What Happened On This Day August 24 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, August 24, in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1881

Vincenzo Lancia, the founder of the iconic Lancia automotive manufacturer, was born on this day in Fobello near Turin. Lancia showed a keen interest in engineering from a young age and quickly moved into the emerging new motor industry. By 19, he had become Fiat’s chief inspector and test driver. Although he showed promise as a racer, his true talent lay in production. He unveiled his first car model in 1907 and continued his work until his untimely death from a heart attack at 55 in 1937. His wife and son carried on running the company for another 18 years. Scuderia Lancia, founded in 1952 by Gianni Lancia, son of Vincenzo, and later rebranded as Squadra Corse HF Lancia, serving as the Lancia car company’s racing division would appear in four F1 Championship races.

1958

Stirling Moss won the 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix, closing the gap in the Drivers’ Championship to just four points behind compatriot Mike Hawthorn. The paddock was a sombre place, as the race was held just three weeks after Peter Collins‘s fatal accident at the Nurburgring. Enzo Ferrari, who had also lost Luigi Musso weeks earlier, decided not to replace Collins, fielding only two cars for Hawthorn and Wolfgang Von Trips. Hawthorn briefly led the race before Moss took control and pulled away, securing victory with Vanwall ahead of Hawthorn’s Ferrari and his Vanwall teammate, Stuart Lewis-Evans.

1958 Portuguese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	50	2:11:27.800	8
2	22	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	50	+312.750s	7
3	6	Stuart  Lewis-Evans	Vanwall	49	+1 lap	4
4	8	Jean Behra	BRM	49	+1 lap	3
5	24	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	49	+1 lap	2
6	10	Harry Schell	BRM	49	+1 lap	0
7	14	Jack Brabham	Cooper Climax	48	+2 laps	0
8	12	Maurice  Trintignant	Cooper Climax	48	+2 laps	0
NC	28	Carroll  Shelby	Maserati	47	DNF	0
9	16	Roy Salvadori	Cooper Climax	46	+4 laps	0
NC	4	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	36	DNF	0
NC	20	Graham Hill	Lotus Climax	25	DNF	0
NC	18	Cliff Allison	Maserati	15	DNF	0
NC	32	Jo Bonnier	Maserati	9	DNF	0
NC	30	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Maserati	6	DNF	0

1997

Michael Schumacher secured the 26th victory of his Formula One career at the 1997 Belgian Grand Prix with Ferrari, finishing ahead of Jordan driver Giancarlo Fisichella and the Williams of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. This victory is remembered as one of Schumacher’s finest, as he dominated the race in treacherous, monsoon-like conditions, leaving the rest of the field in his wake.

1997 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	44	1:33:46.717	10
2	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Peugeot	44	+26.753s	6
3	4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams Renault	44	+32.147s	4
4	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber Petronas	44	+39.025s	3
5	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams Renault	44	+42.103s	2
6	8	Gerhard Berger	Benetton Renault	44	+63.741s	1
7	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows Yamaha	44	+85.931s	0
8	7	Jean Alesi	Benetton Renault	44	+102.008s	0
9	17	Gianni Morbidelli	Sauber Petronas	44	+102.582s	0
10	6	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	43	DNF	0
11	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell Ford	43	+1 lap	0
12	23	Jan Magnussen	Stewart Ford	43	+1 lap	0
13	1	Damon Hill	Arrows Yamaha	42	DNF	0
14	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi Hart	42	DNF	0
15	14	Jarno Trulli	Prost Mugen Honda	42	+2 laps	0
NC	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell Ford	25	DNF	0
NC	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan Peugeot	21	DNF	0
NC	10	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	19	DNF	0
NC	21	Tarso Marques	Minardi Hart	18	DNF	0
NC	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart Ford	8	DNF	0
NC	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost Mugen Honda	5	DNF	0

2003

Renault and Spanish driver Fernando Alonso made history by becoming the youngest-ever Grand Prix winner (at the time) at 22 years and 104 days, securing his first victory at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. This win came 43 years after Bruce McLaren set the previous record. Alonso capitalised on poor starts from the Williams duo of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, while the faster McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen was held up by Mark Webber‘s Jaguar, along with the rest of Alonso’s challengers. This allowed Alonso to build a significant lead, ultimately winning by nearly 17 seconds ahead of Raikkonen and Montoya. More importantly, this victory intensified the battle for the Drivers’ Championship, with Michael Schumacher on 72 points, Montoya on 71, and Raikkonen on 70.

2003 Hungarian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	70	1:39:01.460	10
2	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	70	+16.768s	8
3	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	70	+34.537s	6
4	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	70	+35.620s	5
5	5	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	70	+56.535s	4
6	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar Cosworth	70	+72.643s	3
7	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	69	+1 lap	2
8	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	69	+1 lap	1
9	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	69	+1 lap	0
10	17	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	69	+1 lap	0
11	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	68	+2 laps	0
12	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi Cosworth	67	+3 laps	0
13	18	Nicolas Kiesa	Minardi Cosworth	66	+4 laps	0
NC	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber Petronas	47	DNF	0
NC	15	Justin Wilson	Jaguar Cosworth	42	DNF	0
NC	12	Zsolt Baumgartner	Jordan Ford	34	DNF	0
NC	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	33	DNF	0
NC	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Ford	28	DNF	0
NC	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	19	DNF	0
NC	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	14	DNF	0

2008

Valencia hosted its first-ever Grand Prix, where the Ferrari of Felipe Massa claimed victory in the 2008 European Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica. The race, held on a tight new street circuit, was relatively uneventful, with Massa maintaining control from start to finish. The most significant incident occurred when Kimi Raikkonen attempted to leave the pits before his car refuelling hose was detached, resulting in a team refueler, Pietro Timpini, being knocked over and suffering a foot fracture and back pain. Massa’s victory narrowed the gap in the championship standings to six points between him and leader Hamilton.

2008 European Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	57	1:35:32.339	10
2	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	57	+5.611s	8
3	4	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	57	+37.353s	6
4	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	57	+39.703s	5
5	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	57	+50.684s	4
6	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR Ferrari	57	+52.625s	3
7	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	57	+67.990s	2
8	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	57	+71.457s	1
9	3	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	57	+82.177s	0
10	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR Ferrari	57	+89.794s	0
11	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	57	+92.717s	0
12	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Renault	56	+1 lap	0
13	16	Jenson Button	Honda	56	+1 lap	0
14	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India Ferrari	56	+1 lap	0
15	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams Toyota	56	+1 lap	0
16	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	56	+1 lap	0
17	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Renault	56	+1 lap	0
NC	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	45	DNF	0
NC	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India Ferrari	41	DNF	0
NC	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	0	DNF	0

2014

After starting from fifth position, Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo claimed victory at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg finished second for Mercedes, while Williams’ Valtteri Bottas secured third place.

During the podium interviews conducted by former team owner Eddie Jordan, Rosberg faced boos from the crowd on four occasions, stemming from his collision with Lewis Hamilton on lap two, which many perceived as intentional. Rosberg attributed the negative reaction to a small group of Hamilton’s British supporters and suggested that they familiarise themselves with the regulations and drivers’ code of conduct before passing judgment. The race result maintained Ricciardo’s third place in the Drivers’ Championship standings, while Rosberg extended his lead over Hamilton to 29 points after Hamilton retired due to bodywork damage.

2014 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing Renault	44	1:24:36.556	25
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	44	+3.383s	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Mercedes	44	+28.032s	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	44	+36.815s	12
5	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	44	+52.196s	10
6	22	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	44	+54.580s	8
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	44	+61.162s	6
8	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	44	+64.293s	4
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR Renault	44	+65.347s	2
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	44	+65.697s	1
11	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Renault	44	+71.920s	0
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren Mercedes	44	+74.262s	0
13	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	44	+75.975s	0
14	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber Ferrari	44	+82.447s	0
15	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	44	+90.825s	0
16	4	Max Chilton	Marussia Ferrari	43	+1 lap	0
17	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham Renault	43	+1 lap	0
18	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Ferrari	39	DNF	0
NC	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	38	DNF	0
NC	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	33	DNF	0
NC	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Renault	1	DNF	0
NC	45	Andre Lotterer	Caterham Renault	1	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 24 August

Birthday	F1 Driver
24 August 1912	Sam Tingle (d. 2008)
24 August 1964	Eric Bernard

F1 Driver Deaths 24 August

Death	F1 Driver
24 August 1962	Shorty Templeman (b. 1919)
24 August 1997	Luigi Villoresi (b. 1909)
24 August 1999	Roberto Bussinello (b. 1927)
24 August 2015	Justin Wilson (b. 1978)