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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. |
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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 :roflmao:, 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. |
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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.
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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.
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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.
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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. |
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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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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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.
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Author
Post time 22-1-2013 09:22 AM
