What Happened On This Day August 25 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, August 25 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1985

Niki Lauda won the 1985 Dutch Grand Prix on this day 25 August. The race marked the 25th and final Grand Prix victory for three-time World Champion Lauda, driving for McLaren. His teammate, Alain Prost, finished second, while Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna secured third place with Lotus. The race was the last Dutch Grand Prix for 36 years.

Although the race was scheduled to return in 2020 on a revamped Zandvoort circuit, the reintroduction was delayed and eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dutch Grand Prix finally returned in 2021, with Max Verstappen, the nation’s first World Champion, taking victory.

Tragically, this race was also the last Grand Prix for German driver Stefan Bellof, who lost his life the following week during the 1000 km of Spa World Sportscar race.

1985 Dutch Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Niki Lauda	McLaren TAG	70	1:32:29.263	9
2	2	Alain Prost	McLaren TAG	70	+0.232s	6
3	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus Renault	70	+48.491s	4
4	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	70	+48.837s	3
5	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus Renault	69	+1 lap	2
6	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams Honda	69	+1 lap	1
7	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell Renault	69	+1 lap	0
8	7	Nelson Piquet	Brabham BMW	69	+1 lap	0
9	17	Gerhard Berger	Arrows BMW	68	+2 laps	0
10	8	Marc Surer	Brabham BMW	65	+5 laps	0
NC	24	Huub Rothengatter	Osella Alfa Romeo	56	+14 laps	0
NC	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows BMW	54	DNF	0
NC	9	Philippe Alliot	RAM Hart	52	DNF	0
NC	4	Stefan Bellof	Tyrrell Renault	39	DNF	0
NC	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	27	DNF	0
NC	25	Andrea de Cesaris	Ligier Renault	25	DNF	0
NC	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	22	DNF	0
NC	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams Honda	20	DNF	0
NC	19	Teo Fabi	Toleman Hart	18	DNF	0
NC	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Renault	17	DNF	0
NC	30	Jonathan  Palmer	Zakspeed	13	DNF	0
NC	20	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Toleman Hart	12	DNF	0
NC	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	9	DNF	0
NC	29	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Motori Moderni	1	DNF	0
NC	23	Eddie  Cheever	Alfa Romeo	1	DNF	0
NC	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	1	DNF	0

1991

Brazilian and McLaren driver Ayrton Senna, starting from pole, claimed victory at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, driving. His teammate, Austrian Gerhard Berger, finished second, while fellow Brazilian Nelson Piquet secured third place with Benetton. The race proved pivotal in the championship battle as Senna’s main rival, British driver Nigel Mansell, retired due to an electrical failure, allowing Senna to extend his lead to 22 points with five races remaining.

This race also saw the debut of future seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, racing for Jordan. Schumacher’s debut was awe-inspiring, as he qualified seventh, matching the team’s best grid position of the season, and outperformed veteran teammate Andrea de Cesaris. Although Schumacher retired on the opening lap due to a clutch failure, his qualifying performance—achieved in the Jordan 191, a midfield car with minimal testing and no prior experience at the Spa circuit—left a lasting impression on the paddock.

1991 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	44	1:27:17.669	10
2	2	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda	44	+1.901s	6
3	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton Ford	44	+32.176s	4
4	19	Roberto Moreno	Benetton Ford	44	+37.310s	3
5	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams Renault	44	+57.187s	2
6	8	Mark Blundell	Brabham Yamaha	44	+100.035s	1
7	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Judd	44	+104.599s	0
8	21	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara Judd	43	+1 lap	0
9	7	Martin Brundle	Brabham Yamaha	43	+1 lap	0
10	14	Olivier Grouillard	Fondmetal Ford	43	+1 lap	0
11	25	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier Lamborghini	43	+1 lap	0
12	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ferrari	42	DNF	0
13	33	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan Ford	41	DNF	0
NC	4	Stefano Modena	Tyrrell Honda	33	DNF	0
NC	22	Jyrki Jarvilehto	Dallara Judd	33	DNF	0
NC	28	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	30	DNF	0
NC	24	Gianni Morbidelli	Minardi Ferrari	29	DNF	0
NC	11	Mika Hakkinen	Lotus Judd	25	DNF	0
NC	26	Erik Comas	Ligier Lamborghini	25	DNF	0
NC	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams Renault	22	DNF	0
NC	29	Eric Bernard	Lola Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	16	Ivan Capelli	Leyton House Ilmor	13	DNF	0
NC	3	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell Honda	7	DNF	0
NC	27	Alain Prost	Ferrari	2	DNF	0
NC	15	Mauricio Gugelmin	Leyton House Ilmor	1	DNF	0

1996

Michael Schumacher claimed victory at the 1996 Belgian Grand Prix, driving for Ferrari. Despite a heavy crash during Friday practice, Schumacher recovered to qualify third and went on to secure his second win of the season. Jacques Villeneuve, who started from pole position, finished second in his Williams, while Mika Hakkinen took third place for McLaren. Damon Hill, Villeneuve’s teammate and the Drivers’ Championship leader, crossed the line in fifth place.

1996 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	44	1:28:15.125	10
2	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams Renault	44	+5.602s	6
3	7	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	44	+15.710s	4
4	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton Renault	44	+19.125s	3
5	5	Damon Hill	Williams Renault	44	+29.179s	2
6	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton Renault	44	+29.896s	1
7	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell Yamaha	44	+60.754s	0
8	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell Yamaha	44	+100.227s	0
9	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork Hart	43	+1 lap	0
10	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi Ford	43	+1 lap	0
NC	8	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	37	DNF	0
NC	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan Peugeot	34	DNF	0
NC	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	29	DNF	0
NC	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan Peugeot	29	DNF	0
NC	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier Mugen Honda	22	DNF	0
NC	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork Hart	11	DNF	0
NC	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier Mugen Honda	0	DNF	0
NC	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber Ford	0	DNF	0
NC	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber Ford	0	DNF	0

2001

Sadly on this day, 25 August 2001, Ken Tyrrell who was a major figure in F1, best known as the founder and manager of the Tyrrell Racing Organisation, passed away.

In 1968, Tyrrell entered Formula One with Jackie Stewart as his lead driver, and in 1971, Stewart won the World Championship driving a Tyrrell 003. The team also won the Constructors’ Championship the same year.

Tyrrell Racing became known for its innovative designs, including the unique six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 in 1976. Although the team saw success in the early 1970s, they struggled to maintain competitiveness in the later years due to financial constraints and the increasing dominance of manufacturers with larger budgets. Despite the challenges, Ken Tyrrell remained involved in Formula One until 1998 when he sold his team to British American Tobacco, which rebranded it as British American Racing (BAR).

2006

Kimi Antonelli, born 25 August 2006, is an Italian racing driver who has achieved significant success in various single-seater categories throughout his career. His notable victories include winning the Italian F4 Championship and ADAC Formula 4 Championship with Prema, as well as securing the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Mumbai Falcons and the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship with Prema. Antonelli has been a member of the Mercedes Junior Team since 2019 and secured a full-time seat with the team for the 2025 season after Lewis Hamilton announced his departure from the team at the start of the 2024 season.

2013

Sebastian Vettel claimed victory at the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix for Red Bull, finishing with a time of 1:23:42 and an average speed of 220.80 km/h, which extended his championship lead to 46 points. Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari took second place, while Lewis Hamilton, who started from pole position, finished third in his Mercedes. This win marked the beginning of Vettel’s record-setting streak (at the time) of nine consecutive Formula 1 wins.

2013 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	44	1:23:42.196	25
2	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	44	+16.869s	18
3	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	44	+27.734s	15
4	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	44	+29.872s	12
5	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	44	+33.845s	10
6	5	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	44	+40.794s	8
7	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	44	+53.922s	6
8	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	44	+55.846s	4
9	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	44	+69.547s	2
10	19	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	44	+73.470s	1
11	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren Mercedes	44	+81.936s	0
12	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	44	+86.740s	0
13	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber Ferrari	44	+88.258s	0
14	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	44	+100.436s	0
15	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault	44	+107.456s	0
16	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Renault	43	+1 lap	0
17	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	43	+1 lap	0
18	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Cosworth	43	+1 lap	0
19	23	Max Chilton	Marussia Cosworth	42	+2 laps	0
NC	14	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	26	DNF	0
NC	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus Renault	25	DNF	0
NC	20	Charles Pic	Caterham Renault	8	DNF	0

2024

Lando Norris bounced back from losing the lead at the start of the race to defeat Max Verstappen and claim victory at the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix comfortably. Despite his streak of poor starts, which saw him relinquish the lead for the sixth consecutive time from pole position, Norris regained the lead from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the beginning of lap 18. From there, the McLaren driver dominated the race, winning by a 22-second margin. This win, coupled with an extra point for setting the fastest lap, allowed Norris to cut Verstappen’s lead in the 2024 Drivers’ Championship to 70 points with nine rounds left in the 2024 season. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari delivered an impressive performance, moving up from sixth on the grid to secure the final podium position, narrowly holding off Norris’ McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri.

Full Race Report

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  2024 Dutch Grand Prix: Full Weekend Report & Highlights

2024 Dutch Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	4	Lando Norris1	McLaren Mercedes	72	1:30:45.519	26
2	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	72	+22.896s	18
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	72	+25.439s	15
4	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	72	+27.337s	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	72	+32.137s	10
6	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	72	+39.542s	8
7	63	George Russell	Mercedes	72	+44.617s	6
8	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	72	+49.599s	4
9	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	71	+1 lap	2
10	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	71	+1 lap	1
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	71	+1 lap	0
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB Honda RBPT	71	+1 lap	0
13	18	Lance Stroll2	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	71	+1 lap	0
14	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	71	+1 lap	0
15	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	71	+1 lap	0
16	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	71	+1 lap	0
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	71	+1 lap	0
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	71	+1 lap	0
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	70	+2 laps	0
20	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	70	+2 laps	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 25 August

Birthday	F1 Driver
25 August 2006	Kimi Antonelli

F1 Driver Deaths 25 August

Death	F1 Driver
25 August 1967	Oscar Cabalen (b. 1928)
25 August 1976	Doc Shanebrook (b. 1907)
25 August 1990	David Hampshire (b. 1917)
25 August 2021	Peter Bolton (b. 1919)

Death	F1 Mentions
25 August 2001	Ken Tyrrell (b. 1924) Non-World Championship Driver and Team Owner of Tyrrell.