What Happened On This Day August 31 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, August 31 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1980

Brazilian and Brabham driver Nelson Piquet secured victory at the 1980 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. This marked Piquet’s second F1 Grand Prix win, following his first earlier in the year at the 1980 United States Grand Prix West. With this win, Piquet solidified his position as a significant title contender in Alan Jones‘ pursuit of the World Championship title. Piquet crossed the finish line twelve seconds ahead of French driver Rene Arnoux, who was behind the wheel of a Renault RE20. Just under half a second later, another French driver, Jacques Laffite, claimed third place in a Ligier JS11/15.

The circuit had been altered for the second time in as many years, with the back straight chicane tightened significantly.

1980 Dutch Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham Ford	72	1:38:13.830	9
2	16	Rene Arnoux	Renault	72	+12.930s	6
3	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Ford	72	+13.430s	4
4	28	Carlos Reutemann	Williams Ford	72	+15.290s	3
5	3	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell Ford	72	+60.020s	2
6	8	Alain Prost	McLaren Ford	72	+82.620s	1
7	2	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	71	+1 lap	0
8	11	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	70	DNF	0
9	1	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	70	+2 laps	0
10	9	Marc Surer	ATS Ford	69	+3 laps	0
11	27	Alan Jones	Williams Ford	69	+3 laps	0
NC	4	Derek Daly	Tyrrell Ford	60	DNF	0
NC	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	58	DNF	0
NC	31	Eddie Cheever	Osella Ford	38	DNF	0
NC	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	29	DNF	0
NC	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	23	DNF	0
NC	41	Geoff Lees	Ensign Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	22	Vittorio Brambilla	Alfa Romeo	21	DNF	0
NC	7	John Watson	McLaren Ford	18	DNF	0
NC	20	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	16	DNF	0
NC	43	Nigel Mansell	Lotus Ford	15	DNF	0
NC	25	Didier Pironi	Ligier Ford	2	DNF	0
NC	12	Elio de Angelis	Lotus Ford	2	DNF	0
NC	6	Hector Rebaque	Brabham Ford	1	DNF	0

2003

The 2003 Belgian Grand Prix was scheduled to run on this day, 31 August 2003, but was removed from the calendar due to a dispute over tobacco advertising. At the time, the cancellation threatened the future of the race at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, potentially removing it from the sport permanently. There were rumours that Belgium’s return to the championship in 2004 was uncertain, especially with new circuits in Bahrain and Shanghai already scheduled to host races that year. The decision to cancel the race followed the Belgian government’s announcement of a planned tobacco advertising ban set to take effect on 1 August 2003. F1 had already committed to implementing its own advertising ban, but it wouldn’t take effect until the 2007 season to safeguard teams that still depended on tobacco sponsorship while alternative funding was secured, the decision was made to drop the Belgian Grand Prix from the calendar.

2025

Formula 1 returned after the summer break, with no better stage for the restart of the 2025 F1 World Championship than the tight, twisting dunes of Zandvoort. The Dutch Grand Prix had rapidly become one of the calendar’s most atmospheric stops since its return in 2021, combining a festival-like homecoming for Max Verstappen with the unique challenge of a circuit that feels tailor-made for modern ground-effect cars. This year, however, Zandvoort would not only be the first race back after the season’s pause, but also the last event at the track, with the Dutch Grand Prix dropping off the calendar in 2026.

Oscar Piastri clinched his seventh victory of the season in a chaotic 2025 Dutch Grand Prix, extending his Championship lead to 34 points after McLaren team-mate Lando Norris retired heartbreakingly with just a few laps remaining. Having led from pole, Piastri managed the race through multiple Safety Cars, including interruptions for Hamilton’s crash and Leclerc’s collision with rookie Kimi Antonelli. Norris shadowed his team-mate for much of the race and looked set to challenge before smoke forced him out, leaving Piastri to fend off Verstappen at the final restart.

Behind the winning pair, Max Verstappen delighted the home crowd with second place, while 20-year-old Isack Hadjar delivered a breakout drive to secure his first F1 podium in third. George Russell took fourth for Mercedes and Alex Albon stormed from P15 to fifth for Williams. Haas enjoyed a strong double-points finish with Ollie Bearman sixth and Esteban Ocon tenth, Aston Martin banked seventh and eighth with Stroll and Alonso, and Tsunoda claimed ninth for Red Bull. Ferrari endured a disastrous afternoon with both cars retiring, compounding the shift in championship momentum.

Full Race Report

2025 Dutch Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

2025 Dutch Grand Prix Race Results

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPS	TIME / RETIRED	PTS.
1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	72	01:38:30	25
2	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	72	+1.271s	18
3	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	72	+3.233s	15
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	72	+5.654s	12
5	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	72	+6.327s	10
6	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas	72	+9.044s	8
7	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	72	+9.497s	6
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	72	+11.709s	4
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing	72	+13.597s	2
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas	72	+14.063s	1
11	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	72	+14.511s	0
12	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	72	+17.063s	0
13	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	72	+17.376s	0
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber	72	+19.725s	0
15	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber	72	+21.565s	0
16	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	72	+22.029s	0
17	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	72	+23.629s	0
18	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	64	DNF	0
NC	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	52	DNF	0
NC	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	22	DNF	0

Note – Antonelli received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision and a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

F1 Driver Birthdays 31 August

Birthday	F1 Driver
31 August 1906	Raymond Sommer (d. 1950)
31 August 1918	Bill Homeier (d. 2001)
31 August 1942	Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi
31 August 1948	Harald Ertl (d. 1982)
31 August 1953	Miguel Angel Guerra

F1 Driver Deaths 31 August

Death	F1 Driver
31 August 1952	Jim Rigsby (b. 1923)
31 August 2006	Mike Magill (b. 1920)
31 August 2014	Jonathan Williams (b. 1942)
31 August 2020	Fritz d’Orey (b. 1923)

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Lee is our staff writer specialising in anything technical within Formula 1 from aerodynamics to engines. Lee writes most of our F1 guides for beginners and experienced fans as well as our F1 on this day posts having followed the sport since 1991, researching and understanding how teams build the ultimate machines. Like everyone else on the team he listens to podcasts about F1 and enjoys reading biographies of former drivers.