Formula One History

Formula One History F1 history from 1950 to modern day. Explore the legendary drivers, circuits, seasons and records with daily F1 on this day articles.

1967 June 18, Eagle driver Dan Gurney won the Belgian Grand Prix, overtaking Jackie Stewart in a BRM after a dramatic...
18/06/2025

1967 June 18, Eagle driver Dan Gurney won the Belgian Grand Prix, overtaking Jackie Stewart in a BRM after a dramatic start that saw the Lotus of Graham Hill stall and John Surtees’ Honda engine explode while Michael Parkes’ Ferrari flipped. Doctors considered amputating his legs, and was in a coma for a week. He survived, but had broken both of his legs, Parkes never raced in Formula One again.

Stewart faced his own challenges, struggling with a gearbox issue that forced him to manually hold his car in gear for the last ten laps. He would finish second behind Gurney, while the Ferrari of Chris Amon finished third.

Excluding the Indianapolis 500, this is the only win for a USA-built car as well as one of only two wins of an American-licensed constructor in Formula One.

1989 June 18, at the Canadian Grand Prix, Williams driver Thierry Boutsen celebrated his first of three F1 victories. ...
18/06/2025

1989 June 18, at the Canadian Grand Prix, Williams driver Thierry Boutsen celebrated his first of three F1 victories. However, the race was overshadowed by Nigel Mansell, who was disqualified during the parade lap for ignoring pit lane warning lights. Ayrton Senna seemed poised to win until his McLaren failed, billowing smoke with just three laps left.

Boutsen’s Italian teammate Riccardo Patrese finished second with fellow Italian, Andrea de Cesaris, third in a Dallara.

2000 June 18, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello secured a 1-2 finish for Ferrari at the Canadian Grand Prix. D...
18/06/2025

2000 June 18, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello secured a 1-2 finish for Ferrari at the Canadian Grand Prix.

David Coulthard experienced a setback, finishing seventh due to a stop-go penalty after his McLaren team overran the permitted work time on the grid.

In the race’s final stages, Barrichello played a defensive role for Schumacher, who later acknowledged, “He’s a good man … one day I will pay him back.” The Benetton of Giancarlo Fisichella took third.

The win took Schumacher’s win tally to 40 races. He would retire on 91 race wins in 2012.

Happy Birthday to the legendary Gordon Murray, born June 18 1946, the kind of engineering genius who makes you slap yo...
18/06/2025

Happy Birthday to the legendary Gordon Murray, born June 18 1946, the kind of engineering genius who makes you slap your forehead and ask, “Why didn’t anyone think of that before?!” From his radical rising-rate, pull‑rod suspension on the Brabham BT44, to the legendary BT46B “fan car” that literally sucked the competition into submission, Murray revolutionised Formula 1 by turning wild ideas into game‑changing reality. With a blend of fearless creativity, pure racing DNA, and a mind that sees simplicity where others see complexity, Murray doesn’t just rank among F1’s greatest innovators—he has redefined what innovation means.

Remembering New Zealand’s only F1 world champion, Denny Hulme, who was born June 18, 1936. His debut F1 season was pr...
18/06/2025

Remembering New Zealand’s only F1 world champion, Denny Hulme, who was born June 18, 1936.

His debut F1 season was promising, highlighted by a fourth-place finish at the 1965 French Grand Prix in Clermont-Ferrand. By 1967, Hulme won his first race at Monaco, added another win at the Nurburgring, and claimed the 1967 World Championship over Jack Brabham for his only Drivers’ title. That same year, he also competed in the CanAm sports car series with Bruce McLaren’s team before moving to McLaren‘s Formula One team in 1968; Hulme raced there until his retirement in 1975, securing six more wins.

His last win was at the 1974 Argentine Grand Prix.

Hulme also found considerable success in CanAm, winning the championship in 1968 and 1970. He returned to racing casually in the 1990s but tragically passed away from a heart attack during the Bathurst 1000 on 4 October 1992.

With less than 3 WEEKS 🗓️ to the 2025 British Grand Prix, we look back to 2 August 2020. In the chaos of the COVID-hit 2...
17/06/2025

With less than 3 WEEKS 🗓️ to the 2025 British Grand Prix, we look back to 2 August 2020. In the chaos of the COVID-hit 2020 season, Silverstone played host to back-to-back races: the British Grand Prix and the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. But it was the first of the two that delivered a jaw-dropping finale. As the laps wound down, disaster struck — tyres began failing at high speed, with Valtteri Bottas among the first victims. Out front, Lewis Hamilton had built a commanding lead over Max Verstappen, but the tension skyrocketed when, on the final lap, his own front-left tyre gave out. With Verstappen in full pursuit and Hamilton’s Mercedes limping on just three working wheels, the reigning world champion clung to control. In a moment of pure grit and determination, he somehow dragged the car over the finish line — a breathtaking, improbable victory carved out of chaos.

2007 June 17, Lewis Hamilton won the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis ahead of his McLaren teammate, Fernando ...
17/06/2025

2007 June 17, Lewis Hamilton won the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis ahead of his McLaren teammate, Fernando Alonso, who, as the season progressed, had become increasingly unsettled by Hamilton’s success. Ferrari driver Felipe Massa completed the podium by finishing third.

The two drivers battled it out in the race, with Hamilton matching Alonso’s fastest lap shortly after it was set. Alonso expressed his surprise at Hamilton’s rapid ascent to the top of the championship standings, despite previously voicing concerns over perceived preferential treatment towards Hamilton by McLaren.

This was also the debut race of the future four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel with the BMW Sauber F1 Team. It was also the last visit to Indianapolis after an eight-season run. The event was removed from the 2008 calendar a few months later, and F1 didn’t return to the USA until November 2012 at the Circuit of the Americas.

1962 June 17, Clark led a Lotus to victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, and what would turn into the beginning of a four...
17/06/2025

1962 June 17, Clark led a Lotus to victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, and what would turn into the beginning of a four-win streak at this event. His teammate, Trevor Taylor, and W***y Mairesse of Ferrari collided during the race, resulting in significant accidents, though both drivers emerged with minor injuries.

Graham Hill secured second place with BRM and Phil Hill third in the other Ferrari.

Ricardo Rodriguez became the youngest driver to score championship points (20 years, 123 days), claiming fourth place for Ferrari. A record which stood for 38 years before Jenson Button, aged 20 years, 67 days, broke it at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix with the Williams team.

1984 June 17, Nelson Piquet, driving for Brabham, earned his first points of the season with a victory at the 1984 Can...
17/06/2025

1984 June 17, Nelson Piquet, driving for Brabham, earned his first points of the season with a victory at the 1984 Canadian Grand Prix. After an intense race, Piquet, suffering from a burnt foot due to a new nose mounted oil cooler, needed assistance to reach the podium. Although Alain Prost briefly led, Piquet quickly regained and maintained the lead. He finished 2.6 seconds ahead of Austrian Niki Lauda in the McLaren, with Prost finishing third.

At the next race in Detroit, Piquet received a special tray of ice to ease the blisters on his foot.

1985 - June 16, Michele Alboreto won the 1985 Canadian Grand Prix, leading a Ferrari one-two finish with Stefan Johanss...
16/06/2025

1985 - June 16, Michele Alboreto won the 1985 Canadian Grand Prix, leading a Ferrari one-two finish with Stefan Johansson. Alain Prost narrowly missed splitting the duo in a McLaren, trailing by just two seconds.

1996 June 16, Williams driver Damon Hill emerged victorious at the Canadian Grand Prix, which proved disastrous for Fe...
16/06/2025

1996 June 16, Williams driver Damon Hill emerged victorious at the Canadian Grand Prix, which proved disastrous for Ferrari. After stalling during the parade lap and starting from the back of the grid, Michael Schumacher retired on lap 43 due to a broken driveshaft. At the same time, Eddie Irvine‘s race was cut short on the second lap when his suspension failed. Hill’s teammate, Jacques Villeneuve in his debut season, finished a poignant second on the track that memorialises his father, Gilles Villeneuve. Frenchman Jean Alesi took third in a Benetton.

1991 June 16, Nigel Mansell shattered multiple lap records in a spirited chase that narrowly missed beating his Willia...
16/06/2025

1991 June 16, Nigel Mansell shattered multiple lap records in a spirited chase that narrowly missed beating his Williams teammate, Riccardo Patrese, who won the 1991 Mexican Grand Prix by a mere 1.3 seconds. Even the formidable Ayrton Senna, in the McLaren, had to abandon his pursuit due to an overheating engine.

The race’s beginning was comically troubled, with multiple false starts due to stalled cars and further delays caused by issues with the scheduled TV satellite links. After a lengthy wait and slow parade laps, the race finally began nearly 30 minutes behind schedule. Senna eventually finished third in the McLaren-Honda, a full 57 seconds behind Patrese in first.

Larrousse driver Eric Bernard finished sixth, the last point scored by a chassis manufactured by Lola Cars. And as of 2025, it was the most recent Formula One race to feature a car powered by a Porsche engine in the Footwork cars.

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