What happened on this day, December 7 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.
1917
Ottorino Volonterio, born in Orselina, Switzerland, raced in three Grand Prix events—the 1954 Spanish, 1956 German, and 1957 Italian—without much impact. Outside of racing, he practised law.
1924
John Love, born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, partnered Tony Maggs in Ken Tyrrell’s Formula Junior team in 1961, and in 1962, he won the British Touring Car Championship in a works Mini Cooper. An attempt to compete in European Formula One in 1964 led him back to South Africa, where he won the first of six South African Formula One titles that year. He regularly competed in the country’s World Championship Grand Prix, though often in outdated equipment. In 1967, he nearly achieved a remarkable victory but was relegated to second place after a precautionary pit stop for fuel. Love later excelled in the South African Springbok sports car series.
1925
Hermano da Silva Ramos was born in France to a Brazilian father and a French mother, leaving him identified as French by French journalists, Brazilian by Brazilians, and Franco-Brazilian by others. After a short F1 career, with his best result a fifth place at Monaco in 1955, he retired for his wife’s health. “Doctors advised that to end my wife’s distress, I either divorce her or retire from racing,” he recalled. “I chose to quit racing, but it took two years before I could sleep peacefully with that decision.”
1984
Poland’s first F1 driver, Robert Kubica, was born in Krakow. He claimed his maiden victory at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, becoming the 99th driver to win a world championship race. The previous year at the same event, he suffered a major accident, with his car flipping and hitting barriers at 186 mph. Kubica emerged with only a mild concussion and a sprained ankle. After skipping the next race in Indianapolis, he returned in France and finished fourth.
In 2010, Kubica joined the Renault team and planned to continue with them in 2011. At the same time, he had also signed a pre-contract with Ferrari to join them for the 2012 season. It was a move that came to a tragic end when he suffered a horrific rally crash during the winter break on 6 February 2011, before the F1 season began. The life-altering accident at the Ronde di Andora Rally resulted in his right forearm being partially severed.
Robert Kubica
F1 Debut 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix
Current/Last Team Alfa Romeo
In 2018, Kubica took on the role of reserve driver for Williams, and in 2019, he returned to the F1 grid with a full-time seat for the team. However, after the 2019 season, it was clear Kubica had found it hard to transition to the sport after his injury and was sadly dropped by the team. He moved to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2019 while maintaining his connection to Formula One as a reserve and test driver for Alfa Romeo. He took part in various practice sessions and even replaced Kimi Räikkönen in the Dutch and Italian Grand Prix in 2021.
Fast-forward to the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Kuica won in the Ferrari satellite #83 car: quite some turnaround and a momentous moment in motorsports and F1 History.
1996
On this day, the final weekend running of The Formula One Indoor Trophy took place. A short-lived, unofficial Formula One event held annually at the Bologna Motor Show in Italy from 1988 to 1996. It was designed as an indoor, non-championship exhibition event that gave fans an up-close experience of F1 cars in a more casual and condensed format.
The event featured a knockout-style head-to-head competition on a small, enclosed circuit, outside of the arena that hosted the show where two F1 cars would race against each other in short sprints. Despite its unofficial status, the Trophy attracted notable teams and drivers, providing a unique spectacle during the off-season. It ultimately ended in 1996 due to a combination of safety concerns, logistical challenges, and shifting priorities in Formula One.
The event switched to using Formula 3000 cars from 1997 onwards; the event was rebranded Bologna Motor Show F3000 Sprint as a result.
Winners of the Indoor Trophy
| Year | Driver | Constructor |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Luis Pérez-Sala | Minardi |
| 1989 | Luis Pérez-Sala | Minardi |
| 1990 | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi |
| 1991 | Gabriele Tarquini | Fondmetal |
| 1992 | Johnny Herbert | Team Lotus |
| 1993 | Rubens Barrichello | Jordan Grand Prix |
| 1994 | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1995 | Luca Badoer | Minardi |
| 1996 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Benetton |
2002
An awkward situation arose for both Bernie Ecclestone and the government when the Sunday Express reported that the Labour Party had sought to delay a tobacco advertising ban to benefit F1, shortly after Ecclestone donated £1 million to the party. Once the donation became public, Tony Blair was compelled to return the funds. Liberal Democrat health spokesman Evan Harris remarked, “It’s outrageous. The clear conclusion is they’re still intent on settling old debts with their Formula One sponsors.”
2005
A potential F1 breakaway series was thwarted when Williams, previously aligned with a manufacturers’ group pushing for an alternative championship, joined Ferrari, Red Bull, and Midland in signing an extension of the current agreement with Bernie Ecclestone. Despite the agreement, a Williams spokesperson expressed caution: “It doesn’t resolve all our initial goals, but the remaining issues weren’t significant enough to justify a rival series. That would be detrimental to Formula One.”
2025
For the first time in a generation, the 2025 Drivers’ World Championship reached its final act with three drivers still alive in the hunt — a scenario not seen for 15 years. Abu Dhabi had staged many season-defining moments, but never with tension quite like this. Lando Norris arrived at Yas Marina with a slender cushion over Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, leading by 12 points and 16 points respectively. On paper, a podium would seal it for Norris. In reality, this title fight had been anything but predictable — strategy gambles, technical storms, and razor-thin margins have shaped the season, leaving the sport’s biggest prize within touching distance for three drivers yet far from guaranteed.
Come the chequered flag, Norris claimed his maiden title by bringing his McLaren home in third place: F1’s 35th World Champion and 11th from Britain. Verstappen led from the front to score the victory and cut the gap to just two points, while Piastri backed up McLaren’s success with second in a tense finale under the lights.
Norris had to manage a bold overtake from Piastri on lap one, pressure from Charles Leclerc, traffic after the stops and a wheel-to-wheel fight with Yuki Tsunoda, but never cracked in a performance built on control and composure. Piastri ultimately finished 11 points behind him in the standings.
Leclerc, George Russell and Fernando Alonso rounded out a competitive top six, with Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton next, Nico Hulkenberg scoring in his 250th race, and Lance Stroll finishing 10th despite a penalty.
While Verstappen relinquished his Championship crown, he retained the most wins of the season, with eight, winning the final three races of the season.
Full Race Weekend Report
Final Race Stats
- Final race in this era of ground effect cars.
- Final race with the current V6 Hybrid engines.
- The last ever race with DRS.
- Honda‘s last race with Racing Bulls and Red Bull Racing before supplying Aston Martin in 2026.
- The final race for the Sauber name as they become Audi in 2026.
- Renault‘s last race as an engine supplier, as Alpine move to use Mercedes power units in 2026.
- Yuki Tsunoda‘s last race in F1.
- The last race with 20 cars on the grid, with Cadillac joining in 2026.
2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time / Retired | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 58 | 01:26:07 | 25 |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 58 | +12.594s | 18 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 58 | +16.572s | 15 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 58 | +23.279s | 12 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 58 | +48.563s | 10 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 58 | +67.562s | 8 |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas F1 Team | 58 | +69.876s | 6 |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 58 | +72.670s | 4 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | 58 | +79.014s | 2 |
| 10 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 58 | +79.523s | 1 |
| 11 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber | 58 | +81.043s | 0 |
| 12 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | 58 | +81.166s | 0 |
| 13 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 58 | +82.158s | 0 |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing | 58 | +83.794s | 0 |
| 15 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 58 | +84.399s | 0 |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 58 | +90.327s | 0 |
| 17 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 57 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 57 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 19 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 57 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 20 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 57 | +1 lap | 0 |
2025
As the curtain fell on the 2025 season, F1 bid farewell to the Sauber team. Since 1993, the Sauber name had gone under various changes, team names, driver line-ups and looks, but through it all, the racing spirit had burned bright. In the final race as ‘Kick’ Sauber, the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, driver Nico Hulkenberg secured the team’s final two championship points, finishing 9th, in a season in which he also secured the team P3 at the 2025 British Grand Prix—a fitting tribute to one of F1’s longest-standing teams.
As the 2026 season fast approached, the team would become the full-works Audi outfit.
F1 Driver Birthdays 7 December
| Birthday | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 7 December 1917 | Ottorino Volonterio |
| 7 December 1924 | John Love |
| 7 December 1925 | Hermano da Silva Ramos |
| 7 December 1984 | Robert Kubica |
F1 Driver Deaths 7 December
| Death | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 7 December 1977 | Georges Grignard |
| 7 December 2015 | Peter Westbury |
F1 Champion 7 December
| Date | Team/Driver |
|---|---|
| 7 December 2025 | Lando Norris |
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