What Happened On This Day October 11 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, October 11 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1911

Milan-born Nello Pagani’s racing career lasted from 1928 to 1955. He was best known for motorbike racing, where he was the 125cc World Champion in 1949. In cars, he was good enough to win the Pau Grand Prix in 1947 and 1948. His only F1 championship race was the 1950 Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten, where he came seventh, scoring no championship points. He drove for the Scuderia Achille Varzi team in a Maserati 4CLT.

1928

A Spaniard born in London, Alfonso de Portago, the Marquis of Portago, had one of the longest names of any racer – Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Angel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton – and was a remarkable all-round sportsman. He rode as an amateur twice in the Grand National and represented Spain in the four-man bobsleigh at the 1956 Winter Olympics. He entered five F1 races, finishing second at the 1956 British Grand Prix, a year after breaking his leg in a crash during the same race. “I like the feeling of fear,” he once said. “After a while, a man becomes an addict and has to have it.” He was killed in a crash during the 1957 Mille Miglia, which also cost ten spectators their lives.

1977

Plans were unveiled for two US Automobile Club series races to be staged at Brands Hatch and Silverstone on successive weekends in September and October 1978. “The deal allows British fans their only sight of these spectacularly powerful cars,” noted the Times.

1993

On the day he was announced as Ayrton Senna‘s new team-mate at Williams for 1994, Damon Hill admitted he “had mixed emotions about driving alongside somebody who is as forceful and motivated as Ayrton …but I am not easily demoralised or crushed”. Senna usually only signed one-year deals but agreed to a two-year contract with Frank Williams, reportedly worth £13 million a year.

2007

So poor were relations between Fernando Alonso and his McLaren team – largely because of Alonso’s jealousy at rookie Lewis Hamilton – that he managed to persuade the FIA to send an independent steward to Sao Paolo for the final race of the season to ensure Hamilton was not getting preferential treatment. Carlos Garcia, the head of the Spanish motorsport federation, said: “The FIA will have a steward making sure that nothing wrong happens to Fernando, especially in qualifying, which is where there have been more complaints or strange situations in the last few Grands Prix.”

2007

The single-seater A1GP series signed a deal for Ferrari to provide it with engines and design consultancy services for six years. “I always said that A1GP is going to provide its competitors with the best equipment in motor racing,” said series chairman Tony Teixeira. “There’s no bigger name in the sport than Ferrari. I’m tired of people saying ‘This will never last’ … we’re here to stay.” A1GP’s last race was at Brands Hatch in May 2009, after which time the venture went into liquidation.

2015

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the 2015 Russian Grand Prix, held in Sochi, extending his championship lead. Nico Rosberg, his Mercedes teammate, started on pole but was forced to retire early due to a throttle issue. This allowed Hamilton to take control of the race. Sebastian Vettel, driving for Ferrari, finished second after a solid drive, while Sergio Perez of Force India secured third place, benefiting from a late-race collision between Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and Valtteri Bottas (Williams). The incident helped Perez to secure his first podium of the season.

Hamilton’s win was enough for Mercedes to clinch their second consecutive Constructors’ Championship, repeating their achievement at the same event in the 2014 season.

2015 Russian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:37:11.024	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	53	+5.953s	18
3	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	53	+28.918s	15
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	53	+38.831s	12
5	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing Renault	53	+47.566s	10
6	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber Ferrari	53	+56.508s	8
7	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	53	+61.088s	6
8	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+72.358s	4
9	22	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	53	+79.467s	2
10	33	Max Verstappen	STR Renault	53	+88.424s	1
11	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	53	+91.210s	0
12	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Mercedes	52	DNF	0
13	98	Roberto Merhi	Marussia Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
14	28	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	51	+2 laps	0
15	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing Renault	47	DNF	0
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	STR Renault	45	DNF	0
NC	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	11	DNF	0
NC	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	7	DNF	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	0	DNF	0
NC	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	0	DNF	0

2020

A one-off race due to a heavily affected calendar because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, held at the Nurburgring, was won by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who equalled Michael Schumacher‘s record of 91 Formula 1 wins. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) finished second, pushing Hamilton for much of the race but unable to challenge for the win. Daniel Ricciardo, driving for Renault, claimed third place, marking Renault’s first podium since 2011.

In the post-race interviews, Mick Schumacher presented Hamilton with his father’s race-worn Mercedes helmet from 2012, a gesture from the Schumacher family to honour Hamilton for equaling Michael Schumacher’s record number of wins.

2020 Eifel Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	60	1:35:49.641	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	60	+4.470s	19
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	60	+14.613s	15
4	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	60	+16.070s	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Renault	60	+21.905s	10
6	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri Honda	60	+22.766s	8
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	60	+30.814s	6
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	60	+32.596s	4
9	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	60	+39.081s	2
10	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	60	+40.035s	1
11	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	60	+40.810s	0
12	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	60	+41.476s	0
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	60	+49.585s	0
14	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	60	+54.449s	0
15	26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri Honda	60	+55.588s	0
NC	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Renault	42	DNF	0
NC	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing Honda	23	DNF	0
NC	31	Esteban Ocon	Renault	22	DNF	0
NC	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	18	DNF	0
NC	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	12	DNF	0
Note – Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Albon received a 5-second time penalty for causing a collision.

F1 Driver Birthdays 11 October

Birthday	F1 Driver
11 October 1911	Nello Pagani (d. 2003)
11 October 1928	Alfonso de Portago (d. 1957)

F1 Driver Deaths 11 October

Death	F1 Driver
11 October 1993	Joe Barzda (b. 1915)

Death	F1 Mentions
11 October 2013	María de Villota (b. 1980) Spanish racing driver who was a test driver Renault and Marussia in Formula One. She was the daughter of Emilio de Villota, who raced in F1.

F1 Champion 11 October

Date	Team/Driver
11 October 2015	Mercedes