What Happened On This Day August 12 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, August 12 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1952

Charles Whiting, a much-loved and respected figure in the F1 paddock, was born on this day in 1952. He was initially the Chief Mechanic for the Brabham F1 team before becoming the Formula One Race Director. At the FIA, he served as the Race Director, Safety Delegate, Permanent Starter, and head of the F1 Technical Department. His responsibilities included managing the logistics of each F1 Grand Prix, inspecting cars in parc fermé conditions before races, enforcing FIA regulations, and operating the lights that signal the start of each race.

Sadly, on the morning of 14 March 2019 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, just three days before the 2019 Formula One season’s opening race at the Australian Grand Prix, Whiting died at the age of 66 from a pulmonary embolism. Whiting is survived by his three children from two marriages. At the 2019 British Grand Prix, the FIA chose his son Justin as the starter for the race.

The motorsport community mourned the death of Charles Whiting. In his honour, moments of silence were observed before the start of both the Australian Grand Prix and the 1000 Miles of Sebring. Valtteri Bottas dedicated his win at the Australian Grand Prix to Whiting, and Jean-Éric Vergne did the same after his victory at the Sanya ePrix. In recognition of his contributions, Whiting was posthumously awarded the John Bolster Award at the Autosport Awards in December 2019.

1979

Alan Jones won the 1979 Austrian Grand Prix at the Österreichring, securing three consecutive victories for the Williams team. Despite Williams winning the next race as well, the team’s winning streak was ultimately insufficient to prevent Jody Scheckter and Ferrari from claiming both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships that year.

René Arnoux achieved his first pole position as Renault benefited from a turbo power advantage, but he was quickly overtaken at the start and finished sixth due to fuel pick-up problems.

1979 Austrian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	27	Alan  Jones	Williams Ford	54	1:27:38.010	9
2	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	54	+36.050s	6
3	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Ford	54	+46.770s	4
4	11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	54	+47.210s	3
5	28	Clay Regazzoni	Williams Ford	54	+48.920s	2
6	16	Rene Arnoux	Renault	53	+1 lap	1
7	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell Ford	53	+1 lap	0
8	4	Derek Daly	Tyrrell Ford	53	+1 lap	0
9	7	John Watson	McLaren Ford	53	+1 lap	0
10	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren Ford	53	+1 lap	0
NC	5	Niki Lauda	Brabham Alfa Romeo	45	DNF	0
NC	22	Patrick Gaillard	Ensign Ford	42	DNF	0
NC	18	Elio de Angelis	Shadow Ford	34	DNF	0
NC	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	34	DNF	0
NC	6	Nelson Piquet	Brabham Alfa Romeo	32	DNF	0
NC	9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	ATS Ford	28	DNF	0
NC	25	Jacky Ickx	Ligier Ford	26	DNF	0
NC	2	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus Ford	22	DNF	0
NC	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	16	DNF	0
NC	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	15	DNF	0
NC	20	Keke Rosberg	Wolf Ford	15	DNF	0
NC	17	Jan Lammers	Shadow Ford	3	DNF	0
NC	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows Ford	1	DNF	0
NC	1	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	0	DNF	0

1985

German racer and former F1 driver Manfred Winkelhock was tragically killed in a crash at turn two at Mosport Park near Toronto during the Budweiser 1000 km World Endurance Championship event.

Manfred, the brother of racing driver Joachim Winkelhock, gained fame when he flipped his F2 March at the steep rise-and-fall Flugplatz corner on the Nürburgring in 1980. He competed in 47 Grand Prix between 1980 and 1985, with his only points finish (2 points) driving for the ATS team at the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix.

1990

Belgian driver Thierry Boutsen secured his third and final victory while driving for Williams at the 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix, withstanding intense pressure from Ayrton Senna driving the McLaren–Honda who finished less than 0.3 seconds behind Boutsen. Nelson Piquet for Benetton finished third.

In the lead-up to the race, Camel announced it would end its sponsorship of Lotus at the close of 1990. Instead, Camel would sponsor Williams and Benetton starting in 1991. This race also marked Alex Caffi’s 50th Grand Prix start.

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Thierry Boutsen	Williams Renault	77	1:49:30.597	9
2	27	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	77	+0.288s	6
3	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton Ford	77	+27.893s	4
4	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams Renault	77	+31.833s	3
5	11	Derek Warwick	Lotus Lamborghini	77	+74.244s	2
6	29	Eric Bernard	Lola Lamborghini	77	+84.308s	1
7	12	Martin Donnelly	Lotus Lamborghini	76	+1 lap	0
8	15	Mauricio Gugelmin	Leyton House Judd	76	+1 lap	0
9	10	Alex Caffi	Arrows Ford	76	+1 lap	0
10	21	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara Ford	76	+1 lap	0
11	25	Nicola Larini	Ligier Ford	76	+1 lap	0
12	9	Michele Alboreto	Arrows Ford	75	+2 laps	0
13	17	Gabriele Tarquini	AGS Ford	74	+3 laps	0
14	26	Philippe Alliot	Ligier Ford	74	+3 laps	0
15	24	Paolo Barilla	Minardi Ford	74	+3 laps	0
16	28	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda	72	DNF	0
17	2	Nigel Mansell	Ferrari	71	DNF	0
NC	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton Ford	64	DNF	0
NC	16	Ivan Capelli	Leyton House Judd	56	DNF	0
NC	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola Lamborghini	37	DNF	0
NC	1	Alain Prost	Ferrari	36	DNF	0
NC	4	Jean Alesi	Tyrrell Ford	36	DNF	0
NC	8	Stefano Modena	Brabham Judd	35	DNF	0
NC	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ford	35	DNF	0
NC	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Dallara Ford	22	DNF	0
NC	3	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell Ford	9	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 12 August

Birthday	F1 Driver
12 August 1915	Bill Boyd (d. 1984)
12 August 1919	Shorty Templeman (d. 1962)

Birthday	F1 Mentions
12 August 1952	Charlie Whiting (d. 2019) He was the FIA Formula One Race Director, Safety Delegate, Permanent Starter, and head of the F1 Technical Department until his death in March 2019.

F1 Driver Deaths 12 August

Death	F1 Driver
12 August 1985	Manfred Winkelhock (b. 1951)
12 August 1985	Billy DeVore (b. 1910)