finish. Meanwhile, defending champion Nigel Mansell moved to Indycar leaving Williams unable to use #1 on their car, thus for the first time since 1973 a car with #0 on it raced. It was Damon Hill that did the honors for the season.

2010 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) benefited from Sebastian Vettel's (Red Bull Racing) misfortune and went on to win the opening race of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix. At the start Vettel maintained the lead with two Ferrari's switching positions - Alonso actually passing Felipe Massa for 2nd. That order was maintained until a few laps after the pit-stops Vettel suddenly dropped off the pace with a problem which after the race was identified as problem with a spark plug. This dropped him through the field promoting Fernando Alonso to a race win, Felipe Massa to 2nd and Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) to 3rd. This was Alonso's 22nd career win which marked a great Ferrari debut. For Felipe Massa this was his first race and first podium after recovering from a horrible incident at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying in the middle of the previous season. Meanwhile, defending champion Jenson Button, making his McLaren debut, had a timid race finishing over 40 seconds behind in 7th. He was just one second behind the guy making his F1 comeback - Michael Schumacher finished 6th for Mercedes in what was his first race since retiring in 2006.

Thanks for taking your time to read

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

March 15th:

1981 - Defending champion Alan Jones (Williams) won the opening race of the year at the United States Grand Prix West, held on the streets of Long Beach. Riccardo Patrese (Arrows) was the pole sitter and led early on followed by Carlos Reutemann (Williams) and Jones. That was the case until lap 25 when Reutemann caught and passed Patrese just before the latter started to suffer from misfiring engine and eventually retired not long after losing the lead. However, Carlos didn't last in the lead too long as he was caught by Jones. Then on lap 32 Reutemann slid wide while lapping Marc Surer (Ensign) and let Jones through to the lead. After that Jones easily pulled away and won the race. Reutemann had no trouble completing a Williams 1-2. The podium was completed by Nelson Piquet (Brabham) who had a lonely race and finished half-a-minute behind the Williams drivers. This was Jones'es 11th career win. Meanwhile, Eddie Cheever finished in 5th for Tyrrell and scored his first career points.

March 16th:

1952 - Alberto Ascari secured his first win of the year by winning the non-championship event called the 2nd Gran Premio di Siracusa. He drove for Ferrari.

1969 - Jackie Stewart (Matra International) passed the pole-sitter Graham Hill (Team Lotus) and went on to win the 4th Race of Champions held in Brands Hatch. Hill ended up a close 2nd. The podium was completed by Denny Hulme (Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd), he finished a lap down. Stewart racked up his 2nd win of the year, 2 weeks after winning the South African Grand Prix. This was the first non-championship event of the year.

1975 - Tom Pryce (Shadow) had a poor start from pole-position, but recovered by the end of lap 1 to win the 10th Race of Champions, a non-championship event held at Brands Hatch. He dropped behind Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell), Ronnie Peterson (Lotus) and Jacky Ickx (Lotus), but passed them all very soon. Just after mid-race Scheckter retired from 2nd place with an engine failure. That elevated Peterson to 2nd and Ickx to 3rd, but only until they were both passed by charging John Watson (Surtees). He was the one that finished in 2nd. Peterson completed the podium.

2008 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) led for most of the way only losing the lead briefly at the pit-stops and took an easy win at the opening event of the year - the Australian Grand Prix held in Melbourne. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) was in 2nd for most of the race, but on lap 48 he collided with Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) and retired thus his team-mate Nick Heidfeld inherited 2nd. Nico Rosberg (Williams) was in strategic battle with Heidfeld, but because they both pitted on the same lap, nothing changed and Rosberg finished in 3rd. This was Hamilton's 5th career win. Meanwhile, for Rosberg this was his maiden podium finish. Also in this race, Kazuki Nakajima secured his first career points by finishing in 6th. It was the same case for Sebastian Bourdais (Toro Rosso) who finished in 7th. Behind those two there was the defending champion Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) who had an interesting afternoon. After starting from 15th he made quick progress up to 8th in the first lap, but two moments in the middle of the race ruined his race. First was just after the restart (after Coulthard and Massa collision) as Räikkönen made an over-ambitious move on Kovalainen for second place and outbraked himself into turn 3 losing several places while the second one, well....

Eventually he did got classified in 8th although his engine expired 5 laps from the end.

Thanks for taking your time to read

Rokas

 

[Paul M Jones]

RIP Tom Pryce. 38 years since you won the ROC. I'll forever be a fan.

Tom am byth!

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

March 17th:

1968 - Bruce McLaren (in his own McLaren Motor Racing Ltd entry) converted the pole position into an easy race win at the 3rd Race of Champions held at Brands Hatch. Pedro Rodriguez (Owen Racing Organization) came from the midfield and finished in 2nd. Denny Hulme completed the podium and made it two McLaren's in the top 3. This was the first non-championship event of the year.

1974 - Jacky Ickx (Lotus) came from 11th on the grid and won the non-championship 9th Race of Champions held at Brands Hatch. He also got the fastest lap on his way to victory. Niki Lauda (Ferrari) started from 3rd and was at the front from the start, but Ickx was just too fast for him although he finished just 1.5 second behind. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren) had a very lonely race and finished nearly 20 seconds behind and completed the podium. This was Ickx's only win of the year.

2002 - Ralf Schumacher (Williams-BMW) won the Malaysian Grand Prix held in Sepang.
Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) was on pole and was challenged for the lead in the first turn by Montoya. This was the result:

This left Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), Ralf, Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) and David Coulthard (McLaren) to battle out for the lead. It wasn't long before both McLaren went out with engine failures while the other two had a strategic battle. Barrichello lost out to Ralf (1 stop strategy) after his 2nd pit stop, but he was catching Ralf rapidly until he was too forced to retire with engine failure. This moved Jenson Button (Renault) to 2nd, but sadly his car was not quick enough especially after developing a suspension problem and he was forced to drop behind the recovering Montoya and Michael Schumacher who went on to finish 2nd and 3rd. This was Ralf Schumacher's 4th career win. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa finished in 6th for Sauber and scored his first ever point. In terms of championship M.Schumacher still led, but now only 2 points ahead of Montoya who remained in 2nd, while Ralf Schumacher's win moved him straight into the 3rd spot, 4 points behind.

2013 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus Renault) made his two-stop strategy work, jumped the field with 15 laps to go and won the opening race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix held in Albert Park. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) made his second stop earlier than Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Sebastian Vettel (Infinity Red Bull Racing) jumped both of them and went on to finish in 2nd. Meanwhile, a poor strategy for Massa saw him staying out for too long in the first stint and he lost eventual 3rd to the defending champion Vettel who completed the podium despite suffering from quite severe tire wear. This was Raikkonen's 20th career win which equaled the win tally of the most successful Finn in Formula One - Mika Hakkinen. Meanwhile, Adrian Sutil had a great F1 comeback as he led briefly in the first stint due to him being the late pit stopper and eventually finished in a great 7th for Force India.

March 18th:

1973 - Peter Gethin (Chevron-Chevrolet) won the first non-championship event of the year - the 8th Race of Champions held at Brands Hatch circuit. This was his only win of the year.

2001 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) won a chaotic Malaysian Grand Prix held in Sepang after driving through the field. He started on pole and was in control, but on lap 3 rain began to fall causing both him and his team-mate Rubens Barrichello to go very wide. This elevated Jarno Trulli (Jordan) into the race lead while the Ferrari's dropped to 7th and 3rd respectively. Then the downpour increased and caused the safety car to come out. Jarno Trulli managed to spin out behind the safety car which gave away the lead to David Coulthard (McLaren). Meanwhile, everyone pitted and there was once again some bad fortune for Ferrari as Barrichello endured a 72 second pit-stop with Schumacher waiting in queue. So it was Coulthard (McLaren) that led at the restart with Ferrari's in 10th and 11th. However, the pace of Ferrari's after the restart was rather good because after switching places at the restart they both went through the field, and 5 laps after the restart they were... 1-2, with Coulthard in 3rd. And that was the result. Michael Schumacher won and scored his 46th career win and his 2nd from two races. That gave him a 10-point lead in the championship ahead of Coulthard and Barrichello who were tied for 2nd.

2007 - Kimi Raikkonen (making his debut for Ferrari) pretty much dominated the Australian Grand Prix, only losing the lead during pit-stops. Meanwhile, the battle for the other podium placings went the strategical way. Nick Heidfeld (BMW-Sauber) and the debutant Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) passed Fernando Alonso (McLaren) at the start. However after the first pit-stop Heidfeld pitted first and that meant that Hamilton, who was on a heavier fuel load, jumped him at the pit-stops and was now in 2nd with Alonso in 3rd. And that was the standings until the 2nd stops when Alonso-Hamilton situation went the other way around with Hamilton pitting first and Alonso afterwards. That meant that Alonso and Hamilton switched positions again and that was it. This was Raikkonen's 10th career win. Alonso's title defence started with a 2nd place finish while Lewis Hamilton made the podium on his debut. This was also the first race in World Championship history where all three podium finishers were making their debut for their team, disregarding the very first F1 race in 1950 where all drivers made their debuts.

2012 - Jenson Button (McLaren) led all but two laps (because of the pit stops) and easily won the opening event of the season at the Australian Grand Prix held at Albert Park. The battle for 2nd meanwhile went down between Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and the defending champion Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing), but before that commenced Vettel disposed of the two Mercedes drivers. He passed Nico Rosberg early on and benefited from Michael Schumacher's gearbox failure. Vettel managed to jump Hamilton at the second pit-stop and finished in 2nd with Hamilton in 3rd. This was Button's 13th career win. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) finished in 9th on his debut in his home race and scored 2 points.

Congratulations to all RD Formula One fans on the start of the new season and thanks for taking your time to read.

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

March 19th:

1972 - Emerson Fittipaldi (Lotus) won the first non-championship event of the new season as he won the 7th Race of Champions held at Brands Hatch. This was his only win at this event.

1978 - Keke Rosberg (Theodore Racing) surprised everyone as in only his 2nd Formula One race he came from the midfield and won the non-championship 30th BRDC International Trophy Race held in torrential rain at Silverstone. He finished just 2 seconds ahead of the double world champion Emerson Fittipaldi (Copersucar Fittipaldi). The podium was completed by the local Tony Trimmer (Melchester Racing McLaren).

2006 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) led from pole position and met little opposition as he drove to victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix held in Sepang. He only surrendered the lead briefly during the pit stop exchanges. His team-mate Fernando Alonso didn't had the greatest qualifying, but had an amazing start jumping from 7th to 3rd and developed a strategical battle with Jenson Button (Honda) - a battle which he won by staying out longer before the second stop. Button was left to content with 3rd. This was Fisichella's 3rd and last career win. In terms of the championship Alonso now established a 7 point lead over both Michael Schumacher (Ferrari, 6th place in the race) and Jenson Button with Fisichella in 4th, 8 points behind.

March 20th:

1977 - James Hunt (McLaren) drove his car to victory at the 12th Race of Champions, held at Brands Hatch. This was the only non-championship race held that year and one of the last ever non-championship races in Formula One history. By the way, this was Hunt's 2nd win in this event, his first came a year before.

2005 - Fernando Alonso (Renault) took a dominant win from pole position at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. He led all, but 5 laps. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) was pretty much stuck in 2nd position from the start and had a lonely race finishing 25 seconds behind in 2nd. With this result he secured the first ever podium finish for Toyota. Meanwhile, a battle for 3rd between Mark Webber (Williams-BMW) and championship leader Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) ended up in a collision. Thus, 3rd place went to Nick Heidfeld (Williams-BMW). This was Alonso's 2nd career win. This result made him the new championship leader 6 points ahead of his non finishing team-mate. Meanwhile, Trulli's 2nd place enabled him to go up into the shared 3rd between himself, Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari, his 200th GP, a non-finisher) and David Coulthard (Red Bull, 6th place in the race) in the championship.

March 21st:

1971 - Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) came from 3rd on the grid and dominated the 6th Race of Champions, a non-championship event held in Brands Hatch. That was his only win of the year and also his only win in this event. Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell) was the pole-sitter, but was no match for Clay and finished 24 seconds behind in 2nd. John Surtees (Surtees) was the first car a lap down in 3rd.

1982 - Alain Prost (Renault) won the opening race of the year at the Brazilian Grand Prix after some weight controversy. Prost was the pole-sitter but very quickly dropped through the field and it was Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari) that went into the lead. Behind him Keke Rosberg (Williams) passed Rene Arnoux and Alain Prost (both driving the turbocharged Renault's) only to be swallowed by both of them in the straight. It has gone worse for Rosberg as a few laps later the two Brabham's (Riccardo Patrese and Nelson Piquet) also disposed of him. It then developed into a great battle between all of them. Piquet passed both Prost and Arnoux and went 2nd. It wasn't long before Rosberg did the same and went up to 3rd. After that both chargers started to chase the runaway leader Villeneuve. They did catch him, but couldn't pass him. So they started to fight between themselves. Rosberg pulled a move on Piquet twice, but each time failed to keep the place. He once went wide, while on the other occasion he made the move successful only to be slip-streamed passed by Piquet. However, while all of this was happening they caught and started to pressurize the leader Villeneuve. That eventually paid off as in a desperate defensive move Villeneuve left his braking way too late and spun off into a retirement. After that Piquet and Rosberg cruised home to finish in 1st and 2nd. Meanwhile, in a battle for 3rd Riccardo Patrese was destined to finish in that place, but unfortunately a late race spin gave away that place to Prost. That was the result, but after the race Piquet and Rosberg were both disqualified for their cars being underweight. Thus, Prost took the victory. John Watson (McLaren) and Nigel Mansell (Lotus) took advantage of that and got 2nd and 3rd respectively. This was Prost's 5th career win and his second from two races that year. Michele Alboreto meanwhile finished in 4th for Tyrrell and scored his first ever points. It was the same case for Manfred Winkelhock (ATS) who had his only ever points finish, getting two points for 5th. In terms of the championship Prost now had 11 point lead (more that a race cushion) over John Watson. Carlos Reutemann (Williams, 12 points behind) was demoted to 3rd behind Watson after failing to finish the race.

2004 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) continued his dominant start of the season as he only surrendered the lead during the pit stops on his way to winning the Malaysian Grand Prix. He led off the start followed by his team-mate Rubens Barrichello who was working as a "guard" for Michael. However, he went wide on the 1st lap letting Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW) and Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) through. It was Montoya vs Schumacher in a strategical battle, but Michael managed to pull out a bit of a lead before the first stop and that haunted Montoya for the whole race as after the last stop it was those few seconds that denied Montoya a win. Meanwhile in 3rd there was Jenson Button (BAR Honda) who managed to dispose of Barrichello and Raikkonen as the race progressed and scored his maiden podium finish. This was Schumacher's 72nd career win and his 2nd from 2 races. This allowed him to extend the lead in the championship to 7 points ahead of Barrichello (4th in the race) and 8 points ahead of Montoya.

March 22nd:

1953 - Toulo de Graffenried (Maserati) won the first non-championship event of the year as he drove to victory at the 3rd Gran Premio di Siracusa. This was his only win at this event.

1970 - Jackie Stewart (defending World Champion, driving for March) converted pole position into a victory at the non-championship 5th Race of Champions held at Brands Hatch. Jochen Rindt (Lotus) came from the second row to finish half a minute behind in 2nd. The podium was completed by Denny Hulme (McLaren) - last car on the lead lap. This was Stewart's first win of the year and 2nd win of this event, having won it the year before (he drove for Matra on that occasion).

1992 - Nigel Mansell (Williams) led from start to finish and went on to win in what was the last ever Mexican Grand Prix held in Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Riccardo Patrese was also on his own for the whole race and finished 13 seconds behind, completing a Williams 1-2. And in 3rd place there was Michael Schumacher (Benetton) who passed his team-mate Martin Brundle early on and also benefited from a transmission problem for Ayrton Senna (McLaren). This was Mansell's 23rd career win and his 2nd from two races. This allowed him extend the lead over Patrese (who incidentally finished 2nd in both races) to 8 points. Meanwhile, with his first ever podium finish Michael Schumacher passed Senna for 3rd in the championship and was now 13 points behind the lead.

March 23rd:

1986 - Nelson Piquet (Williams) won the opening race of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix held in Jacarepagua. Ayrton Senna (Lotus) was the pole sitter for the race, but it wasn't long until he was challenged by the two Williams drivers. First one to attempt the pass was Nigel Mansell, but he failed miserably...

His team-mate Piquet, however, was more successful in passing Senna on lap 3 and after that he just ran away into the distance and won. Senna settled for 2nd, half a minute behind. Meanwhile, Jacques Laffite (Ligier) passed his team-mate Rene Arnoux and finished 3rd, but only after the hard charging defending champion Alain Prost (McLaren) was forced to retire with engine failure. This was Piquet's 14th career win. Meanwhile, Martin Brundle (Tyrrell) finished in 5th and scored his first career points.

2003 - Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) won the Malaysian Grand Prix after winning the strategical battle. Fernando Alonso (Renault) was on pole position and easily led away at the start, meanwhile his team-mate Jarno Trulli was forced into a spin in the first corner by Michael Schumacher (Ferrari). This elevated the championship leader David Coulthard (McLaren) and Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) into 2nd and 3rd. However, Coulthard was forced to retire as early as lap 2 due to electronics failure. Later on the first pit-stops arrived spelling doom for Alonso because he was on a lighter fuel load then Raikkonen, thus Kimi jumped him at the first pit stop and never looked back. It was the same situation for Alonso on the second stop, this time it was Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) who benefited. And that was it. Kimi Raikkonen scored his first career win and became the new championship leader, 6 points ahead of his non-finishing team-mate. Meanwhile for Fernando Alonso this was his first F1 podium.

2008 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) jumped his team-mate and the pole sitter Felipe Massa after the first pit stop and went on to win the Malaysian Grand Prix held in Sepang. Later on in the race Massa spun out (still failing to cope with the lack of traction control, a rule change for that year) thus giving away 2nd place to Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber). Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) came from 8th on the grid and completed the podium. This was Raikkonen's 16th career win. With that he moved to 2nd in the championship, tied with Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber, 6th place in the race) and 3 points behind the leader Lewis Hamilton (McLaren, 5th place in the race).

2013 - Sebastian Vettel (Infinity Red Bull Racing) scored pole position ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix. This was the 38th pole position of his career.

I wish you all an epic Malaysian Grand Prix and as always thank you for taking your time to read this.

Rokas

 

[the_sigman]

Listen to the celebration of the crowd in the Mansell video. Great job once again Rokas Charlapavicius

 

[the_sigman]

edit

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

March 24th:

1991 - Ayrton Senna (McLaren) led from pole position and had to put a majestic drive after he lost 4th and than later 3rd and 5th gears to win the Brazilian Grand Prix held in Interlagos. Nigel Mansell (Williams) was his challenger for the race, but suffered from bad luck. His first stop lasted a massive 14 seconds and after he recovered from that he suffered a puncture. And to top the things off his gearbox failed with 10 laps to go. It was then Riccardo Patrese's (Williams) turn to try and catch ailing Senna, but because Patrese had gearbox problems of his own he felt short and finished just 3 seconds behind in 2nd. The podium was completed by Gerhard Berger (McLaren). This was Senna's 28th career win and his 2nd from two races that year. This win allowed him extend the championship lead against Alain Prost (Ferrari, 6th in the race) to 11 points. Patrese's podium was his first points finish of the season and those points moved him into a shared 3rd with Nelson Piquet (Benetton, 5th in the race).

2013 - Sebastian Vettel (Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault) won the controversial Malaysian Grand Prix held in Sepang. He was on pole position and led in the first laps until he was the first to gamble on slicks. This meant that after the first pit stop he dropped a bit, however it wasn't long before he regained the lead. After the second stop though he did lost the lead to his team-mate Mark Webber. And then the controversy started as Vettel went against team orders and passed Webber for the victory a few laps from the end. Despite all this it was a Red Bull Racing 1-2. Meanwhile, behind them there was the two Mercedes drivers: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. They were in the same "teamwork" situation, however they did hold station and finished 3rd and 4th respectively. This was Vettel's 27th career win which equaled him with Jackie Stewart in terms of wins. This also allowed him to pass Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus, 7th in the race) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, early race DNF) for the lead in the drivers championship. Raikkonen is now 9 points behind in 2nd, while Webber jumped to 3rd and is 14 points behind.

March 25th:

1984 - Alain Prost (McLaren) won the opening race of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix held at Jacarepagua. Michele Alboreto (Ferrari) had the best start and led early on until a loose bolt in his car's right front brake caliper released all the brake fluid, causing his brakes to overheat, ending his race in the process. This released Niki Lauda (McLaren) into a massive 40 second lead. However, he was not to finish as his car suffered an electrical failure. After another leader retirement it was now Derek Warwick (Renault) and Alain Prost battling it out for the lead. Prost managed to catch and pass Warwick, but shortly afterwards he pitted for tires. However, the battle was short lived because Warwick was forced to retire with suspension failure, leaving Prost a runaway winner. After all of this it was Keke Rosberg (Williams) that came 2nd. Pole sitter Elio de Angelis (Lotus) finished in 3rd. Defending World Champion Nelson Piquet (Brabham) failed to finish after an engine failure. This was Prost's 10th career win. Meanwhile, Thierry Boutsen finished in 6th for Arrows and scored his first career point.

1990 - Alain Prost (Ferrari) won the Brazilian Grand Prix. Ayrton Senna (McLaren) was the pole-sitter and early leader while behind him there was Gerhard Berger (McLaren), Thierry Boutsen (Williams) and Prost. It wasn't too long before both Boutsen and Prost passed Berger to go up into 2nd and 3rd. That was the order until lap 30 when Boutsen's pit-stop did not gone well as he crashed into the pit equipment due to failing brakes. Prost, meanwhile, was now piling on the pressure on the runaway leader Senna and it paid off when Senna made contact with a back marker Satoru Nakajima (Tyrrell) forcing Senna to pit for a nosecone. After that Prost drove to victory. Meanwhile, Riccardo Patrese (Williams) climbed to 2nd, unfortunately he was forced to retire just 6 laps from the end due to oil pressure problems. Thus, Berger ended up 2nd. Senna managed to recover to 3rd. This was Prost's 40th career win. Ayrton Senna still led the championship with 13 points, 4 points ahead of the race winner.

2012 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) won the Malaysian Grand Prix held in Sepang. The race started in wet conditions and caused massive chaos. The race was suspended for an hour or so. After the restart almost everyone pitted thus it was Alonso and Sergio Perez (Sauber, who changed his tires to Intermediates before the Red Flag) that emerged in front. After the mid-point of the race Perez started to rapidly catch Alonso, he was on his tail until the pit stops on laps 39 to 42, after which Perez lost time, only to catch Alonso rapidly again. However, just as Perez was about to make a move on Alonso he made a mistake in turn 14 and ran wide. That settled the race positions. The podium was completed by Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) who had a very timid race from pole and only lost out to the charging leading duo. This was Alonso's 28th career win. It was also the first ever podium finish for Sergio Perez. Meanwhile, Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) finished in 8th and scored his first career points. This win elevated Alonso from 5th into the lead of the championship. He was 5 points ahead of Hamilton, with the pre-race championship leader Jenson Button (McLaren, 14th in the race) now 3rd, 10 points behind.

March 26th:

1951 - Luigi Villoresi (Ferrari) won the non-championship 12th Pau Grand Prix. This was his only win at this event and his 2nd and last win of the year.

1951 - Birabongse Bhanudej, better known as B.Bira, won the non-championship 3rd Richmond Trophy held at Goodwood. This was his only ever Formula One race win. He drove for Maserati.

1961 - Jack Brabham (Tommy Atkins entered Cooper) won the non-championship 2nd Lombank Trophy held at Snetterton. This event is best known as marking the start of a new era, as this was the first race in Europe to be run to the new 1.5 liter rules although they were no match for those few that ran and actually finished in the Inter-Continental Formula cars (the 2.5 litre ones). Brabham was one of them and behind him Cliff Allison (UDT-Laystall Racing Team Lotus) were the only finishers of the 2.5 liter group. The podium was completed by John Surtees (Yeoman Credit Racing Team Cooper). This was Brabham's first win of the year and his only win at this event.

1989 - Nigel Mansell (Ferrari) made a great start from 6th on the grid, passed Thierry Boutsen (Williams) early on and afterwards chased down and passed the leader Riccardo Patrese (Williams) on lap 15 and went on to win the opening race of the year - Brazilian Grand Prix held at Jacarepagua (the circuits last ever Grand Prix). Alain Prost (McLaren) was pretty much on his own as he only led during the periods between Mansell's and his own pit stops and easily took 2nd after his main rival for that position Patrese retired with a camshaft pulley failure. Thus, 3rd place went to Mauricio Gugelmin (March). This was Mansell's 14th career win. This was also the only career podium for Gugelmin. Johnny Herbert (Benetton) finished in 4th and scored 3 points on his debut. Meanwhile, it was not such a good day for the defending champion Ayrton Senna (McLaren) as he was out-started and then spun out in the first corner. He eventually finished 11th.

1995 - Michael Schumacher (Benetton) won the opening race of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He had the better start and passed the pole sitter Damon Hill (Williams Renault) with David Coulthard (Williams Renault) running in 3rd. That was the order until the first stop when Hill jumped Schumacher. The new race order was maintained until lap 30 when sadly Hill's race was cut short by the spin which was caused by the gearbox failure. Thus, Schumacher and Coulthard just finished of the remaining laps with Coulthard being unable to challenge for the lead. Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) was the best of the rest as he completed the podium although he was a lap down. This was 11th career win for the defending champion Schumacher.

2000 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) won the Brazilian Grand Prix after passing the pole-sitter Mika Hakkinen (McLaren) on lap 2. It was pretty much plain sailing for Schumacher afterwards, especially after Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) later retired within laps of each other with oil pressure and hydraulics problems respectively. Thus, the second McLaren of David Coulthard (McLaren) finished in 2nd. Giancarlo Fisichella (Benetton) completed the podium. However, this was not the end of the story because after the race all of the top six cars except for Fisichella were disqualified because they had problems with their wooden floors. The teams appealed but while the FIA was scrutineering the cars again, they found out that the front wing end plates on Coulthard's car were 7mm lower than they should have been. Thus, the position of everyone except for Coulthard was reinstated meaning that Fisichella ended up 2nd. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan) was moved up into the podium position. This was Schumacher's 37th career win and his 2nd from two races. That moved him 12 points clear of the new 2nd place man Fisichella. Also in this race, Jenson Button finished in 6th for Williams and scored his first career point.

Sorry for the delay, I will try to catch up as soon as I'm able to.

Thank you for taking your time to read.

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

March 27th:

1955 - Alberto Ascari (Lancia) won the non-championship 7th Gran Premio del Valentino, held in the Valentino Park. That was his first win of the year.

1983 - John Watson (McLaren) came from 22nd on the grid and won the United States Grand Prix West held at Long Beach. His team-mate Niki Lauda stamped McLaren's authority and came from 23rd on the grid to complete a McLaren 1-2. Rene Arnoux completed the podium for Ferrari. With the championship leader Nelson Piquet (Brabham) failing to finish due to throttle problems it was Lauda that now led the championship by a point. Watson meanwhile tied with Piquet for 2nd and 3rd in the championship. By the way, this was Watson's 5th and last career win. Meanwhile, Johnny Cecotto (Theodore) finished in 6th and scored his only career point.

1994 - Michael Schumacher (Benetton) won the opening race of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix held at Interlagos. The race started with the pole-man Ayrton Senna (Williams) in the lead, while Jean Alesi (Ferrari) overtook Schumacher. On lap two, however, Schumacher reclaimed 2nd and went after Senna. He closed him down and jumped him after the first pit stop. After the second pit stop Senna started to close back in, only to spin out and retire. Thus, 2nd went to Damon Hill (Williams) although he was a lap down. Jean Alesi completed the podium. This was Schumacher's 3rd career win. Meanwhile, Ukyo Katayama (Tyrrell) finished in 5th and scored his first career points.

2011 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Renault) dominated, leading all but 3 laps on his way to winning the opening race of the year at the Australian Grand Prix held in Albert Park. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) was Vettel's closest challenger all weekend, however his challenge was cut short after he had an off-track excursion at the first corner which damaged his under tray. Nevertheless, he finished in 2nd. Vitaly Petrov (Renault) completed the podium after he made his two stop strategy work and jumped Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Mark Webber (Red Bull Renault). This was 11th career win for the defending champion. This was also the only career podium for Vitaly Petrov. Meanwhile, Paul di Resta (Force India) finished in 10th and scored a point on his debut.

March 28th:

1971 - Mario Andretti (Ferrari) won the non-championship Questor Grand Prix held in Ontario Motor Speedway. That was his 2nd and last win of the year, having won the opening race of the season which was the South African Grand Prix, held three weeks earlier.

1976 - Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) was untouchable as he led every single lap on his way to a dominant win at the United States Grand Prix West held at Long Beach. Niki Lauda passed Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell) on lap 5 and went on to complete a Ferrari 1-2. Depailler did complete the podium, but only after he recovered from a spin which dropped him to 7th. After his mistake he quickly got passed Jean-Pierre Jarier (Shadow) and Ronnie Peterson (March) and then benefited from Tom Pryce's (Shadow) and Jody Scheckter's (Tyrrell) retirements. This was Regazzoni's 4th career win. Meanwhile, Emerson Fittipaldi finished in 6th and thus secured a maiden point for his very own Coopersucar team. In the championship race Lauda further extended his lead, he was now 14 points ahead of Depailler, with the race winner now in 3rd a further point behind.

1993 - Ayrton Senna (McLaren) won the Brazilian Grand Prix held at Interlagos. Alain Prost (Williams) was the pole-sitter and early leader while Damon Hill (Williams) passed Senna for 2nd early on. Afterwards it's gone worse for Senna as he received a drive through penalty for lapping under yellow flags. But then the rain appeared, causing crashes and the appearance of the safety car. Everyone, except for Prost pitted for wets. That turned out to be a bad decision as the rain got heavier and thus a few laps later Prost lost control and collected Christian Fittipaldi (Minardi) taking them both out. After the restart when the track began to dry it was a time for slicks. Michael Schumacher (Benetton) fell out of contention for the win when his car fell off its jacks. Shortly after the pit stop exchange Senna caught Hill, passed him and went on to win. This was Senna's 37th career win. It was also the first F1 podium finish for Damon Hill. Meanwhile, Alessandro Zanardi (Lotus) finished in 6th and scored his first and only ever point. With Prost failing to finish Senna became the new championship leader, 6 points ahead of Prost.

2010 - Jenson Button (McLaren) won the Australian Grand Prix after he was the first to switch to slicks, a decision that proved to be the call of the race. The race started on the damp circuit with Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) in the lead, but he remained there only until lap 25 when he retired with a torque drive failure. Thus, Jenson Button, who after making a risky call was doing laps way faster than anyone else inherited the lead when other pitted and went on to win. Robert Kubica (Renault) finished in 2nd after Red Bull kept Mark Webber on intermediates for too long dropping him out of contention. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) completed the podium after in an alternative strategy move Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) chose to stop from 3rd and 4th, but when they caught up with the bunch they suffered from tire degradation and were unable to regain the placings. That was Button's 8th career win and his first for McLaren. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, 4th in the race) still led the championship from Massa, but now only by 4 points with Button now in 3rd, 6 points behind.

Thanks for taking your time to read.

Rokas

 

[the_sigman]

 

[Shane Butler]

What a truly shocking video. I wish I didnt watch that..

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

Hello? It's me. Has been a while hasn't it? As I was considering the return to sim-racing I stumbled across this thread, on which a spent quite a lot of time on in the past. And I thought that it would be a good idea to attempt a revival of it and maybe, just maybe, more or less finish it. Having evaluated my writings up to the most recent post (more than four years ago ) I've decided to downscale a lot, so that hopefully more people would come around to read it (which seemed not to be the case when I left the thread). And also these will not by anywhere close to daily or on the actual date as I just want to continue where I left off at my own pace so that I would not find forcing myself to make these again which was the reason for the cease the last time (because i did enjoy making them in the beginning before I overdone it and got in a rut). I hope you will dig and as long if there's any feedback hopefully we'll carry on Cheers.

So here we go...

March 29

1975 - Ian Scheckter (the elder brother of 1979 Formula One champion Jody Scheckter) won the Goldfields 100, driving for Tyrrell. This race was a part of South African Formula One championship.

1981 - Carlos Reutemann refused to accept team orders and won the Brazilian Grand Prix held at Jacarepagua finishing ahead of Williams team leader Alan Jones. His 11th career win. Marc Surer finished 4th for Ensign to score his first points.

1998 - Mika Hakkinen completed a weekend sweep as he got pole, fastest lap and led every lap on his way to a McLaren 1-2 in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. His 3rd career win and also in a row.

2009 - Jenson Button completed a fairytale as he won the season opening Australian Grand Prix in a newly reformed Brawn GP (his 2nd career win). Rubens Barrichello completed a 1-2 for the team. Brawn GP became the first constructor since Mercedes-Benz at the 1954 French Grand Prix to qualify on pole position, and then go on to win the race on their Grand Prix debut. Sebastian Buemi scored points on his debut by finishing in 7th for Torro Rosso.

2015 - Sebastian Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix driving for Ferrari. His 40th Grand Prix win and Ferrari's first in almost two years. Meanwhile Max Verstappen scored his first ever points by finishing in 7th for Torro Rosso.

Thank you for reading and reacting.

P.S. Checking out the previous posts would be appreciated as well .

Rocky

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

March 30th:

1959 - Stirling Moss (driving for Cooper) scored his fourth win of the season by winning the non-championship Glover Trophy race, held at Goodwood.

1963 - Graham Hill won the first event of the year as he drove his BRM P57 from the back of the field to victory at the non-championship 4th Lombank Trophy held at Snetterton.

1964 - Jim Clark (Lotus) won the 1st News of the World Trophy (formelly known as Lombank Trophy) race held at Snetterton after a race long leader and defending race winner Graham Hill (BRM) suffered a mechanical failure with two laps to go.

1969 - Jack Brabham (in a car of his own make) won the 21st running of the BRDC International Trophy held at Silverstone, just a couple of seconds ahead of Jochen Rindt in a Lotus, who drove the fastest lap of the race.

1972 - Carlos Reutemann dominated the 1st Brazilian Grand Prix driving for Brabham, finishing more than a minute and a half ahead of Ronnie Peterson (March). This was a non-championship event held at Interlagos to test the venues ability to host a GP.

1974 - Carlos Reutemann (Brabham) scored his maiden Grand Prix win in the South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami after race leader Niki Lauda (Ferrari) broke down with three laps to go. Jean-Pierre Beltoise finished 2nd for BRM to score his 8th and last podium finish of his career. It was the same case for motorcycling legend Mike Hailwood who finished 3rd in a McLaren (his 2nd and last podium). Hans-Joakim Stuck's 5th place for March secured his first career points. The race, however, was overshadowed by a fatal accident in practice which killed Peter Revson in his Shadow.

1980 - Nelson Piquet (Brabham) scored a grand slam at he took pole, fastest lap and led every lap on a way to his maiden career Formula One win at Long Beach in the United States West Grand Prix. Meanwhile the former two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi finished 3rd in what turned out to be his last F1 podium, driving for his very own team. Also the defending world champion Jody Scheckter finished in 5th for Ferrari in what turned out to be his last ever points scoring finish. The weekend also turned out to be the last in Formula One for Clay Regazzoni, who suffered spinal damage when he lost the brakes in his Ensign and struck a parked car followed by a concrete barrier in practice.

1997 - Jacques Villeneuve took the weekend sweep as he won the Brazilian Grand Prix after a short battle with Michael Schumacher (Ferrari). This was his 5th career win.

2014 - Lewis Hamilton dominated the Malaysian Grand Prix in his Mercedes, taking pole (his 33rd - equaling Jim Clark for most poles by a british driver) and fastest lap on the way as well, making this his first ever Grand Chelem. That was his 23rd career win.

Thank you so much for checking this out.

Rokas.

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

Hello, it's me again with another history attack. A short one this time

March 31st:

1996 - Damon Hill (driving for Williams) led all but 3 laps on his way to a win in Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos from pole position. It was his 15th career win, which made it two out of two for the season.

2002 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) won the Brazilian Grand Prix after holding off a first lap charge from Juan Pablo Montoya (which resulted in him losing a front wing from his Williams) and a chase from Ralf Schumacher in the other Williams. That was his 55th career win. Meanwhile Mika Salo finished in 6th for Toyota and scored his last points in F1.

Thanks for checking this out. Appreciated.

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

Onto the new month we roll...

April fools:

1962 - Willy Mairesse (driving for Ferrari) won his home Grand Prix held at Heysel Park circuit in Brussels, Belgium - a non-championship event. The race was run in an interesting format - the winner was decided after combining the results of three heats consisting of 22 laps each. That was his first win in a Formula One car.

2001 - David Coulthard (McLaren) won the Brazilian Grand Prix (his 10th career win) held at Interlagos after the early leader Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) was hit in the back by a lapped Jos Verstappen in the Arrows (crash @1:50).

Afterwards, when the rain appeared, Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) inherited the lead from Coulthard in the pit stops for wets, but couldn't cope with the conditions - making two big mistakes, giving the win away and settling for 2nd. Third was occupied by Nick Heidfeld in a Sauber - his first Formula One podium.

Thank you for checking these out. Appreciated.

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

April 2nd:

1956 - Stirling Moss easily won from pole position in the fourth annual running of the non-championship Glover Trophy Formula One race held at Goodwood, driving for Maserati.

1978 - Carlos Reutemann (Ferrari) won the United States Grand Prix West held at Long Beach after the leader of the first half of the race Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari) collided with Clay Regazzoni's Shadow while lapping him. With his 7th career win he was now equal first with Mario Andretti (Lotus) in the championship. Riccardo Patrese finished in 6th for Arrows scoring teams' first point in F1.

2006 - Fernando Alonso won the Australian Grand Prix and extended his lead in the championship after taking the lead early on from the pole-sitter Jenson Button in a Honda. This very chaotic race, which saw 4 safety car periods culminated in this spectalular engine blow out by Button...

Meanwhile Ralf Schumacher finished in 3rd for Toyota, scoring his last F1 podium. This was Alonso's 10th win in Formula One.

Thank you very much for taking the time to check this out.

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

Hello there

April 3rd:

1961 - John Surtees won the non-championship 9th running of the Glover Trophy, held at Goodwood, driving the Cooper T53. He also drove the fastest lap of the race.

1961 - Meanwhile, Stirling Moss won the other race held at the circuit that day - the 13th Lavant Cup, driving the Cooper as well.

1961 - Jim Clark won the non-championship Pau Grand Prix in France, driving the Lotus 18. This was his first ever Formula One race win. Jo Bonnier was the only car not to be lapped in 2nd.

1977 - Mario Andretti took advantage of Niki Lauda's (flat spots) and Jody Schekter's (slow puncture) tire troubles to win his home United States West Grand Prix held at Long Beach. Lauda (Ferrari) and Schekter (Wolf) completed the podium and we're now equal first in the title race. This was Andretti's 3rd career win.

1988 - Alain Prost (McLaren) won the start and ran away to an easy win at the season opening Brazilian Grand Prix held at newly renamed Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet. His main rivals - team-mate Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell (Williams) dropped out of contention after a gear selector and engine overheating problems respectively. That was Alain's 29th career win.

2005 - Fernando Alonso went pretty much unchallenged as he won the Bahrain Grand Prix for Renault bringing the Renault engine's 100th Formula One win. His main race rival Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) chased him hard only to retire with a hydraulics failure, giving 2nd to Jarno Trulli (Toyota). This was Alonso's 3rd career win. Meanwhile Pedro de la Rosa finished in 5th for McLaren as a one-off replacement for the injured Juan Pablo Montoya, recording his only ever fastest lap in the process.

2016 - Nico Rosberg won the start and went unchallenged as he won the Bahrain Grand Prix for Mercedes. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) took advantage of the first corner accidents to finish 2nd. Lewis Hamilton finished in 3rd after recovering from the collision with Vallteri Bottas (Williams) in the first turn. This was Rosberg's 16th career win. Meanwhile Stoffel Vandoorne, standing in for the injured Fernando Alonso, finished in 10th for McLaren to score his first point in Formula One.

Thanks for checking this out. Appreciated.

Rokas

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

April 4th:

1965 - Jim Clark won the non-championship 14th Syracuse Grand Prix held in Sicily, starting from pole position. Driving the Lotus 33, he also got fastest lap of the race.

1982 - Niki Lauda won the United States Grand Prix West held at Long Beach, driving for Ferrari after his race rivals had problems - Rene Arnoux (Renault) got taken out from 2nd by Bruno Giacomelli, while Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo) lost the lead after he got held up by a back marker. This was Lauda's 18th career win and his first since coming back to F1 after a two year sabbatical.

2004 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) went virtually unchallenged as he won the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix held in Sakhir circuit only losing the lead in the pit stops. This was his 73rd career win and his 3rd out of 3 races in the season, extending his championship lead even further.

2010 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) jumped from 3rd to 1st at the start and led 54 out of 56 laps on his way to winning the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, scoring his 6th career win. Pole-sitter Mark Webber completed a Red Bull 1-2. Jaime Alguersuari finished in 9th for Torro Rosso and scored his first points in F1. This was also the case for Nico Hülkenberg in 10th for Williams.

Thanks for taking your time to read this and don't forget that customary like.

Rokas