What Happened On This Day October 13 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, October 13 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1899

Italian Piero Dusio had the briefest of F1 careers, failing to qualify for the one race he entered, the 1952 Italian Grand Prix, although he was 52 at the time. His previous sporting life had been more colourful and included a spell as a footballer with Juventus as well as pre-war racing, the highlights being a sixth-place finish at the 1936 Italian Grand Prix and a number of entries in the Mille Miglia. He was behind the development of various Italian racing cars, and when that enterprise failed, he moved to carry on similar work in Argentina.

1943

Born on this day, Peter Sauber is best known as the founder of the Sauber team. His career began in motorsports during the 1970s when he started building small, two-seater sports cars. Sauber’s passion for motorsport led him to establish his own racing team, entering various championships. By the early 1980s, his team gained success in sports car racing, particularly with Mercedes-Benz. This partnership eventually paved the way for Sauber’s entry into Formula 1 in 1993. Over the years, Sauber partnered with various manufacturers, including Mercedes, Ferrari, and BMW, with BMW eventually acquiring the team in 2006. After BMW’s exit from Formula 1 in 2009, Sauber regained control of the team. Though Peter Sauber retired in 2016, his team lives on now branded as the Kick Sauber team, and Audi from the 2026 F1 World Championship.

1949

Patrick Neve had an undistinguished 14-race F1 career which was mainly built on one season as a pay driver with Williams in 1977, where his best result was seventh at the 1977 Italian Grand Prix. In 1978, he raised his own funded F2 team, but it collapsed before the year was out. His final outing came at the 1978 Belgian Grand Prix, where his privately-entered March failed to qualify.

1996

Damon Hill clinched the 1996 Drivers’ Championship title with victory at the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the sport’s first second-generation winner following his father Graham Hill‘s two championships in the 1960s. Hill capitalised on a poor start from pole by Williams teammate Jacques Villeneuve and knew the title was his when Villeneuve lost a wheel on the 37th lap. It was a mixed triumph for Hill—it was his last race for Williams, who had already signed Heinz-Harald Frentzen to replace him in 1997, and it was far from certain he would continue in the sport. Although he had signed for Arrows, the team had no car and no certainty one would be ready for 1997. He admitted this was his last chance for a championship as the next generation were snapping at his heels. “To be honest, it had to be this year for me and I’m really, really delighted,” he said. “I knew everyone in the team wanted the win, and I wanted to give it to them. I am sorry to be going, but what a way to leave.”

Michael Schumacher finished second for Ferrari, helping the Italian team overtake Benetton to secure second place in the Constructors’ Championship. Mika Hakkinen claimed third place for McLaren.

This race marked the final Formula 1 appearance for Martin Brundle, who had competed since 1984 and secured nine podium finishes since 1992. It was also the last race for Pedro Lamy and Giovanni Lavaggi and the Footwork and Ligier teams.

1996 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Damon Hill	Williams Renault	52	1:32:33.791	10
2	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	52	+1.883s	6
3	7	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	52	+3.212s	4
4	4	Gerhard Berger	Benetton Renault	52	+26.526s	3
5	12	Martin Brundle	Jordan Peugeot	52	+67.120s	2
6	15	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber Ford	52	+81.186s	1
7	9	Olivier Panis	Ligier Mugen Honda	52	+84.510s	0
8	8	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	52	+85.233s	0
9	11	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan Peugeot	52	+101.065s	0
10	14	Johnny Herbert	Sauber Ford	52	+101.799s	0
11	17	Jos Verstappen	Footwork Hart	51	+1 lap	0
12	20	Pedro Lamy	Minardi Ford	50	+2 laps	0
13	16	Ricardo Rosset	Footwork Hart	50	+2 laps	0
NC	2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	39	DNF	0
NC	18	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell Yamaha	37	DNF	0
NC	6	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams Renault	36	DNF	0
NC	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell Yamaha	20	DNF	0
NC	10	Pedro Diniz	Ligier Mugen Honda	13	DNF	0
NC	3	Jean Alesi	Benetton Renault	0	DNF	0

2002

“If proof were needed that F1 is becoming a television turn-off, yesterday’s season-ending 2002 Japanese Grand Prix was the perfect example—a Michael Schumacher masterclass and Ferrari one-two with dramatic content of zero,” wrote the Daily Mail. “For a definitive definition of desperation, look no further than FIA president Max Mosley and millionaire F1 string-puller Bernie Ecclestone, who are all too aware that they are presiding over the world’s most boring series on four wheels.” With TV audiences in freefall, Mosley was only too aware of the crisis. “We have a problem in that people have stopped watching F1 on television,” he admitted. “According to Bernie, it has started to be quite serious, and he is getting complaints from TV companies.” The race was the end of a tedious season in which Ferrari won 15 of the 17 Grand Prix (Schumacher 11, Rubens Barrichello four), including nine 1-2 finishes, and finished with the same number of constructors’ points as all the other teams combined. Schumacher also created another record in that he appeared on the podium at every grand prix. Asked for a solution, Mosley shrugged and suggested driver-swapping, so Schumacher might be put in a Minardi, but admitted: “That’s my favourite, but I think teams are unlikely to accept.”

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2002 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	1:26:59.698	10
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	53	+0.506s	6
3	4	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	53	+23.292s	4
4	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	53	+36.275s	3
5	10	Takuma Sato	Jordan Honda	53	+82.694s	2
6	15	Jenson Button	Renault	52	+1 lap	1
7	7	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	52	+1 lap	0
8	24	Mika Salo	Toyota	52	+1 lap	0
9	16	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	52	+1 lap	0
10	23	Mark Webber	Minardi Asiatech	51	+2 laps	0
11	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	48	DNF	0
NC	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar Cosworth	39	DNF	0
NC	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Honda	37	DNF	0
NC	14	Jarno Trulli	Renault	32	DNF	0
NC	11	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	27	DNF	0
NC	22	Alex Yoong	Minardi Asiatech	14	DNF	0
NC	12	Olivier Panis	BAR Honda	8	DNF	0
NC	3	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	7	DNF	0
NC	8	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	3	DNF	0

2013

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix, extending his lead in the championship. Although Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1) had a strong start and led much of the race, Red Bull’s strategy allowed Mark Webber to finish second, while Vettel secured the win with a late pass. Grosjean completed the podium in third. This race brought Vettel closer to his fourth consecutive world title. It was Red Bull’s 14th 1-2 finish in Formula One.

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2013 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	53	1:26:49.301	25
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	53	+7.129s	18
3	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	53	+9.910s	15
4	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	53	+45.605s	12
5	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus Renault	53	+47.325s	10
6	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber Ferrari	53	+51.615s	8
7	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	53	+71.630s	6
8	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	53	+72.023s	4
9	5	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	53	+80.821s	2
10	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	53	+89.263s	1
11	14	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	53	+98.572s	0
12	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
13	19	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
14	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	52	+1 lap	0
15	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren Mercedes	52	+1 lap	0
16	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	52	+1 lap	0
17	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault	52	+1 lap	0
18	20	Charles Pic	Caterham Renault	52	+1 lap	0
19	23	Max Chilton	Marussia Cosworth	52	+1 lap	0
NC	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	7	DNF	0
NC	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Renault	0	DNF	0
NC	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Cosworth	0	DNF	0

2019

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas claimed victory after a strong start from third on the grid at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix, overtaking both Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc at the start. Vettel, who had started from pole, finished second despite a poor getaway. Bottas’s teammate Lewis Hamilton took third, ensuring a double podium for Mercedes and securing the 2019 Constructors’ Championship for the team. Leclerc’s early collision with Max Verstappen in a Red Bull added to the drama, with Verstappen eventually retiring.

Interestingly, the race was initially scheduled for 53 laps, but results were declared at the end of lap 52 after the chequered flag was mistakenly shown a lap early. Consequently, Sergio Perez kept his ninth-place finish despite retiring on the final scheduled lap. He was later promoted to eighth place following the disqualification of both Renault drivers.

2019 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	52	1:21:46.755	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	52	+13.343s	18
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	52	+13.858s	16
4	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing Honda	52	+59.537s	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Renault	52	+69.101s	10
DQ	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	51	+1 lap	0
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	51	+1 lap	8
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	51	+1 lap	6
8	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	51	+1 lap	4
DQ	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	51	+1 lap	0
9	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	51	+1 lap	2
10	26	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	51	+1 lap	1
11	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Renault	51	+1 lap	0
12	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	51	+1 lap	0
13	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	51	+1 lap	0
14	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	51	+1 lap	0
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	51	+1 lap	0
16	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	50	+2 laps	0
17	88	Robert Kubica	Williams Mercedes	50	+2 laps	0
NC	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	14	DNF	0
Note – Ricciardo and Hulkenberg were disqualified for use of driver aids on their cars. Leclerc received a 5-second and a 10-second post-race penalty for causing a collision and then driving his car in an unsafe condition. Hamilton scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.

F1 Driver Birthdays 13 October

Birthday	F1 Driver
13 October 1899	Piero Dusio (d. 1975)
13 October 1949	Patrick Neve (d. 2017)

Birthday	F1 Mentions
10 October 1943	Peter Sauber (F1) Former team principal of the Sauber team

F1 Driver Deaths 13 October

Death	F1 Driver
13 October 1981	Philippe Etancelin (b. 1896)
13 October 1985	Duke Dinsmore (b. 1913)
13 October 1989	Fred Agabashian (b. 1913)
13 October 2005	Wayne Weiler (b. 1934)

F1 Champion 13 October

Date	Team/Driver
13 October 1996	Damon Hill
13 October 2019	Mercedes