What Happened On This Day August 23 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, August 23 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1953

Alberto Ascari defied team orders to lead a Ferrari 1-2-3 finish at the 1953 Swiss Grand Prix and clinch his second Drivers’ World Championship. Despite battling a gearbox issue with Maserati driver and rival Juan Manuel Fangio, Ascari encountered engine problems and had to pit. Rejoining the race behind teammates Giuseppe Farina and Mike Hawthorn, Ascari ignored instructions to hold position and overtook both to secure the victory. It was the last race win and finish of his F1 career.

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1953 Swiss Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	46	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	65	3:01:34.400	9
2	24	Nino Farina	Ferrari	65	+72.930s	6
3	26	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	65	+95.960s	4
4	32	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati		SHC	1.5
4	32	Felice  Bonetto	Maserati	64	+1 lap	1.5
5	34	Hermann Lang	Maserati	62	+3 laps	2
6	28	Luigi  Villoresi	Ferrari	62	+3 laps	0
7	20	Ken  Wharton	Cooper Bristol	62	+3 laps	0
NC	4	Chico Landi	Maserati	54	DNF	0
8	40	Max de Terra	Ferrari	51	+14 laps	0
9	18	Albert Scherrer	HWM Alta	49	+16 laps	0
NC	42	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	48	DNF	0
NC	36	Onofre Marimon	Maserati	46	DNF	0
NC	8	Maurice  Trintignant	Gordini	43	DNF	0
NC	6	Jean Behra	Gordini	37	DNF	0
NC	30	Felice  Bonetto	Maserati		SHC	0
NC	30	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	29	DNF	0
NC	16	Lance Macklin	HWM Alta	29	DNF	0
NC	38	Peter Hirt	Ferrari	17	DNF	0
NC	14	Paul Frere	HWM Alta	1	DNF	0
NC	10	Louis  Rosier	Ferrari	0	DNF	0
NC	2	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	0	DNF	0

1959

Stirling Moss and Masten Gregory demonstrated the dominance of the Cooper-Climax T51 by finishing first and second, respectively, at the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix. Moss led from pole position, with the Cooper’s of Jack Brabham, Gregory, and Bruce McLaren in pursuit. Brabham then spun while avoiding the lapped Mario de Araujo Cabral, hitting a telegraph pole and being launched back onto the track, narrowly missing Gregory after being thrown from his car. This incident promoted McLaren to third, but a transmission failure saw the Ferrari of Dan Gurney inherit the position.

1959 Portuguese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	4	Stirling Moss	Cooper Climax	62	2:11:55.410	9
2	2	Masten Gregory	Cooper Climax	61	+1 lap	6
3	16	Dan Gurney	Ferrari	61	+1 lap	4
4	5	Maurice  Trintignant	Cooper Climax	60	+2 laps	3
5	6	Harry Schell	BRM	59	+3 laps	2
6	10	Roy Salvadori	Aston Martin	59	+3 laps	0
7	8	Ron Flockhart	BRM	59	+3 laps	0
8	9	Carroll  Shelby	Aston Martin	58	+4 laps	0
9	14	Tony Brooks	Ferrari	57	+5 laps	0
10	18	Mario  de Araujo Cabral	Cooper Maserati	56	+6 laps	0
NC	3	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Climax	38	DNF	0
NC	1	Jack Brabham	Cooper Climax	23	DNF	0
NC	7	Jo Bonnier	BRM	10	DNF	0
NC	15	Phil Hill	Ferrari	5	DNF	0
NC	11	Graham Hill	Lotus Climax	5	DNF	0
NC	12	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax	3	DNF	0

1964

Italian Lorenzo Bandini claimed victory at the inaugural 1964 Austrian Grand Prix for Ferrari, marking his only F1 win. This race also saw the debut of Jochen Rindt, the first Austrian to race in Formula One and the sport’s only posthumous World Champion. Richie Ginther finished second for the BRM team and Brabham driver Bob Anderson came in third.

1964 Austrian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	8	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	105	2:06:18.230	9
2	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	105	+6.180s	6
3	22	Bob Anderson	Brabham Climax	102	+3 laps	4
4	19	Tony Maggs	BRM	102	+3 laps	3
5	14	Innes Ireland	BRP BRM	102	+3 laps	2
6	11	Jo Bonnier	Brabham Climax	101	+4 laps	1
7	18	Giancarlo Baghetti	BRM	96	+9 laps	0
8	17	Mike Hailwood	Lotus BRM	95	+10 laps	0
9	6	Jack Brabham	Brabham Climax	76	+29 laps	0
NC	12	Jochen Rindt	Brabham BRM	58	DNF	0
NC	10	Phil Hill	Cooper Climax	58	DNF	0
NC	5	Dan Gurney	Brabham Climax	47	DNF	0
NC	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Climax	43	DNF	0
NC	2	Mike Spence	Lotus Climax	41	DNF	0
NC	1	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	40	DNF	0
NC	15	Trevor  Taylor	BRP BRM	21	DNF	0
NC	20	Jo Siffert	Brabham BRM	18	DNF	0
NC	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	8	DNF	0
NC	16	Chris Amon	Lotus Climax	7	DNF	0
NC	3	Graham Hill	BRM	5	DNF	0

1987

Didier Pironi became the focal point of one of Formula One’s most infamous team disputes when he ignored Ferrari team orders, seizing a dramatic last-minute victory from Gilles Villeneuve at the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix.

A furious Villeneuve vowed never to speak to Pironi again and tragically lost his life while attempting to secure pole position for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit Zolder two weeks later. Pironi himself died on this day 23 August 1987, when his powerboat flipped in the Solent off of the Isle of Wight in the UK.

Known in F1 for his uncompromising driving style, Pironi continued this approach into watersports; the wake of an oil tanker at full throttle caused his boat to flip and instantly killed him and his two crew members. Two weeks after his death, Pironi’s girlfriend Catherine gave birth to twins, naming them Gilles and Didier.

2009

Rubens Barrichello claimed victory for Brawn GP after starting from third on the grid at the 2009 European Grand Prix. The 2008 world champion, Lewis Hamilton, finished second for McLaren, while the 2007 world champion, Kimi Räikkönen, took third place for Ferrari. Championship leader Jenson Button finished seventh for the second consecutive race but extended his lead as both Red Bull Racing drivers, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, failed to score points.

This win was Barrichello’s first Grand Prix victory since the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, a gap of 85 races during which he was driving for Ferrari. His triumph also marked the 100th victory for a Brazilian driver in Formula One. Notably, there were no overtakes recorded during this race.

2009 European Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn Mercedes	57	1:35:51.289	10
2	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	57	+2.358s	8
3	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	+15.994s	6
4	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	57	+20.032s	5
5	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	57	+20.870s	4
6	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	57	+27.744s	3
7	22	Jenson Button	Brawn Mercedes	57	+34.913s	2
8	5	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	57	+36.667s	1
9	14	Mark Webber	RBR Renault	57	+44.910s	0
10	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	57	+47.935s	0
11	6	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	57	+48.822s	0
12	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India Mercedes	57	+63.614s	0
13	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	57	+64.527s	0
14	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	57	+86.519s	0
15	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	57	+91.774s	0
16	11	Jaime Alguersuari	STR Ferrari	56	+1 lap	0
17	3	Luca Badoer	Ferrari	56	+1 lap	0
18	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams Toyota	54	DNF	0
NC	12	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	41	DNF	0
NC	15	Sebastian Vettel	RBR Renault	23	DNF	0

2015

Guy Ligier passed away on this day, 23 August 2015. He achieved several top-six finishes in Formula Two in 1964 and moved to Formula One in 1966. Despite breaking his kneecap mid-season, he returned in 1967 with a Brabham, scoring his only point at the Nurburgring. After a brief retirement following the death of his friend Jo Schlesser, Ligier returned to racing and began building sports cars in 1970, eventually founding the Ligier Formula One team in 1976. Though his team had sporadic success, they never fully capitalised on their potential. Ligier sold most of his shares in the team in the early 1990s. Following his death, his funeral took place at the church of St. Blaise de Vichy on 28 August 2015. Ligier was survived by his wife and their two children, son Philippe and daughter Pascale.

2015

Lewis Hamilton won the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix for Mercedes, extending his championship lead over Nico Rosberg, who finished second, to 28 points. French and Lotus F1 driver Romain Grosjean achieved a podium finish for the first time since the 2013 United States Grand Prix, with Grosjean benefiting from a controversial tyre failure on Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari late in the race.

The event marked Scuderia Ferrari’s 900th Grand Prix race. Meanwhile, McLaren received a record 105-place grid penalty due to numerous changes to their Honda power units. It was also the last podium for a French driver until Pierre Gasly at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.

2015 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	43	1:23:40.387	25
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	43	+2.058s	18
3	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	43	+37.988s	15
4	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing Renault	43	+45.692s	12
5	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	43	+53.997s	10
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	43	+55.283s	8
7	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	43	+55.703s	6
8	33	Max Verstappen	STR Renault	43	+56.076s	4
9	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Mercedes	43	+61.040s	2
10	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	43	+91.234s	1
11	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber Ferrari	43	+102.311s	0
12	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	42	DNF	0
13	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	42	+1 lap	0
14	22	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	42	+1 lap	0
15	98	Roberto Merhi	Marussia Ferrari	42	+1 lap	0
16	28	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	42	+1 lap	0
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	STR Renault	32	DNF	0
NC	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing Renault	19	DNF	0
NC	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	2	DNF	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	0	DNS	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 23 August

Birthday	F1 Driver
23 August 1919	Dries van der Lof (d. 1990)
23 August 1925	Jean Kerguen (d. 2005) F2 Driver to Increase F1 Grid.

F1 Driver Deaths 23 August

Death	F1 Driver
23 August 1967	Georges Berger (b. 1918)
23 August 1987	Didier Pironi (b. 1952)
23 August 2015	Guy Ligier (b. 1930)