What Happened On This Day July 24 In F1 History?

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

1906

Franco Comotti was born on 24 July 1906. He participated in two World Championship F1 races, debuting on 3 September at the 1950 Italian Grand Prix, where he drove for Scuderia Milano in a Maserati 4CLT/50. He scored no championship points at that Grand Prix or the 1952 French Grand Prix in a Ferrari 166 for Scuderia Marzotto.

1938

A young British aristocrat racer named Dick Seaman won the 1938 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, driving a Mercedes-Benz, with Adolf Hitler watching. Seaman, who had received a country estate for his 20th birthday, became the first Englishman to win a major grand prix since Major Henry Segrave in 1923. On the podium, he gave a Nazi salute but later remarked, “I only wish it had been a British car.” The following year, Seaman was killed while pushing too hard at Spa. Hitler sent an enormous wreath, and Mercedes still tends to his grave to this day.

1966

Jack Brabham won the 1966 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, extending his lead in the 1966 Drivers’ Championship over Graham Hill. Despite newspaper speculation that the 40-year-old was too old to be a serious contender for the world championship, Jack Brabham amused the paddock by limping to his car with the aid of a stick and sporting a false beard. He had the last laugh when he won the race and, ultimately, the championship.

1966 Dutch Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	16	Jack Brabham	Brabham Repco	90	2:20:32.500	9
2	12	Graham Hill	BRM	89	+1 lap	6
3	6	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	88	+2 laps	4
4	14	Jackie Stewart	BRM	88	+2 laps	3
5	32	Mike Spence	Lotus BRM	87	+3 laps	2
6	2	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	87	+3 laps	1
7	30	Jo Bonnier	Cooper Maserati	84	+6 laps	0
8	38	John  Taylor	Brabham BRM	84	+6 laps	0
9	36	Guy  Ligier	Cooper Maserati	84	+6 laps	0
NC	28	Jo Siffert	Cooper Maserati	79	DNF	0
NC	34	Bob Anderson	Brabham Climax	73	DNF	0
NC	24	John Surtees	Cooper Maserati	44	DNF	0
NC	18	Denny Hulme	Brabham Repco	37	DNF	0
NC	8	Peter  Arundell	Lotus BRM	28	DNF	0
NC	10	Dan Gurney	Eagle Climax	26	DNF	0
NC	4	Mike  Parkes	Ferrari	10	DNF	0
NC	26	Jochen Rindt	Cooper Maserati	2	DNF	0

1976

Tiago Monteiro was born on this day, 24 July 1976. He competed in Formula One from 2005 to 2006 for Jordan Grand Prix, Midland, and Spyker MF1—successive iterations of the same team under different owners. Monteiro is the only Portuguese driver to have achieved a Formula One podium finish, at the controversial 2005 United States Grand Prix.

During that race, concerns over tyre safety led to the withdrawal of all Michelin-equipped teams, leaving only the three Bridgestone-equipped teams to compete. Monteiro secured third place out of the six drivers who raced.

At the podium ceremony, which was notably absent of scheduled dignitaries, Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello quietly accepted their results and quickly departed. Monteiro, however, remained to celebrate his first podium finish alone. Despite the boos throughout most of the ceremony, the fans gave the Portuguese driver a round of applause.

1988

Ayrton Senna won the 1988 German Grand Prix, beating his teammate Alain Prost, as McLaren continued its dominant march towards the 1988 Constructors’ Championship. This win was the team’s eighth successive victory in a season where they would only fail to win one race, the 1988 Italian Grand Prix (won by Gerhard Berger for Ferrari).

The win, Senna’s fifth of the season, moved him to within three points of Prost at the top of the 1988 Drivers’ Championship. Gerhard Berger took third in a Ferrari.

The race also celebrated defending champion Nelson Piquet‘s 150th Grand Prix start. He would end his career on 204 starts from 207 entries and three World Championships.

1988 German Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	12	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	44	1:32:54.188	9
2	11	Alain Prost	McLaren Honda	44	+13.609s	6
3	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	44	+52.095s	4
4	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	44	+100.912s	3
5	16	Ivan Capelli	March Judd	44	+109.606s	2
6	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton Ford	43	+1 lap	1
7	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows Megatron	43	+1 lap	0
8	15	Mauricio Gugelmin	March Judd	43	+1 lap	0
9	2	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus Honda	43	+1 lap	0
10	18	Eddie  Cheever	Arrows Megatron	43	+1 lap	0
11	3	Jonathan  Palmer	Tyrrell Ford	43	+1 lap	0
12	10	Bernd Schneider	Zakspeed	43	+1 lap	0
13	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Rial Ford	42	+2 laps	0
14	9	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Zakspeed	42	+2 laps	0
15	36	Alex Caffi	Dallara Ford	42	+2 laps	0
16	32	Oscar Larrauri	Euro Brun Ford	42	+2 laps	0
17	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier Judd	41	+3 laps	0
18	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton Ford	40	+4 laps	0
19	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola Ford	39	+5 laps	0
NC	14	Philippe Streiff	AGS Ford	38	DNF	0
NC	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams Judd	34	DNF	0
NC	21	Nicola Larini	Osella	27	DNF	0
NC	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams Judd	16	DNF	0
NC	33	Stefano Modena	Euro Brun Ford	15	DNF	0
NC	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola Ford	8	DNF	0
NC	1	Nelson Piquet	Lotus Honda	1	DNF	0

2005

Fernando Alonso won the 2005 German Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and Jenson Button, extending his championship lead to 36 points over Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen seemed poised to win the race until a hydraulics problem forced his retirement on lap 35, leaving Alonso to coast to victory and solidify his lead towards the 2005 Drivers’ Championship title.

It was Button’s first ‘official’ podium finish of the season, because the BAR team had been disqualified from the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix for underweight cars.

2005 German Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	67	1:26:28.599	10
2	10	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren Mercedes	67	+22.569s	8
3	3	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	67	+24.422s	6
4	6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	67	+50.587s	5
5	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	67	+51.690s	4
6	17	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	67	+52.242s	3
7	14	David Coulthard	RBR Cosworth	67	+52.700s	2
8	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	67	+56.570s	1
9	15	Christian Klien	RBR Cosworth	67	+69.818s	0
10	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	66	+1 lap	0
11	8	Nick Heidfeld	Williams BMW	66	+1 lap	0
12	4	Takuma Sato	BAR Honda	66	+1 lap	0
13	21	Christijan Albers	Minardi Cosworth	65	+2 laps	0
14	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	64	DNF	0
15	11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber Petronas	64	+3 laps	0
16	19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan Toyota	64	+3 laps	0
17	18	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan Toyota	64	+3 laps	0
18	20	Robert Doornbos	Minardi Cosworth	63	+4 laps	0
NC	7	Mark Webber	Williams BMW	55	+12 laps	0
NC	9	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	35	DNF	0

2011

The 2011 German Grand Prix, held at the Nürburgring on July 24, became a thrilling contest among Formula One’s top drivers. McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton grabbed victory after starting from second on the grid, overtaking pole-sitter Mark Webber at the start. Hamilton engaged in spirited battles with Webber and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, particularly during the pit stop phases. Strategic decisions and tyre management played critical roles throughout, with Hamilton ultimately regaining the lead from Alonso after the final round of pit stops. He secured the win with a time of 1:37:30.334, his second win of the season and the 16th of his career.

Fernando Alonso finished second, approximately four seconds behind Hamilton, while Mark Webber completed the podium in third place. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, who had been on a streak of eleven consecutive podium finishes, ended up fourth after a spin, and a late-race pit stop allowed him to overtake Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. The race also featured notable performances from Force India’s Adrian Sutil, who finished sixth, and Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, who secured seventh and eighth places, respectively. This win propelled Hamilton to third in the 2011 Drivers’ Championship standings, narrowing the gap to leader Vettel, who maintained a 77-point advantage.​

2011 German Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	60	1:37:30.334	25
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	60	+3.980s	18
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	60	+9.788s	15
4	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	60	+47.921s	12
5	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	60	+52.252s	10
6	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	60	+86.208s	8
7	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	59	+1 lap	6
8	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	59	+1 lap	4
9	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	59	+1 lap	2
10	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	59	+1 lap	1
11	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber Ferrari	59	+1 lap	0
12	19	Jaime Alguersuari	STR Ferrari	59	+1 lap	0
13	15	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	59	+1 lap	0
14	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Cosworth	59	+1 lap	0
15	18	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	59	+1 lap	0
16	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Renault	58	+2 laps	0
17	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Cosworth	57	+3 laps	0
18	25	Jerome d’Ambrosio	Virgin Cosworth	57	+3 laps	0
19	22	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT Cosworth	57	+3 laps	0
20	21	Karun Chandhok	Lotus Renault	56	+4 laps	0
NC	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT Cosworth	37	DNF	0
NC	4	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	35	DNF	0
NC	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams Cosworth	16	DNF	0
NC	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	9	DNF	0

2016

Lewis Hamilton took the win at the 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix, after overtaking his Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, at the start. Hamilton maintained the lead throughout the 70-lap race, finishing 1.977 seconds ahead of Rosberg. This win was Hamilton’s fifth career victory at the Hungaroring and his fifth win of the 2016 season, propelling him to the top of the 2016 Drivers’ Championship standings with a six-point lead over Rosberg. Daniel Ricciardo secured third place for Red Bull Racing, finishing over 27 seconds behind the Mercedes duo. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completed the top five, with Kimi Räikkönen setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 52.

Fernando Alonso delivered a strong performance for McLaren, finishing seventh, while Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso and Valtteri Bottas of Williams secured eighth and ninth places, respectively. Nico Hülkenberg rounded out the top ten for Force India.

The weekend also saw the ongoing debate about pit-to-car radio communications continue, as the FIA had recently revised regulations to limit driver coaching, allowing only essential safety-related messages. These changes were met with criticism from several drivers, including Vettel, who expressed concerns over the restrictions.

2016 Hungarian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	70	1:40:30.115	25
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	70	+1.977s	18
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	70	+27.539s	15
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	70	+28.213s	12
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	70	+48.659s	10
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	70	+49.044s	8
7	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	69	+1 lap	6
8	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso Ferrari	69	+1 lap	4
9	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Mercedes	69	+1 lap	2
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	69	+1 lap	1
11	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	69	+1 lap	0
12	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	69	+1 lap	0
13	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas Ferrari	69	+1 lap	0
14	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	69	+1 lap	0
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	69	+1 lap	0
16	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso Ferrari	69	+1 lap	0
17	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber Ferrari	69	+1 lap	0
18	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	68	+2 laps	0
19	94	Pascal Wehrlein	MRT Mercedes	68	+2 laps	0
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	68	+2 laps	0
21	88	Rio Haryanto	MRT Mercedes	68	+2 laps	0
NC	22	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	60	DNF	0
Note – Gutierrez had 5 seconds added to his race time for ignoring blue flags.

2022

The 2022 French Grand Prix, held at Circuit Paul Ricard became a pivotal race in the 2022 Formula One season. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole and led the early stages, but on lap 18, he crashed out at Turn 11, relinquishing the lead to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Verstappen capitalised on Leclerc’s retirement, maintaining control to win the race by over 10 seconds, his seventh win of the season and extending his championship lead to 63 points. Mercedes achieved their best result of the season, with Lewis Hamilton finishing second and George Russell third, after Russell overtook Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez following a virtual safety car period.

Carlos Sainz, starting from the back due to engine penalties, delivered an impressive drive to finish fifth, also setting the fastest lap of the race. Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon secured sixth and eighth places respectively for Alpine, while McLaren’s Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh and ninth. Lance Stroll rounded out the top ten for Aston Martin.

This race was the last French Grand Prix to date (2025), with the event not included in subsequent F1 calendars.

2022 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing RBPT	53	1:30:02.112	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	+10.587s	18
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes	53	+16.495s	15
4	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing RBPT	53	+17.310s	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	53	+28.872s	11
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine Renault	53	+42.879s	8
7	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	53	+52.026s	6
8	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	53	+56.959s	4
9	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren Mercedes	53	+60.372s	2
10	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	53	+62.549s	1
11	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	53	+64.494s	0
12	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri RBPT	53	+65.448s	0
13	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	53	+68.565s	0
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	53	+76.666s	0
15	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas Ferrari	53	+80.394s	0
16	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	47	+6 laps	0
NC	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	40	DNF	0
NC	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	37	DNF	0
NC	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	17	DNF	0
NC	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri RBPT	17	DNF	0
Note – Sainz scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Zhou received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.

F1 Driver Birthdays 24 July

Births	F1 Driver
24 July 1906	Franco Comotti (d. 1963)
24 July 1976	Tiago Monteiro

F1 Driver Deaths 24 July

Deaths	F1 Driver
24 July 1972	Lance Reventlow (b. 1936)