What Happened On This Day July 27 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, July 27 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1954

Former Formula One driver Philippe Alliot was born on this day in Voves, France. Throughout his career, he raced for RAM, Ligier, Larrousse, and McLaren. Alliot was known for his frequent accidents, drawing heavy criticism from team members, fellow drivers, and sports commentators like James Hunt, who dubbed him “one of the worst Grand Prix drivers ever.” In the early 1990s, Alliot moved to sports car racing and found considerable success with the Peugeot team, managed by Jean Todt.

1986

At the 1986 German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, Alain Prost was closely tailing the Williams of Nigel Mansell when his McLaren ran out of fuel on the final lap. Prost exited his car and attempted to push it over the finish line, earning applause from the crowd. Despite not making it across the line, he secured a point for sixth place, as the next driver was more than a lap behind.

The 45-lap race was won by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet, who drove a Williams-Honda. Fellow Brazilian Ayrton Senna secured second place in a Lotus-Renault, while Briton Nigel Mansell finished third. With Prost taking a single point this allowed Mansell to extend his lead in the ’86 Drivers’ Championship to seven points.

In the lead-up to the race, Keke Rosberg declared his intention to retire from Formula One at the end of the season. Lotus revealed plans to switch to Honda engines for 1987, due to Renault’s departure from the sport, with Japanese driver Satoru Nakajima set to replace Johnny Dumfries. At the same time, Ligier brought in Philippe Alliot to stand in for the injured Jacques Laffite.

1986 German Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams Honda	44	1:22:08.263	9
2	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus Renault	44	+15.437s	6
3	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams Honda	44	+44.580s	4
4	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier Renault	44	+75.176s	3
5	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren TAG	43	DNF	2
6	1	Alain Prost	McLaren TAG	43	DNF	1
7	8	Derek Warwick	Brabham BMW	43	+1 lap	0
8	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola Ford	43	+1 lap	0
9	15	Alan  Jones	Lola Ford	42	+2 laps	0
10	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton BMW	42	+2 laps	0
11	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	41	DNF	0
12	22	Allen Berg	Osella Alfa Romeo	40	+4 laps	0
NC	17	Christian Danner	Arrows BMW	38	DNF	0
NC	29	Huub Rothengatter	Zakspeed	38	+6 laps	0
NC	14	Jonathan  Palmer	Zakspeed	37	DNF	0
NC	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell Renault	34	DNF	0
NC	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham BMW	22	DNF	0
NC	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi Motori Moderni	20	DNF	0
NC	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi Motori Moderni	19	DNF	0
NC	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus Renault	17	DNF	0
NC	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows BMW	13	DNF	0
NC	26	Philippe Alliot	Ligier Renault	11	DNF	0
NC	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella Alfa Romeo	10	DNF	0
NC	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell Renault	7	DNF	0
NC	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	6	DNF	0
NC	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton BMW		DNF	0

1997

Gerhard Berger won the 1997 German Grand Prix, marking his last win and podium finish in Formula One and the 27th and final victory for the Benetton team. The win was especially poignant as Berger’s first Grand Prix victory in 1986 was also Benetton’s first.

After missing the previous three races due to a sinus problem, Berger secured pole position and dominated the race, leading from start to finish aside from pit stops. Local hero Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari, with Finn Mika Hakkinen taking third in a McLaren-Mercedes.

Jacques Villeneuve failed to finish in his Williams-Renault, allowing Schumacher to extend his lead over the Canadian in the Drivers’ Championship to 10 points.

1997 German Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	8	Gerhard Berger	Benetton Renault	45	1:20:59.046	10
2	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	45	+17.527s	6
3	9	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	45	+24.770s	4
4	14	Jarno Trulli	Prost Mugen Honda	45	+27.165s	3
5	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan Peugeot	45	+29.995s	2
6	7	Jean Alesi	Benetton Renault	45	+34.717s	1
7	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost Mugen Honda	45	+79.722s	0
8	1	Damon Hill	Arrows Yamaha	44	+1 lap	0
9	17	Norberto Fontana	Sauber Petronas	44	+1 lap	0
10	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell Ford	44	+1 lap	0
11	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Peugeot	40	DNF	0
NC	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams Renault	33	DNF	0
NC	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart Ford	33	DNF	0
NC	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell Ford	33	DNF	0
NC	23	Jan Magnussen	Stewart Ford	27	DNF	0
NC	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi Hart	23	DNF	0
NC	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber Petronas	8	DNF	0
NC	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows Yamaha	8	DNF	0
NC	10	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	1	DNF	0
NC	4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams Renault	1	DNF	0
NC	6	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1	DNF	0

2014

The changing weather conditions defined the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, creating a thrilling and unpredictable race that featured safety cars and strategic gambles. Daniel Ricciardo racing for Red Bull secured his second career win after starting fourth, executing a late-race charge to overtake both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in the closing laps. Alonso finished second for Ferrari, delivering one of his strongest performances of the season, while Hamilton, who started from the pit lane due to a car fire in qualifying, recovered impressively to claim third place for Mercedes.​

The race began on a damp track, prompting all drivers to start on intermediate tyres. Early incidents, including a crash by Marcus Ericsson, led to safety car deployments that disrupted race strategies. Hamilton’s race was further complicated by a first-lap spin and minor car damage, yet he managed to climb through the field. Hamilton also defied team orders on lap 47 to let teammate Nico Rosberg pass, arguing that Rosberg was not close enough to earn a swap. Rosberg, who had started from pole, finished fourth after a late charge on fresher tyres. The result narrowed Rosberg’s lead over Hamilton in the 2014 Drivers’ Championship to 11 points, while Ricciardo’s win solidified his third-place standing in the title race.

This race would be Alonso’s last podium finish until the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix.

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing Renault	70	1:53:05.058	25
2	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	70	+5.225s	18
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	70	+5.857s	15
4	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	70	+6.361s	12
5	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	70	+29.841s	10
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	70	+31.491s	8
7	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	70	+40.964s	6
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Mercedes	70	+41.344s	4
9	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Renault	70	+58.527s	2
10	22	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	70	+67.280s	1
11	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber Ferrari	70	+68.169s	0
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren Mercedes	70	+78.465s	0
13	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Renault	70	+84.024s	0
14	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR Renault	69	+1 lap	0
15	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Ferrari	69	+1 lap	0
16	4	Max Chilton	Marussia Ferrari	69	+1 lap	0
NC	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	32	DNF	0
NC	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham Renault	24	DNF	0
NC	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	22	DNF	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	14	DNF	0
NC	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	10	DNF	0
NC	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham Renault	7	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 27 July

Births	F1 Driver
27 July 1901	Joaquin Palacio (d. 1989)
27 July 1918	Bud Clemons (d. 2001)
27 July 1927	Jay Abney (d. 1991)
27 July 1933	Chris Lawrence (d. 2011)
27 July 1943	Max Jean
27 July 1954	Philippe Alliot
27 July 1968	Ricardo Rosset

Births	F1 Mentions
27 July 1943	John Button (d. 2014) English rallycross driver and the father of 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button.

F1 Driver Deaths 27 July

Deaths	F1 Driver
27 July 1969	Moises Solana (b. 1935)
27 July 2002	David Clarke (b. 1929)